Are you ready for those warm summer nights? Nights you will want to enjoy outside as you unwind underneath the stars. Have you considered making your backyard relaxation the ultimate experience by having a hot tub installed? If so, you are going to need to give your Burbank electrician a call to complete the installation process. Fortunately, you can count on the experienced and professional electricians at The Electric Connection to get your hot tub up and running in no time.

Hot tubs are an absolutely fantastic way to relax after a long day working out in the yard or slaving away at your job. Friends and family members will love popping over and sitting in the hot tub as you chat about the day and your plans for the future. The company where you buy the hot tub from will likely encourage you to hire an electrician for the installation of the hot tub. This is crucial to the safety of your hot tub and ultimately, your home.

You will need a 240-volt outlet to operate the hot tub. This isn’t a standard outlet. You will need to have one installed by an electrician. Burbank residents can choose where the hot tub is going to be placed, but it is important to consider the electrical needs. Conduit will need to be buried to make the hot tub safe to use. Consider the distance between the house and where you are considering placing the hot tub. Your electrician will need to do an inspection of your electric panel to determine if it is capable of supporting the additional outlet. If it isn’t, you will need an electric panel upgrade, which your electrician will take care of for you. If you are ready to start enjoying the great outdoors from the comfort of your own hot tub, give The Electric Connection a call today.

Technology moves faster than the blink of an eye these days, with each recent product purchase becoming obsolete mere months after it hits the shelves. The result? An electronic waste crisis, created by millions of used computers and mobile devices improperly disposed of into landfills. Electronic waste, or e-waste, dumped by the nation’s consumers adds up to a staggering 300 - 400 million electronic items per year, according to EPA estimates. Less than 20 percent of all electronics are recycled, the rest ending up in landfills to the detriment of our environment and our bodies.

The vast majority of materials used in computers, cell phones, and smart devices can be recovered to make new products, particularly since most devices are retired due to psychological, not technological, obsolescence.

Homeowners in Allen and other parts of North Texas know what time of year this is—and they keep the phone number for their top Allen electrician handy. Why? Springtime in North Texas is well-known for its potentially severe weather. Severe storms, along with extreme temperatures and lightning are just a few of the conditions responsible for rolling blackouts, power surges and power outages. Our weakened power grid and a growing population does nothing to alleviate the situation, which is why many turn to their top Allen electrician for tips on how to deal with the storm season.

Storm Season Tips

With the weather in North Texas being so unpredictable, how can you be sure that you are prepared to tackle what Mother Nature dishes out? Follow these simple tips to protect your home, your electrical system and your family from dangerous and frightening conditions.

#1 Have your electrical system checked regularly. With this storm season upon us, it is extremely important that you get in touch with your Allen electrician and have him look over your circuit breakers, wiring and outlets as part of his regular maintenance. Flaws in your electrical system, be it with breakers, wiring or any other aspect, combined with unpredictable weather, is the recipe for a very, very bad situation.

#2 Use power surge protectors on all your appliances. Did you know that, even a lightning strike that hits miles from your home can affect your appliances? Power surge protectors show up often in storm season tips everywhere, and there’s a reason why. Power surges can be deadly for your appliances and anything else hooked up directly into the outlet, particularly during lightning storms.

#3 Install a built-in surge protector on your circuit panel. This will protect everything hooked to the circuit panel from potentially damaging surges. Even when the power is restored after an outage, it often still does not come on right away; instead, it flickers, which shoots and cuts off electricity randomly to your appliances, ultimately causing damage.

#4 Always keep a weather radio handy. Weather alert radios are an invaluable addition to your home’s severe weather kit. In case of an emergency, an outage, lightning strike or blackout, you will have access to weather updates, evacuation information (if necessary), and instructions on how to keep your family and home safe in the event of bad weather.

#5 Invest in an indoor generator. Indoor generators are a great way to take a little pressure off of the overloaded power grid during a power surge or blackout. When there’s a blackout, the indoor generator kicks in, keeping a steady flow of electricity going to your home and keeping your appliances from getting damaged. Some generators are solar-powered, which can save you energy, time and money.

ElectricMan: Helping You Prepare

Severe stormy weather doesn’t have to be scary, inconvenient, dangerous or costly. Following these simple storm season tips can ensure that you and your family are spared the expenses and headaches that come with unpredictable weather in North Texas. For 27 years, ElectricMan has dealt with all sorts of electrical issues resulting from severe weather. Call us today at 972-301-2630 to learn more about how we can help you prepare for a stormy season. For more helpful tips on keeping your home’s electrical system running well, keep checking in with us at blog.electricmaninc.com or check out our website at www.electricmaninc.com today!

The world is getting more connected, and machines are collecting massive amounts of data about consumer habits. In the energy sector, the rise of big data is poised to revolutionize the way utility companies provide electricity to homeowners. That's good news for you – the more information you have at hand, the more opportunities you’ll have to save money. Read on to find out how big data may affect you in the near future.

Machines Learning the Patterns

Analyzing the patterns inside the enormous amounts of information provided by big data is known as machine learning. By letting computers do the heavy lifting, analysts can discover trends and efficiencies that no one would ever think to look for. Ultimately, what we learn from data analysis will trickle down and impact your interactions with any appliance or device that is electrical. Work conducted by machines will show humans the best way to move forward.

IntelligentUtility.com recently listed seven ways that machine learning can affect the relationship between you and your utility provider:

In the meantime, if you need tips about how to save energy or need electrical work performed on your home, call a qualified electrician today.

The first thing to consider when thinking about rewiring your home is the age of your house. In many incidents of house fires, the cause of the fire is traced back to the insulation surrounding wires in a home. If your house is more than 50 years old, you should give some serious thought to having it rewired, as homes older than this are those most likely to encounter such fires. At the very least, you should have the system inspected to verify its condition.

Are the outlets and switches in your home discolored? If so, this too is a sign that professional rewiring may be necessary. There may be shorts behind those outlets and switches that are causing arcing and sparks, which in turn can lead to small fires and this discoloration.

You are going to have to reset the circuits in your breaker from time to time. It should not, however, be an extremely frequent occurrence. If you notice that your circuit breaker is tripped very frequently, you may need to have the wires in your home replaced. Contact us to have the situation evaluated.