Electrical malfunctions cause more than 50,000 house fires each year, according to Electrical Safety Foundation International. The majority can be prevented. Urgent electrician Melbourne focus not only fixing your electrical problems but also making your home safe from any fire.

To protect your own home, start by checking your fuse box or breaker panel for the date of your last inspection. Most municipalities require an inspection only when a system is modified during a renovation or an addition. However, the Consumer Product Safety Commission recommends having a pro look things over every 10 years. Beyond that, be aware of these potential sources and causes of electrical fires.

Related: Quiz: Are You Prepared For a House Fire?

1. Too many extension cords. Aesthetics aside, there’s a reason electric wires are buried within walls. “An undisturbed wiring system will more or less work forever,” says William Burke, division manager of electrical engineering for the National Fire Protection Association. “But when it’s disturbed or altered, there’s potential for trouble.” Running an extension cord creates additional points where cords can kink, short out or get pinched, leading to tripped breakers, damaged outlets or even a fire. Use extension cords sparingly and for short periods of time — during the holidays, for example. If you consistently need more outlets, have an electrician install them.

2. Dimming or flickering lights. Because light fixtures typically draw only a small amount of power, dimming or flickering is rarely caused by a problem with the fixture itself. More likely the issue is with energy hogs like major appliances or space heaters that are wired to the same circuit. “Appliances that heat or cool tend to draw a lot of power,” says Burke. So dimming could be caused by a washing machine drawing current to heat water. Consult an electrician about moving lights to different circuits or installing dedicated lines for major appliances.

3. Funny odors. A new appliance may produce an off-odor the first few times it’s powered up. But if you detect an odd smell coming from an outlet, turn off and unplug anything connected to it. Don’t use it again until you’ve had a qualified electrician check it out. If your fuse box or breaker panel has a weird odor, call an electrician right away.

4. Sparking. This is never a good sign. How you deal with it depends on where it’s coming from. If a breaker panel, fuse box or outlet is sparking, get an electrician in ASAP. But a sparking appliance may mean that the fixture itself is damaged, in which case you should call an appliance repairperson. He can test the appliance and usually the outlet that powers it as well. A service call from a repairperson is likely to be cheaper than one from a licensed electrician. Plus, if the appliance is new, it may even be repaired under the warranty.

5. Hot outlets or switch plates. “Even when an appliance is meant to produce heat (like a toaster or space heater), the outlet that powers it should never become hot,” says Burke. Electric current may make a switch plate slightly warm to the touch, but if the outlet is uncomfortably hot, turn off whatever is plugged in and try it in another outlet. If the outlet grows hot even without anything plugged in, it may be wired incorrectly. Consult an electrician, who may advise you to flip the breaker or remove the fuse for that outlet until your system can be serviced.

Related: How to Use a Space Heater Without Causing a Fire

6. Frequently blown fuses or tripped breakers. Circuit breakers and fuses are designed to fail as a way to prevent overloading. If a vacuum cleaner or hair dryer routinely trips a breaker regardless of where you plug it in, the appliance is the likely culprit. But if using a single outlet causes you to blow the same fuse repeatedly, the circuit is probably overloaded. Call in a pro to discuss upgrading the circuit or adding a new line.

7. Buzzing. What does electricity sound like? When things are working properly, nothing. Generally electricity flows smoothly and quietly between connections. But loose prongs, outlets or fraying wire can all cause the current to jump, producing a buzzing sound in the process. If you’re sure a sound is originating at an outlet, stop using it and call an electrician.

8. The wrong outlets in the kitchen or bathroom. Because water is an excellent conductor of electricity, kitchens and bathrooms both require special shock-resistant outlets called ground fault circuit interrupters (GFCIs). GFCIs typically have two small buttons at the center. If outlets in your kitchen or bathroom outlets look no different from those in your family room or bedroom, swap them out with GFCIs to add an extra layer of shock protection around water.

Does your home appear dull and tired? A small amount of landscaping can truly change the way your garden looks. Read the following article for your landscaping advice. Concrete driveway costs are low maintenance, attractive, and relatively inexpensive additions to your property.

Make the most of your yard look beautiful all year by growing a garden that incorporates all seasons. Select plants that offer visual appeal in summer, with some blooming in each season, according to the region in which you live. You can also pick trees with nice foliage or evergreens which make your yard looking lively all year long.

You want to use plants that need lots of sunlight in a shady area. You wouldn’t want to plant trees in small growth areas. Take time to do adequate planning to ensure that your plants do well where they can thrive.

Consult a professional for advice before you plant the first flower or shrub in your landscaping project.While it won’t be necessary to actually hire them to work on your yard, you can use their experience and knowledge to get the look you want. This step is especially important if you are inexperienced in landscaping.

This will just ends up costing you large amounts of money. You may want to consult with a landscaper, and pay them for the service, but doing the work yourself will save you a lot of money.

Buy on the Internet to get great discounts and enjoy a bigger selection while also saving money. There are lots of websites that sell well-made products at affordable prices. Make sure you check out customer reviews about products to ensure proper packaging is used when transported.

Measure the area you plan to make changes in before you start buying plants or other supplies. This will allow you to accurately determine how much stuff you need. This simple step can ensure you not buy too much or too little of materials.

Stop thinking that spending less on every item. If you always choose the cheapest material, they may not be of a high quality.If you are new to landscaping, a specialty store, while a little more expensive, and your supplies will be guaranteed.

