Many modern American homes were constructed significantly before many modern Americans were born. We have homes that have been around since the Victorian Era and before, with all that that implies. Many houses are rife with out of date, unsafe electrical wiring, insufficient or toxic insulation, or other structural problems best corrected for the health and safety of anyone currently living there. Flicking on and off the light switches is nowhere near sufficient as a way to test the efficacy of any home’s electrical wiring. The intricacies of electricity extend further than simple functionality.

Before the 1940s, electricity was often done in a knob and tube wiring style that is currently vastly out of date. People should not assume that previous tenants or homeowners updated their electricity systems without inspections, since repairing knob and tube wiring was very expensive years ago. Knob and tube wiring is unsafe and prone to problems, but it is also highly inconvenient. Home inspections and getting your home wiring checked can save families significant time, money, and heartache in the long run. People that live in houses constructed around or before the 1940s, and especially between 1880 and 1940, are strongly encouraged to get their homes inspected. Licensed electricians can tell you if the wiring in your home poses an increased risk of fire or electrocution on a large scale, or inefficiency and proneness to blackouts on a small scale.

Knob and tubing wiring was never fitted with a grounding conductor for safety back in the pre-War period. Knob and tubing wiring used to have advantages in terms of cost, but today, the price of labor tends to outstrip the cost of material. Many knob and tubing wiring systems do not have enough branch circuits to suit the needs of a typical modern household, and will strain to supply the necessary electrical load. The amount and intensity of electrical equipment required by an Information Age resident substantially outstrips anything the people of the 1940s could have expected. Knob and tubing wiring left over from decades previously may well have been damaged further by renovations over the years, wear and tear, and various household pests, which only increases the risk of problems.

There are very few situations where a knob and tubing wiring system is legally installed today, according to building codes. Insurance companies are increasingly denying coverage to homes that have not upgraded their wiring from knob and tube wiring to a more modern power cables system. Updating your home’s wiring can add a substantial amount of money to your resale value, so families will increase the value and safety of their homes by updating them to meet modern electricity specifications.

Your landscaping is the first thing people see when they arrive at your house and the last thing they see when they leave. Lighting can make or break the way your house looks and feels. A dark, dreary house is going to look uninviting to some, but will look very inviting for those who will take advantage of the darkness. It is important you make your home inviting as well as safe with the installation of landscape and security lighting by an electrician. Pasadena homeowners can rely on The Electric Connection to help them transform their home’s yard into one that is beautiful and safe.

There are plenty of options when it comes to lighting up your yard and landscaping. You can choose to go with nice and bright or low and subtle. Mounted security lights are an excellent option and can easily be installed by your Pasadena electrician. Many of these lights are equipped with motion sensors. As soon as you step outside or pull your car into the driveway, the area will be flooded with light. This means you won’t have to worry about fumbling in the dark while you look for a switch.

Pathway lights and lights that shine on a particularly special point of interest in the yard are also excellent options. These add a layer of safety as well as make it look a little nicer. Solar lights are easily placed, but your electrician in Pasadena will tell you electric lights are a little more reliable. They also stay bright throughout the night while many of the solar lights will fade and become dim by the wee hours of the morning. Electric lights give you full control and will last for years. Give The Electric Connection a call today and get your outdoor lighting installed before spring arrives.

You may have heard the term GFCI from your electrician before. But what exactly does it mean? And is that type of outlet really necessary in your home or building?

We all know that water and electricity don’t mix. That’s what makes electrical outlets in kitchens, bathrooms, and other rooms where water is used so tricky. To reduce the chance of electrocutions, burns, and shocks, virtually all North American building codes require that ground fault circuit interrupter outlets (GFCIs) be installed where there is water nearby. GFCI outlets have a built-in circuit breaker that instantly stops the flow of electricity when it senses a surge.

A GFCI outlet not only helps keep you and your family or building occupants from getting shocks and burns, but it helps prevent electrical fires. In the even that there is an electrical fire, it can lessen the severity and any damage.

A GFCI outlet is important not only to meeting local building code requirements, but also to help prevent potentially-fatal accidents.

GFCI outlets are designed with a red button that activates the outlet after the built-in breaker is tripped, and a black button that tests the outlet to make sure that the breaker is working properly. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) recommends that all ground-fault circuit interrupter outlets be tested in the following intervals:

To test your ground-fault circuit interrupter outlets, plug a lamp into the outlet. Turn the lamp on and push the black test button. If the lamp goes out, the outlet is working properly. If the lamp remains lit, contact a licensed electrician to evaluate the problem. Electrical and wiring issues make poor DIY projects and are best left to electricians who are trained to safely handle electrical current and wiring.

At Kolb Electric, we want to help you keep your home or building safe in the Maryland, Northern Virginia, and Washington, DC areas. We can save you time by inspecting and testing all of the ground-fault circuit interrupter outlets in your interior space and addressing any electrical issues we may discover during the tests. To learn more about electrical safety and GFCI outlets and/or to schedule a service appointment, call us at 877 287-1179. We’ve been helping Mid-Atlantic homeowners like you with their electrical needs since 1925.

In a crowded home where every family member has a cell phone and a tablet, electrical outlet space can be in high demand. And even if there’s plenty of outlet space to go around, the clunky chargers for these devices can clutter countertops and disrupt what could otherwise be streamlined workspaces.

If the glut of USB chargers has got you down, worry not -- you can simply upgrade a few of the outlets around your home to USB combo outlets and put away those chargers for good.

A New Kind of Outlet

USB combo outlets are a lot like the ones you already have around your home, but instead of just two electrical outlets, there are one or two USB outlets squeezed in between. By upgrading, you’ll be able to plug your phones, tablets and other devices directly into the wall with only a USB cable.

With the chargers out of the picture, there’s no worrying about whether a bulky charger will cover up both outlets. And as an added bonus, these outlets may charge devices faster than other USB connections, depending on the amperage in your home.

Take Your Pick

USB combo outlets were difficult to come by just a few years ago, but they’ve become ubiquitous enough that there are now numerous manufacturers, designs and features to choose from. Some models have no electrical outlets at all and four USB outlets instead. If you have a home office or another area of the house where you’re always charging multiple devices, this design will allow you to get lots of charging power in one small space.

The increasing popularity of combo outlets is bringing down the price, too. Most models are available for less than $25 per outlet, and some can be found for as little as $10.

Combo outlets are also winning favor with home builders, who are increasingly making them standard in strategically placed areas of the homes they build.

Make It Fit

Before you get too excited, there may be a catch, especially if you live in an older home. While it’s true that these outlets save space by removing the need for an adapter, combo outlets take up a bit more space behind the wall. Most models are more than twice as deep as a standard electrical outlet. As a result, the existing junction boxes for your outlets might not be big enough to accommodate the upgrade.

All is not lost if this is the case -- junction boxes can be replaced, but this may require some cutting and patching of the wall around the outlet. An electrician should be able to quickly determine whether this kind of work will be necessary to make USB combo outlets fit.

You may also need to factor your home’s amperage into your expectations of charging speeds. The electrical systems in most modern homes will charge devices quickly, but older systems may not quite have the juice to save you charging time. It’s also possible for combo outlets to charge devices more slowly if multiple USB ports are in use simultaneously.

If you’re thinking about upgrading the outlets in your home, reach out to your trusted local electricians today for a no-obligation consultation.