this post was submitted on 06 Nov 2023
327 points (97.1% liked)
Asklemmy
43963 readers
1956 users here now
A loosely moderated place to ask open-ended questions
Search asklemmy ๐
If your post meets the following criteria, it's welcome here!
- Open-ended question
- Not offensive: at this point, we do not have the bandwidth to moderate overtly political discussions. Assume best intent and be excellent to each other.
- Not regarding using or support for Lemmy: context, see the list of support communities and tools for finding communities below
- Not ad nauseam inducing: please make sure it is a question that would be new to most members
- An actual topic of discussion
Looking for support?
Looking for a community?
- Lemmyverse: community search
- sub.rehab: maps old subreddits to fediverse options, marks official as such
- !lemmy411@lemmy.ca: a community for finding communities
~Icon~ ~by~ ~@Double_A@discuss.tchncs.de~
founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
I disagree.
It's rare to hear of someone killing or injuring themselves working on home electrical fixes. I'm pretty old and can't even recall an incident. Most people won't do it because they do have enough fear not to play around with it. But if you do know enough, you know how incredibly simple it is to replace an outlet or light switch and how to do it safely. Even a overhead light or fan is pretty trivial. Also the US 120v standard is less likely to cause harm with a stupid mistake than some other countries that have higher voltages. I'm thankful the states allow homeowners to do this themselves.
There are definitely things people shouldn't do with a license, but swapping switches and outlets is more trivial than changing the oil on your car.
Indeed. I've DIY'd all of that and then some, and especially in the age of YouTube in which you can find a hundred videos from electricians that have been around as long the light bulb, it's some of the simplest home repair/upgrade you can do. And although you do need to respect the inherent danger of working on currents like this, electrical is actually pretty easy to understand for the types of home upgrade/repair like this you might attempt.
Just be mindful of what you can and cannot do based on local regulations. You definitely don't want to have your house burn down and your home insurance tell you to kick rocks because there was a code violation somewhere, even if it didn't cause the fire.
Swapping switches and outlets is more trivial than changing the oil on your car if you turn off the breaker first.
And to be clear, I'm not saying that the US should adopt laws like Australia. I'm saying that I understand why Australia adopted those laws.
I do know how to do the basics. I've installed smart switches and outlets, doorbell cameras, ceiling lights...I haven't had cause to do an overhead fan, but I'm pretty confident I could manage it.
I'm glad I have the ability and legal right to do so. But electrical fires destroy 51,000 homes a year, and most of those are caused by faulty or poorly-installed components or wiring; and that in particular can affect not only you, but people who live with you and even neighbors as well. And the U.S. CPSC estimates 400 non-professionals die of electrocution every year.
Add to that that, as you say,
...but those who don't are split among the people who know what they're doing and the people who are too stupid to see the risk. Is the danger caused by the idiots worth banning it for everyone? I don't think so, but I understand and respect that decision for Australia.