Part of me knows that my kids have no idea of how good they’ve got it. Plenty of things they have today would seem like space-age technology when I was their age in the ’80s. The shows you want to watch, whenever and wherever you want to watch them. Literally the entire collected knowledge of humanity available in your pocket. Or how about the ability to summon just about any song ever released just by shouting at a tiny little robot?
Smart home tech has truly made a world that gives my family more convenience than we know what to do with it all.
But all that convenience doesn’t come without a cost.
When we think of smart home tech, the obvious concerns come up—privacy concerns with hackers always around causing trouble. Or concern over what your kids will discover by accident without the proper parental controls in place. But the one thing we never think about is the safety you need with smart tech, with so many of us consumers woefully underqualified to know what we need to do to get it right.
You Can Power Your Home—But Make Sure You Do it RIGHT.
Despite being a homeowner, I’m not exactly handy. I’m figuring it out as I go, but beyond upgrading the odd light switch, I don’t really see a promising future doing any of my electrical work at home.
But there are plenty of people who deal with the dangerous work for a living, and the Electrical Safety Authority wants to help you make sure you’re using a licenced electrical contractor!
The ESA wants to help you Power Your Home—to help you keep up with the latest trends and connected home devices for your home and backyard renovations while doing it in a way that’s electrically safe.
Some stuff’s more obvious, like getting a video doorbell system that matches the wiring layout of your home or making sure you have the right outlets and/or batteries to power your outdoor cameras and equipment. But some is stuff I’d never even considered, like making sure you’re powering your AI assistants out in the open and not locked away in a cupboard to avoid the risk of overheating or fires. Or making sure that you have the right circuits or amperage for your home entertainment system. There can be a lot to figure out, and who better to help you with that than a Licensed Electrical Contractor?
The Licensed Electrical Contractor—SHOCKINGLY Good at What They Do!
Licensed Electrical Contractors—or LECs for short—are the only businesses legally authorised to do electrical work for hire in your home.
I mean, you could try to do it yourself with the right permits, and there are many who advertise to do electrical work for cheap, but here’s the problem—they’re not properly licensed and it could put your family’s safety at risk. You want an electrical contractor who has their licence number displayed and will provide you with a Certificate of Inspection, too. When it comes to electricians who know what they’re doing and won’t leave you liable if something goes wrong, get yourself an LEC. It’s just worth it. ESA will even help you find one near you!
The Electrical Safety Authority—They Have Your Back… Even When You Don’t Know You Need the Help!
As unbelievable as it might sound—especially if you’re from Vancouver or Toronto—getting a home is the easy part. You just spend everything you have on a downpayment, sign a bunch of papers, and voila! That’s that! But it’s maintaining the home where the real work comes in, and where you start understanding your limitations.
We aren’t our parents’ generation, who’d spend their free time on home renovations endlessly until they got their homes just so. We keep busy in entirely different ways, relying on skilled professionals to help us out with the things we simply can’t do ourselves. And just like you’d ask a cobbler to fix your broken heel or a mechanic to look at your car, if you’re doing electrical work, an LEC is just the way to go.
But I think you get the point.
Now, me? I ought to get back to my life at home to hang out with my sons, my wife, and the fifteen devices connected to our router on a slow day.
Electricity. Get it right the first time.
Make smart decisions, y’all, and until the next, I remain,
Disclaimer: I wrote this piece in partnership with the Electrical Safety Authority for their Power Your Home campaign and was compensated for my efforts. But as always, all thoughts and opinions remain my own.
