When Renovating, Don’t Forget the Electrical System in Your Home

We humans are sight oriented. When we decide to renovate our personal space, the tendency is to focus on the parts of that renovation that we can see. That means we spend hours pouring over fabric swatches, rug samples, paint chips and in choosing the perfect fixtures. This is the cosmetic part of renovations, the part that advertizes our personal taste.

One of the most overlooked items in home renovation projects are those barely thought about unless needed electrical outlets. Do you know where the electrical outlets are in your home, and where those outlets are? Could they be placed more conveniently, or do you need more of them? Renovation time is the best time to take a good look at your electrical system and ask yourself these questions.

Consider the master bedroom outlets. The best scenario is to have one outlet on each side of the bed. The worst is to have two people trying to share one outlet that is directly behind the middle of the headboard. Reaching it sometimes requires moving or crawling under the bed or otherwise turning yourself into an amateur contortionist.

Having “his and hers” electrical outlets in master bathrooms makes life more enjoyable, as does plenty of counter space. Having an electrical appliance fall into the sink at the wrong time can be disastrous.

The kitchen is another area to be considered. Kitchen islands are becoming more popular and they indeed create more work space. Some of the fancier ones sometimes double as additional eating areas. Making sure your kitchen island is wired gives you someplace to plug in a coffee pot, toaster, or even warming trays for a buffet.

Heating registers are also often overlooked. To heat your home efficiently, there should be at least one in each room. Larger rooms require additional registers to insure the heat is distributed evenly and more quickly. Vaulted ceilings offer a feeling of spaciousness to a room, but they should have a ceiling fan for proper air circulation. Having a remote control for your heating, cooling and other appliances is a plus.

With the advent of wireless Internet, it is no longer necessary to wire the entire home for service. Consider putting cat-5 cable in the living room to handle one of the more advanced entertainment centers on the market.  You may want to similarly wire an additional room or two, especially if you have a home office or designated entertainment room.