If you are coming up to the cottage, Hydro One is sharing some tips for opening.
With the recent flooding and moreover the state of emergency, the electricity provider has prepared a checklist for anyone that is opening up their cottage for the first time. According to Hydro One’s Alicia Sayers, there are seven tips to follow “to safely open up your cottage this season.”
The first tip is to do a circle check as soon as you get there and inspect any power line going into the cottage. While doing that check it is important to look for any branches on the lines or even if the lines have grown close to the lines. If you do spot a downed wire, Sayers says you should stay at least one bus length away from it and call 1-800-434-1235.
Tip two is to make sure that if your cottage has experienced flooding, make sure there is no damage to electrical equipment. If you do spot damages contact Hydro One to be safely disconnected from the system. You’ll also need to hire a licensed electrical contractor to make the necessary repairs to your home’s electricity system. If work is required, you’ll need the Electrical Safety Authority to inspect it. Once the inspection has taken place, the ESA will let Hydro One know that we can reconnect your power.
The third suggestion is to do any maintenance around the cottage. Hydro One will disconnect the power once at no cost for maintenance purposes so work can be done on or near power lines safely.
Before going into the cottage, tip four is to check the meter for damages and report that damage report it to your local electricity service provider.
For tip five, it is suggested that before getting too deep in cottage use to check interior wirings and replace batteries in the smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors.
The second last suggestion is before turning on the power to your cottage, ensure all branch circuits are in the off position. Open the main switch and then energize individual circuits one at a time. Fill your water tank before switching on the power, to avoid damage to your water heater element.
Finally, Hydro One says it’s a good idea to sign up for outage alerts which you can find out more about on their website.
Written by Phil McCabe