Winter Safety for Your Commercial Electrical System

During the winter, your electrical needs differ from the summertime. The most significant difference regards the amount of heat used in the winter. However, shorter days also result in the more frequent use of electrical lighting. These changes warrant more caution when it comes to your electrical system. Here are a few particular things you should be mindful about:

Why You Should Know Commercial Electrical Safety

When it comes to your electrical needs, most of us are more familiar with how your electrical system at home works than with the one at your place of work. Usually, when something goes wrong at work, employees only need to report the problem to a maintenance department to get things working again. 

However, suppose you’re the owner or operator of a large business. In that case, you’re responsible for ensuring that every aspect of your company is in working order, so you should be familiar with the basics of winter safety for commercial electrical systems and how to respond when there’s a problem. 

Get Your Electrical System Serviced

The most significant difference between a commercial electrical system and residential services is the size of a commercial system and the increased power usage. In most commercial applications, your electrician will deal with a large building controlled by one central system. Consequently, when there is a problem, it impacts many people and will likely prevent them from doing their work. 

As in the case of your home electrical system, the best way to ensure that everything functions as usual is to ensure your electrical system is serviced by a professional commercial electrician regularly. During the winter months, we consume more power by using more heat and lighting. There is no time of year when an electrical system is under more stress; this is the perfect time for a checkup. 

Winter Electrical Safety at Your Business

Employees often resort to using a personal space heater when a commercial heating system is not functioning at its best, and offices get cold. While these heaters are small, they are also portable so they can be moved close to combustible items. 

The best way to prevent this danger is to ensure your heating system is working at full capacity. In such cases, you need a commercial electrician to install an adequate heating system to keep your employees warm. You should also take extra precautions to warn employees to keep your space heaters away from curtains and other objects and never leave clothing items such as winter hats or gloves sitting atop a space heater. 

Upgrade Your Emergency Lighting

A commercial electrician can also assess the safety of your electrical system and provide other services, such as installing new emergency lighting or power outlets. During the winter months, we experience less sunlight, which means that commercial properties require extra lighting – particularly outside your building in areas like parking garages. 

Extra lighting provides better safety since it helps to alert your employees of dangerous hazards like ice and helps to deter criminal activity around your building. You can contact an electrician to get an assessment of the best lighting upgrades for your place of work. 

Don’t Overload Electrical Outlets

When more electricity is required, people tend to plug in more electrical devices. When you need more outlets, the answer should not be to overload your plugs with extension cords and adapters. Any time you require more power outlets in your office to power more devices, you need to hire the services of a professional electrician to upgrade your power outlets. 

The winter season is the time of year when temperatures are colder, and you must practice proper electrical safety to protect your commercial property from disaster. Check with your electrician to ensure your electrical system is ready for winter.