Are you looking to upgrade your home with additional lighting? Whenever you want to install new lights inside or outside your house, it’s essential that you always hire a licensed electrical contractor. Installing new lighting is definitely not a DIY job due to the inherent risks involved, and it’s also not something you should attempt for a variety of other reasons. Read on to learn about the importance of hiring a professional electrician for your lighting installation needs.
Avoiding Safety Hazards
The most important reason you should always hire an electrician when you need to install new lights or any other electrical service is to ensure the work is done properly and safely. Even if you just want to swap out an old light fixture for a new one, you should never try to wire the new fixture yourself. You could get electrocuted as long as you shut the breaker off to the circuit you’re working on. Nonetheless, an improperly wired light fixture is still an extreme safety hazard.
The biggest concern when any electrical fixture isn’t wired properly is that the current can end up arcing and jumping between the wires. This can create sparks that can catch anything nearby on fire. When an electrical current arcs, it can also melt the sheathing on the wires and start a fire. Another concern is that you could end up with the light fixture short-circuiting, which causes the power to spike and can damage other parts of the circuit or anything connected to it. A short circuit will cause the breaker to almost instantly trip. However, you can still end up with the wires overheating or other damage occurring in the split second it takes for the breaker to trip.
Homeowner’s Insurance Considerations
This point somewhat goes hand-in-hand with the previous one. Homeowner’s insurance policies will generally cover damage or fires that occur due to electrical issues. Your insurance provider could find out that the damage occurred because you wired the new lights yourself instead of having the work performed by a licensed electrician. If so, you can be virtually guaranteed that they won’t pay anything.
That means you’ll be left having to pay much more than you originally would have to just hire an electrician to install the new lights. There’s also a high chance that your insurance company will then deem you high risk and drop you. Insurance companies also share information when you file a claim with a national database. You could file a claim that gets denied, and your insurance company may decide to drop you. If so, you could end up having a more difficult time getting a new policy from a different company.
Ensuring the Circuit Can Handle the Additional Load
You generally don’t need to have an electrical load calculation performed when just replacing a light switch. If you’re adding additional light inside or outside your home, on the other hand, you’ll definitely want to have an electrician perform this calculation. A load calculation involves measuring how much power an existing circuit and the electrical system are currently providing to ensure that they can handle the extra load of the new lighting.
If you’re wiring the new lighting to an existing circuit, you need to make sure that the additional load isn’t going to overload the circuit. If the circuit is already close to full capacity, you’ll end up having issues with the breaker frequently tripping. It typically won’t happen every time you turn the new lights on. However, the breaker will often trip if you have multiple other fixtures or small appliances on that circuit that are also currently receiving power.
If the circuit in the area where you’re installing the new lighting is near its maximum capacity, installing the lights will take additional work. The two primary options in this situation are to either install a new circuit and run additional wiring from the electrical panel to the lights. Or you could switch some of the things on the existing circuit over to a different nearby circuit. If you’re adding an extra circuit, you also need to have an electrician ensure that your electrical service panel can handle the extra load.
Even if the amperage of your panel is sufficient to handle the extra load, there may just not be room in the panel for another breaker. In this case, your options are to upgrade to a panel that has a higher amperage or to combine two of the existing circuits into one if possible.
Electrical Permit Requirements
Another essential thing to understand is that electrical permits and inspections are required for most types of work. You generally aren’t required to get a permit if all you’re doing is replacing an existing fixture with a new one. However, you typically do need to have a permit if the work involves making changes to your home’s wiring or electrical system in any way.
Installing new lighting anywhere always requires running at least some additional wiring. This means you need a permit before you can start the job and the new wiring will need to then pass an inspection once the work is finished. Similarly, a permit is required if you’re adding an additional circuit or making any changes to the existing circuits such as combining two circuits or switching anything from one circuit to another. If a permit is required for the work and you fail to get one, you can end up getting fined by the city or county if they ever find out.
Ensuring the New Lighting Is Up to Code
There are very specific code requirements that cover every aspect of a home’s electrical system. It’s always important to ensure that any electrical work you have performed meets the necessary code requirements. If the work requires a permit, it will have to meet code to pass the inspection. Even if a permit isn’t needed, you still want to make sure the work is done according to code.
The biggest issue if any part of your electrical system isn’t up to code is that it can be a headache if you’re trying to sell your house. You aren’t legally required to bring everything up to code before you can sell your house. However, you’ll still encounter issues if the home inspector finds the new lighting you installed isn’t up to code. What usually happens in this case is that the potential buyer will then want to negotiate the price so that it reflects how much it will cost to bring everything up to code.
Contact Us Today
Bryant Heating, Cooling, Plumbing & Electric is a family-owned and -operated company that’s been providing outstanding electrical services and heating and air conditioning services since 1940. We have locations in Louisville, Lexington, Evansville, Cincinnati and Bowling Green and are ready to help our neighbors in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana with all of their electrical installation needs.
If you’re planning on installing new lighting in your home, you can trust we’ll do the work correctly without cutting any corners. Our team will also determine whether a permit is required and obtain one for you if necessary. No matter what electrical or HVAC service you need, you can be certain we’ll do high-quality work thanks to our 100% service guarantee. To schedule a consultation and get help planning out your lighting installation project, contact us today.
