Electrical Safety During a Power Outage | Teems Electric

The dreaded power outage—it can happen at any time, even when there seems to be no apparent cause. In the summer, it means your home is going to get unbearably hot, and in the winter, it means it’s time to pile on the sweats.

Power outages also come with electrical risks that you need to be aware of in order to protect yourself and your home. Fortunately, there are lots of ways you can prepare for even the most unannounced outages.

Get Prepared

The first step in staying safe is preparing. During warm months storms are basically a given, so keeping a supply of water, extra medical supplies, flashlights and plenty of batteries is one of the best ways to ensure you are ready for any potential disasters.

If you have propane-based appliances such as a heater or stove for the cooler season, it is also wise to keep a store of fuel. Make sure to use only approved containers for this and keep it stored away from small hands.

Keep these emergency supplies, along with a hand crank or battery-powered weather radio stored somewhere near an interior room of your home that would be a safe place to shelter in the midst of a storm.

You should also consider investing in an emergency generator. While these can be expensive, there are lots of options to choose from.

If you live in an area that is at a high risk for hurricanes or tornadoes, a whole home generator that kicks in as soon as the power goes out might be a good investment. Other generators are portable and will take some time to set up, but they will keep you warm or cold until the power does come back on. Never use a generator indoors and always follow every manufacturer safety regulation.

In order to prep for even those outages that seem to have no explanation behind them, make sure your electronics are on surge protectors, or even consider adding home surge protection to your main breaker box.

Even if your power outage isn’t an extended one, your computers, televisions, refrigerators and other high-dollar electronics are at risk any time an electric spike happens.

Stay Safe After

Once the initial storm has moved on or a sudden outage doesn’t end quickly, it is crucial to keep yourself safe around electricity. Never go near downed power lines or enter flooded rooms.

If you need to do some cleanup in the yard, wait until any rain is completely passed and don’t use tools that may have gotten wet during the storm. Call your utility company so that power can be turned off at the meter before attempting any kinds of repairs.

If things don’t seem too serious and your home didn’t take on any damages, unplug as many of your electronics as you can. This will prevent a surge from doing any additional damages and helps you avoid circuit overloads.

While you may want to roam your house and turn any lights off that were on pre-outage, do leave at least one on so that you are not completely in the dark once the power comes back on.

One of the best things to remember during an outage is patience. Electric companies are working hard, day and night, to get things running again.

So pile on the layers (or pour a cold bucket of water over your head if it’s the summer) and bust out the board games and flashlights. When you have done everything you can to keep yourself and your home safe, you can enjoy the screen-free silence, even if just for a little while.

Ready to invest in a generator or other battery backups for your home? Contact us today!