Benefits of multiple safety switches

Safety switches play a vital role in the well-being, health and safety of the occupants of the home. In the event of a leak within the electrical current from either an appliance or from wiring touching something it's not supposed to the safety switch will cut the power off in less than a second. This can save lives and ultimately families.

Multiple safety switches

Have you ever turned an appliance on like a toaster or hairdryer and the entire house has lost power as a result? This is due to only having one safety switch being responsible for all current leaks across multiple circuits. Speak with your local electrician about increasing the number of safety switches in your home.

Reasons safety switches trip

• Appliances: Over time appliances can become faulty and no longer work the way they are intended to. An easy way to tell if your safety switch is being tripped by an appliance is after your safety switch has been tripped unplug all of your appliances and turn the safety switch back on. Then one by one plug your appliances in and turn them on, when you get to the problem appliance the power will trip.
• Nuisance: This can come from bugs and ants creating a nest within powerpoints both inside and outside the home. Water features can be quite well known for nuisance tripping due to having a submersible pump which when seized from being underwater constantly can cause tripping. Other things such as a washing machine or dishwasher that leaks can be enough to cause the trip. Fault finding can help to locate these issues.
• Faulty Wiring: Older homes have older-style wiring which can cause unnecessary tripping. One of the only ways to fix this kind of nuisance tripping is to have your entire home rewired using modern wiring.

Fact: A broken safety switch will 9 times out of 10 not trip at all when there is a fault. You should test your safety switches regularly and if it doesn't trip when testing or if the test button gets stuck then you need to replace your safety switch.

How many safety switches do I need?

It is recommended to have a safety switch for every circuit that you have in your home. This would typically be one for lighting, one for power points, and one for hardwire appliances such as dishwashers and ovens. Having multiple safety switches will stop the entire home from blacking out when an appliance or product faults.

More information on electrical safety switches

If you would like more information on the installation process or would like to book one of our expert electricians to install additional safety switches give us a call today at 1300 016 671.