Some home improvement projects, such as light plumbing and remodeling, lend themselves to DIY pretty easily. Larger jobs usually require highly specialized training and should only be done by a professional. This is especially true of electrical work, which is both difficult and potentially very dangerous.

What this means, of course, is you have to find a contractor you can trust! To choose a reliable contractor, it’s essential to find someone who is:

We’ll go into more detail on these:

The two most important aspects of any electrical job are safety and electrical system reliability.

Just as important as their technical skill is the electrician’s reputation. Search the internet for reviews, or ask friends and neighbors if the electrician you’re hiring does a good job and is fairly priced. It’s easy to be swindled by companies who offer rock bottom prices but deliver rock bottom service – you need to find a company that will do the job right for a reasonable budget.

Every electrical job is different, and if your electrician doesn’t know how to accommodate your particular needs, you could be in trouble. Make sure you find a contractor who has the experience and the know-how to do your specific job correctly the first time.

Finally, ask about the contractor’s warranty and insurance – and make sure you get it in writing. Does the electrician guarantee the work will meet code requirements? Will the company correct work that does not meet applicable standards? Insist on getting a written estimate as well as a copy of the contractor’s insurance certificate. Make sure your proposal or contract specifies that the work to be performed will comply with the NEC and NEIS.

If you need electrical service in Maryland, DC or Northern Virginia, the choice is clear – Kolb Electric! We have been providing electrical service throughout the area since 1925 and are the experts in our field. Don’t wait – call today!

If you want to achieve flexibility of loading different electrical appliances in your home, implement the following approaches. The electrical conduits practices recommended here meet NEC guidelines guaranteeing proper load growth for both commercial and residential buildings.

If you expect the load on your house, office, establishments, or other buildings to increase in future, consider using at least 12 AWG conductors. Ensure that they have protection of 20-amp circuit breakers and are designed with a 15-amp load standard each.

In addition, consider implementing these measures on wires and cables to increase the optimal performance of your circuit conductors.

To allow the normal length of lamp cords and other wire cables, the NEC Code recommends more than six feet of distance between the point on a wall and an appliance receptacle. In applications such as kitchen countertops, electricians should wire receptacle outlets some twelve feet or four feet apart.

The biggest challenge here is the difficulty in predicting how items such as furniture in your house will be arranged. Additionally, there may be an inadequate number of outlets at various locations. Evidence for this can be seen in the outlet power strips that today’s equipment use.

In locations where you can expect a huge load, such as computer workstations, offices, and home entertainment, the use of Quadruplex receptacles is an ideal solution. Reducing the number of receptacles that a single circuit uses will limit the installation and use of sensitive equipment. It also positively affects circuit conductors, voltage drop, chance of interaction, and reduces the likelihood of harmonics accumulating to harmful levels.

If your home has a large kitchen and multiple bathrooms, you need additional circuits that go beyond the minimums of the NEC Code. This effectively maintains the high-capacity appliances that characterize these rooms.

In addition, limit the number of use receptacles per circuit. For example, a 15-amp circuit can run 1800 Volt Amps when working at 100 per cent rate. While NEC recommends using circuits at 80 per cent rate, this translates to 1440 Volt Amps.

For some reasons, NEC requires a high number of circuits for use in most commercial and residential buildings. The Code recommends that sensitive electrical appliances, high-capacity loads, and equipment that cause poor quality of power obtain power from individual circuits. This separation eliminates the interference with equipment on a common circuit.

Where individual branch circuits are installed, the harmonicas generated in other circuits are shielded from coming in contact with sensitive equipment. In addition, this prevents the high neutral currents from sensitive electronic appliances to those circuits, effectively eliminating the likelihood of incorrect operation and voltage drop.

Raceways provide the ease of upgrading conductors efficiently and give electricians the freedom to pull conductors through a building. Therefore, let spare raceways and safety electrical material is installed during construction to allow an easy installation of conductors in the future.

As appliances and equipment advance over time, the lighting and switching mechanisms in your house or building should anticipate future modifications. For example, motion detectors and other electronic lighting devices require a small standby current to remain in their optimal state.

Therefore, install the following solutions for safety switches and lighting appliances right from building construction.

These applications are necessary if you want to reduce the load on the circuits in your house. If you have not implemented them yet, call a reputable electrician today to overhaul the electrical conduits. While this protects the electrical wiring from possible hazards, it also safeguards the assets in your house or building.

With the spring weather upon us, it is time to get outside and really enjoy the outdoors. Although it stays lighter longer, the evenings are still warm and beckoning, even though it is a bit dark. For early birds, getting up with the sun is exciting and invigorating. This is the time they like to go out and get the paper, water the blooming flowers or just sit outside and enjoy the sounds of nature when they are not masked by the hustle and bustle of life. If you have been out and about in the early mornings or late at night, you have probably noticed your outdoor lighting. Is it looking a little boring or maybe just a little too dark? An electrician in Burbank, like those at The Electric Connection, can help you revamp the outdoor lighting and make your yard much more inviting and safe.

When you step out your front door, you want to be able to see around the yard and if your car is in the driveway, being able to get a good clear view. This can be achieved with new lighting installed by your electrician. Burbank homeowners will appreciate the safety that comes with adequate and attractive lighting around these areas.

In the backyard or on your porch or patio, you will want enough light to read the morning paper, do a crossword or to talk with someone while looking at their face. It also allows you to see where you are going and whether or not the chairs are wet with dew. A little lighting installed by a Burbank electrician can completely change the way a space looks and feels. You will be inclined to spend more time outdoors when you know you can see clearly. Give The Electric Connection a call today and see what changes and upgrades you can make to your outdoor lighting.

How do tripped circuit breakers happen in the first place? An overloaded circuit is the most common reason for a breaker tripping and usually happens when a circuit has more electrical load connected to it than it really should have. Let’s say you have a 15 Amp circuit breaker that is protecting a 15 Amp circuit. If 20 Amps of current start flowing through it because a toaster, TV, radio and space heater were all connected to the same circuit and were on at the same time, then what you’re left with are tripped circuit breakers aimed to prevent overheating of the circuit.

Allow Kolb Electric, one of the premier electricians in Alexandria, Arlington, Fairfax and all of Northern VA, to guide you through the process of resetting tripped circuit breakers, which is actually quite easy.

If your breaker continues to trip immediately after you’ve reset it, this is indicative of a direct short. Do not try to reset your breakers at this point. If these steps don’t help you resolve your tripped circuit breaker problem, it’s time for you to contact a quality electrician in Virginia who can uncover the source of the problem, which could be due to one of the following: