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Welcome back to our electrical safety blog here at Bill’s Quality Electric, LLC! With the New Year of 2021 having begun, we thought we’d offer you a checklist of sorts to help you start the New Year right, being proactive with your electrical safety. Sound good? Thought so! We certainly don’t want any electrical hazards occurring to get a good start to our January. So let’s have at it! Let me introduce you to Suzie. She’s a work-from-home mom, and she has decided to go from room to room to see if there’s anything that needs fixing/modifying concerning her usage of electrical products in her home. Maybe you can help her decide if each situation needs a remedy or if it’s electrically safe and smart. Suzie will start in the master bathroom. She pulls out her small appliances, like her hair dryer and curling iron, and carefully checks the wiring on each. She doesn’t find any damage. So the question is, do they stay or go? She decides to keep them since there is no electrical hazards. And she also always hits the set/reset button on her appliance where appropriate. So our first answer to our question is STAY. Suzie then goes into her bedroom and checks her desktop lamp. The wiring looks like it’s separating from the plug. It is an old lamp, so she asks herself, could this become a shock hazard? Should it stay or go? She determines to unplug it and get a replacement. She doesn’t want to take any chances, especially since she found this lamp at a yard sale, so she determines it will GO. So our 2nd answer to our question is GO. Suzie moves on to the living room, and there is a space heater present, a full 3 feet from anything combustible. It’s also on a firm surface and it’s turned off since she is not spending time in that room. She also checks the wiring on the space heater for any damage and finds it’s ok. Does it STAY or GO? She determines it’s electrically safe. Our 3rd answer is STAY. Suzie moves into her office and notices the extension cord she’s been using for a while to plug in a machine she uses in her studio space. She had been meaning to get another outlet installed in that room, but had put it off. She checks for wear on the wire and it’s damaged, and it’s been there too long already. Should it STAY or GO? She determines, now that it’s the New Year, she will finally make that call to her licensed electrician to have him come install an outlet in the spot that would be perfect for her machine; so she no longer needs the extension cord. Our 4th answer is GO. Suzie moves on to her kitchen and notices that one of her GFCI outlets has a funny odor coming out of it, and it even looks a bit black inside the slats. She recognizes this as an immediate fire hazard, and is glad she had already determined to call her licensed electrician and he can replace it for her. She hopes it’s not a problem in the wall, but she knows he’ll be able to figure it out! Should this outlet Stay or Go? She determines it will go, after seeing these hazardous tell tale signs! Our 5th answer is GO. Suzie goes to her 3 year old daughter’s room and notes the Tamper Resistant Receptacles and is Grateful for the extra protection they provide for shock prevention. She checks her daughter napping in her big-girl bed and gives her a kiss. Her eyes fall on the sound machine that’s turned on and checks the wiring on it and there is not damage, so she determines it’s electrically safe. Should it Stay or Go? Our 5th answer is STAY. Suzie feels good about being proactive with her electrical safety and plans to suggest to her friends that they look around to be sure there are no electrical hazards in their home, so they can Stay Electrically Safe and Smart too! Won’t you join Suzie with being proactive this New Year and determine if there are electrical hazard in your home and ask yourself, should it Stay or Go? And to help you stay informed, do follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook where we share relevant tips and information to help you Stay Electrically Safe and Smart! And do subscribe to our YouTube Channel, which is your Electrical Safety Resource! Thanks for taking our electrical safety quiz and we want to wish you a Healthy, Happy and Electrically Safe and Smart New Year in 2021! If you own a business or home in Collin County area of North Texas and are in need of electrical service, repair or installation, give us a call at 214.697.3134 to schedule an appointment with Bill’s Quality Electric, LLC. We look forward to doing business with you! 