Electrical Outlet Repair & Installation in Spokane

Every day, the average home relies on electricity to do practically everything. From watching TV, turning on the lights and running the refrigerator, families everywhere depend on electricity to conduct their daily functions. But electricity without the appropriate outlets is pretty much useless.

Broken outlets that cannot supply enough electricity to an appliance can be frustrating and dangerous. When a family is in need of having their outlets repaired or upgraded, they need the help of a local electrician to make this happen.

What’s new with electrical outlet installation?

There are quite a few outlet upgrades that you could make regardless of your home’s age. If your outlets are the standard two-prong models, you might be interested in upgrading to GFCI, USB, and/or smart outlets throughout your home. Consider whether any of the outlets featured below might be good for your home.

Switched Outlets

Such kind of outlet will have a port that also has a switch in it. The switch turns the power in the outlet on and off, so any appliance plugged into the outlet does not remain on at all times. Instead of having to unplug the device, all that is needed to do is to switch the outlet on or off.

GFCI Outlets

Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter outlets cut the flow of electricity upon detection of a short circuit or ground fault. This will guard you against electrocutions from water which is the primary reason they’re required for bathrooms, kitchens, and anywhere else near water sources. They look a lot like a regular outlet, but have two buttons that help to reset it once it’s tripped. If you live in an older home that has any outlet other than a GFCI outlet within six feet of a water source, call in a professional electrician to install them to prevent serious injury to your family.

AFCI Outlets

Such outlets became compulsory in 1999, and there may be no Arc Fault Circuit Interrupter outlets for homes older than this. In newer homes, AFCI outlets are installed at the electrical panel and play an important role in preventing electrical fires by keeping electricity from arcing from one wire to another. AFCI outlets can be installed in older homes either at the breaker box or at the beginning of each circuit.

20A Outlets

The average outlet will not supply enough power to every type of appliance and some large appliances require a larger amount of power. The laundry room or the kitchen usually have 20A outlets that supply the appliances with more power than regular ones. These outlets look like the regular ones, except they have a tiny horizontal slit on the left side to be recognized as a 20A outlet.

In case your breakers are frequently tripping or your appliance requires more power than outlets can supply, an electrician can upgrade your outlets to 20A to make your appliances work properly.

USB Outlets

A lot of modern devices require USB cords to power themselves but they can’t use regular outlets without an adapter, which is highly inconvenient. But fortunately, some outlet styles available today have USB ports integrated right into the outlet so that the user no longer has to be concerned about having an adapter handy. A USB outlet may have two regular ports along with two USB ports, or it may have four USB ports with no regular ports. Depending on what your family’s requirements are and the areas of the home where the outlets are needed, you can choose between these options and have the electrician install exactly what you want.

Smart Outlets

You don’t need switches with smart lights because everything that is plugged into the smart outlet can be controlled by an app or a smart-home speaker. This makes it easy to control your devices and even allows you to set schedules to turn them off and on when you want to.

When you’re away from home, you can set your lights to turn on and off at specific times, which makes it appear that someone is home. Some homeowners prefer outlets that can be programmed on a certain schedule to help control their energy use and electric bills. Smart outlets cost more than the standard two-prong variety, but they offer far more in the way of applications and benefits.

Outlets that aren’t working or have burn marks should be checked as soon as possible by a professional electrician. It can be dangerous to tinker with electrical problems when you have no full knowledge of it. You should find a good electrician that will deal with your electric work in order to avoid unnecessary danger.