Anytime the power goes out, it becomes immediately apparent how much we rely on electricity each day. Whether you’re in your own home watching television or at your workplace writing up a report on your computer, electricity is the technology that makes it all possible.

It’s also dangerous, in addition to being complicated. If you’re having electrical issues, you’ll want to find an electrical contractor.

What kind of electrical issues would necessitate a visit from an electrical contractor? That’s what this article will aim to cover.

Lights flickering

While flickering lights can be caused by a loose or spent light bulb, it could also be indicative of a larger electrical issue. Loose wiring or unsound fixture connections may be the culprit, and an electrical contractor should be able to diagnose and remedy the problem.

Repeatedly tripping circuit breakers

If you only trip your circuit breakers occasionally, it’s probably not much cause for concern, but if you find that it keeps occurring within a short time frame, you may have a deeper electrical complication. Whether it’s shorted out wiring or overloading or you simply need a new circuit breaker, an electrical contractor should be able to help.

Odd noises

The sounds you should be listening for are buzzing noises. They could be coming from your breaker box, or they could be due to loose screw terminals in your home. Whatever the source and cause, you should call an electrical contractor to help fix it because trying to do it yourself could be dangerous.

You get shocked when plugging something in

If you get zapped every time you go to plug something in, the issue could be defective wiring, busted circuits or something else entirely. For your safety, you should let an electrical professional deal with it.

Your sockets are hot to the touch

This is another problem to watch out for when you’re plugging things in. Your sockets shouldn’t ever be warm or hot to the touch; if they are, this likely indicates an underlying issue that would be best handled by an electrician.

You smell something burning

If you can’t identify the source of a burning smell, it could be emanating from within your walls. Short circuits or deteriorated wiring could be the root cause of this problem if it’s in the walls. If it’s coming from a fuse box or a specific outlet, you should shut the power off immediately and dial your nearest electrical contractor.

You’re using too many extension cords

Extension cords can be a good way to supply power to things you need that for whatever reason can’t be near the outlets in your home—but they’re meant to be temporary. If you have a wild array of extension cords, power strips and overloaded outlets, you probably just need to have more outlets put into your home. An electrical contractor should be able to help with this.

Call for electrical contracting services today

Hopefully, you never experience any of these phenomena in your home. If you do, call us at Walsh Electric. We’ve been premier electrical contractors for over 30 years, so call us if you’re experiencing any electrical troubles today.