Top 5 Electrical Safety Tips for Hamilton Homes

Hamilton has a lot of older houses. In the 2021 Census, about a third of the occupied homes in the City of Hamilton dated from 1960 or earlier, and more than a quarter from the years 1961 to 1980. A house of that age can be perfectly sound, but it was wired for far fewer appliances than a family runs today, and some of its original equipment may still be in service. These five tips are written with those homes in mind; our ten safety tips for Ontario homeowners cover the everyday habits in more detail.

1. Ease the Load on Outlets and Power Strips

Older rooms tend to have fewer receptacles, so power strips multiply behind the television and the desk. Every plug on a strip shares one circuit, and a heater or a kettle added to a full strip can push that circuit past its rating. If a breaker keeps tripping or the lights dim when something starts, the circuit is telling you it is at its limit. The answer is more receptacles or a new circuit, installed with an Electrical Safety Authority (ESA) permit, rather than a bigger power strip.

2. Look Over Cords and Plugs

Check cords and plugs a few times a year for fraying, cracks, bent prongs and scorch marks. Replace a damaged cord rather than taping it, and never run one under a rug or through a doorway where it gets stepped on. An extension cord that has stayed plugged in for a whole season is doing the job of a receptacle that the room does not have. A plug that feels warm, or an outlet that buzzes, needs an electrician to find out why.

3. Test the GFCIs in Kitchens and Bathrooms Every Month

A ground fault circuit interrupter (GFCI) switches off when it senses current escaping to ground, as happens when water or a person becomes part of the circuit. Bathrooms need GFCI protection under the Ontario code, as does any receptacle less than 1.5 metres from a sink, kitchen counters included, and the list has grown over the code editions, so an older house may be short of them. Press each test button once a month: the outlet should go dead and come back when you press reset. If a GFCI stays live when tested, or refuses to reset, it has failed and should be replaced.

4. Keep Children Away From Outlets and Cords

Teach children early that outlets and cords are not toys, and keep cords for lamps and chargers tucked out of reach. Tamper-resistant receptacles, whose shutters stay shut unless a plug goes in with both prongs at once, are an inexpensive upgrade in rooms where young children play. New houses and major renovations must have them under the current code, so an older house usually has the plain kind.

5. Leave Old Panels and Wiring to a Licensed Electrician

A house from before the late 1940s can still contain knob and tube wiring, and those from the 1960s and 1970s can have aluminum branch wiring that loosens and heats at its connections. Fuse boxes and undersized services from the same eras show up too. An Ontario homeowner can legally take out an ESA permit and do electrical work in their own home, with the work inspected afterwards, but panel and service work is best left to a licensed electrical contractor. A service change also needs the utility to disconnect and reconnect the meter: across the former City of Hamilton that is Alectra Utilities, and in rural Glanbrook it can be Hydro One. If you are not sure what is in your walls, book the Home Electrical Health Check. A licensed electrician looks at the visible wiring, the panel, the GFCIs and whether the outlets are grounded, and you get a written report the same day.

Related Articles

• 10 Electrical Safety Tips Every Ontario Homeowner Should Know

• Knob and Tube Wiring: Is Your Older Hamilton Home at Risk?

• Aluminum Wiring in Your Home: Risks, Solutions, and What Hamilton Homeowners Should Do

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