Do You Really Need to Hire an Electrician?

There are some important, but risky household electrical jobs that you should definitely consider hiring an electrician for.

While replacing a faulty bulb isn’t very dangerous, changing a switchboard is. Therefore, the responsibility for major jobs like this should be left to a trained electrician. Below is a list of household tasks that you should leave to the professionals.

• Installing or changing a light fixture  is a tricky task which requires you to meet local codes and additional safety requirements. While it can be done by non-professionals, you are probably better off leaving it to an electrician.
• While small appliances like a microwave can just be plugged in, major electrical appliances like air conditioners, electric ovens, heating units, geysers, etc. should be installed by a professional.
• There are a number of large appliances, like fridges, which you can plug in yourself. However, if you want to put these appliances in a part of the house where they were not previously, special circuits may need to be installed by an electrician.
• Changing a faulty switch, or installing power outlets and sockets requires some advanced skills and knowledge of local codes.
• There is no other way but to hire an electrician if you need to install residential safety features like a ground connection or a ground fault interrupter (GFI or GFCI)
• Voice, data, and video (VDB) cables are low voltage cables that support internet connections, land phone, entertainment systems, etc. These can be installed by non-professionals, but it is usually done by an electrician.
• Electricians with a specialty in security and surveillance are needed if you are planning to install CCTV, security alarms or fire alarm systems.