Electrical Heaters for homes
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Intermatic Home 240Volt Electric Water Heater Timer Automatic Control For Heater $75.99 |
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ELECTRIC 9KW BATH SAUNA HEATER FOR HOME STEAM SHOWER SPA WITH DIGITAL CONTROLLER $234.95 |
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ELECTRIC 9KW BATH SAUNA HEATER FOR HOME SHOWER SPA $244.95 |
At risk for electrical fire?
I smelled a plastic smell, the kind I had smelled in years past with electrical cords. The smell came from a light switch on the living room wall, the kind that dims. I also noticed the metal cover plate on the switch felt warm and a little buzzing noise could be heard. However I swear I’ve always heard that noise coming from that switch.
We just bought this 1947 home, and moved in August of this year. All of the electricity is outdated, however now I worry this was a warning of a potential fire.
What should I do? That is reasonably priced? This house has cost me everything this first month alone, dry rot in the entire bathroom floor, entire pipping system beneath home leaking…water heater shot….I cannot afford too much more. Help, and thank you.
Yes, this is a potential fire hazard, and needs to be replaced. The good news is, a new dimmer can be had for $10-15 US. It’s really complicated to do, there are only 2 wires to worry about 
It may be overloaded, but I would doubt that, given the age and condition of your house, I would guess it just got old and went bad. Still, it would not be a bad idea to total up the wattage of all the lights controlled by that dimmer to make sure its capacity is not being exceeded. That’s why us electricians like watts, you just add!
Usually, the new dimmer switch will have wires coming out of the back, make sure you use “wire nuts” to slice these to the existing wire. Also, PLEASE make sure you have the circuit breaker turned off at the main breaker panel, and TEST the circuit to be sure it is not live before working on it.