It is often prudent to go cheaper with certain items. When dealing with mulch, containers and regular perennials, you will notice that there is not much of a difference between the pricier and less expensive versions. It is very important that you be sure to look over the plants.Plants that are sold at a deep discount may not have been given the water or care that they require.

It can be hard to grow flowers around a large shade trees you may have in your yard for shade. Instead of placing flowers you should consider a cover for the ground. This will add a lot of visual appeal and it’s very simple to care of as well. Some options for ground cover under trees include hosta and sweet woodruff.

Try using curved edges when you’re landscaping your yard. These rounded borders are more pleasing to the eye. When people look at your property from the sidewalk, they will see a softer design that stands in pleasant contrast to the sharper lines of the home itself.

Always keep your climate in mind when you will be using. You may have your heart set on a particular plant, but if it is not suited for your environment, that plant will never grow. Also take the amount of sun you get, your local wind conditions, and average rainfall when selecting plants.

Get some good advice from a professional guidance before you launch a serious landscaping project. It may cost you a little bit of money, and quite possibly a lot of effort, misery and money in the long run. A quick hour with a professional will get off right.

Complete your lawn or yard in segments. You can start with different sections or focus on different types of plantings.

Educate yourself on the techniques involved in landscaping design techniques. For example, use anchor plants to give your yard a flowing, to create a look of continuity. The texture of plants are also important variation and contrast to your design. There are quite a few books out there and websites that will help you to learn more about this.

Do not make changes.Plants look different during certain times of the year, and what may look ugly in the winter might prove to be extremely attractive in the spring or summer.

Don’t give up on landscaping just because you can’t do it all at once. You may find that a few well-chosen additions create a more appealing look than you had expected.

If you’re thinking about selling your home anytime soon, it is important that you update your landscaping to add curb appeal to the front of the home.

Don’t forget that you should have paths and walkways within your landscaping. An unattractive concrete sidewalk is a boring and ugly look. Change this up by using stepping stone patterned paths to make your landscape more attractive. These come in a variety of types and colors and are about the same cost as concrete.

You can save money on any plant purchases by buying plants through catalogs and websites. It is possible to order rare specimens more cheaply through the Internet than to shop at a nursery nearby. It is also very convenient to shop this way because the plants since they will be shipped to your house. Do not forget to include the cost of shipping when determining whether your purchase is a good buy.

Now that you’re familiar with a few tips on landscaping, your home won’t have to be dull-looking anymore. You can have a vibrant looking home that seems as if it were something out of a movie. Using these tips, your property can be reinvigorated, so use them wisely.

Why are people scared of fuses? Many people think that fuses are unsafe, but this couldn’t be further from the truth. A properly installed fuse is just as safe as a circuit breaker, but there are many reasons why fused homes can have problems, and I’ll discuss a few of the most common problems. We will give you instructions for safe, simple steps you can take while you are waiting for our qualified 24 hour electrician Melbourne to arrive to rectify the problem.

To start, how can I say that a properly installed fuse is as safe as a circuit breaker? A fuse will only handle the amount of amperage that it is rated for. If a fuse is rated for 15 amps and more than 15 amps passes through the fuse, a thin strip of carefully calibrated metal will vaporize, which opens the circuit (in other words, kills the power). A fuse will never allow more current to pass through than what it is rated for. Circuit breakers are designed to trip when too much current passes through for too long a period of time. Circuit breakers can be reset after they trip, which is a huge advantage over fuses, but they don’t add any level of safety.

Today, circuit breakers are used in homes instead of fuses. The main reason is because a circuit breaker can be re-used. Once a fuse blows, it has to be replaced. Old electric services will have fuses, and old electric services can have problems. This is why people get scared of fuses. A typical 60 amp fuse box might have one 240 volt circuit for an air conditioner or electric range, plus four more fuses for the rest of the wiring in the home. Compared to the minimum number of circuits required today, this is totally insufficient.

In a new home, a kitchen will typically have one circuit for the dishwasher, one for the disposer, two for the countertop outlets, one for the lights, and another for the microwave and fridge. This is a minimal installation, and many electricians will also put the fridge on its own circuit, and have another 240 volt circuit for an electric range. This adds up to nine spaces in an electric panel. The example I gave for an old 60 amp panel only has six spaces available for the entire house.

With today’s demand for electricity, old services are usually inadequate. To make up for this, occupants will often use fuses that are too large for the wires, which will keep fuses from blowing, but also creates a fire hazard. The photo below shows a wire that is only rated for 15 amps connected to a 30 amp fuse.

Oftentimes, several wires will be connected to a single fuse lug, but each fuse is supposed to have one wire. This is often referred to double tapping, or double lugging. This is a common defect for both fuse panels and breaker panels in Minneapolis and Saint Paul, and the repair is usually quite simple at a breaker panel, but not so for an overloaded fuse panel. When a fuse panel is overloaded, it probably needs to be replaced.

Double Tapping

Because of all the problems that can be found with fuse panels, insurance companies will often charge a premium for homes with fused services, or they’ll refuse to insure the home. If you’re buying a home with a fused electric service, you would do well to have the service upgraded. A typical service upgrade from a fuse panel to a breaker panel will be in the $1500 – $2000 range. The price will continue to go up if new circuits are added to the home, or other wiring upgrades are performed.

The bottom line is that there is nothing inherently wrong with fuses, but most old fuse panels have enough problems to warrant replacement.