In my 27 years, I have heard these questions a lot: “Why is it so hard to find the top electrician for my electrical repairs? There are so many choices and my problem seems so easy, any electrician should be able to do it. Does it matter who I call? Aren’t all electricians the same? How do I find an expert electric man?” – Nick Shaeffer

The answer is no – not all Twitter, Google Plus.

If you own a home in Maryland, Virginia, or Washington, DC, you likely need the services of an electrician periodically. Maybe you’ve bought a new appliance and need a new outlet. Maybe you’re adding a new room to your home or you’ve purchased an older home that needs the wiring to be updated. Whatever your electrical needs, it’s important to find an experienced electrician who can complete the job safely and effectively.

Finding the best electrician possible is important to completing your job successfully, safely, and at a price you can afford. Start by eliminating anyone who is not licensed. To be licensed in Virginia, Maryland, and/or Washington, DC, an electrician needs to go through extensive training, work as an apprentice, and pass a licensing test. They also must keep current on the latest technology, code requirements, and procedures in order to keep their licenses.

However, not all licensed electricians are equal. You’ll want to ask for references from any electrician you’re considering hiring. Be wary of any companies that hesitate or refuse to offer references. You can likely eliminate those from the list of the best electricians immediately! For more information on finding a good electrician in the DC region, read our recent blog.

If you need an electrical contractor in the DC area, Kolb Electric is the best electrician for the job. All of our workers are licensed electricians, and we’ve been helping area home and commercial building owners like you with their electric needs for nearly 90 years. We are a full-service electrical contractor, and we are happy to tackle any electrical project, from installing a new outlet to rewiring an entire house. Plus, we offer our repair services 24/7 for any emergency.

To see how what makes Kolb Electric the best electrician for residential and commercial projects in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, DC, check out or testimonials or call 877 287-1179 to schedule your appointment.

Have you ever received a nasty shock when your electric bill arrived? Maybe the amount you owed skyrocketed when you turned on the air conditioning for the summer, or the refrigerator started breaking down and consumed an excess of electricity. No matter what the cause of your sky-high electric bill, once you use the electricity, you have to pay for it. One way you can get a heads-up on any unusually high consumption is to keep an eye on your electric meter. Read on to learn how to read the meter so you are prepared when the bill shows up at your door.

Is Your Meter Digital or Dialed?

If you're lucky, you have a newer electric meter with a digital display, making it a cinch to see how much current is coming in. Simply compare your consumption from one month to another and you'll quickly be able to figure out if you're using up more energy than normal.

Traditional electric meters are a bit trickier to read, but you don't have to be an electrician to decipher them. These older meters have dials instead of a digital display, and they don't all spin in the same direction. With a little practice, however, you can figure out how much power you are using and get a ballpark idea about what the bill will be.

Spinning Clockwise, Spinning Counterclockwise

On a traditional electric meter, there are five dials that go between 0 and 9. To read the meter, follow these steps:

There's one more twist -- if the dial is pointing exactly to a number, and the next dial to the right points to a nine, you should subtract one from the dial that points to the exact number.

Now you've got your reading, and you can simply track how much it changes from month to month to get a handle on your energy use.

Getting Smart About Your Meter

If your utility has already implemented smart electric meters, it's even easier to follow your consumption. Not only is the display in easy-to-read digital form, but the meter can provide updates on how much you're using as often as every fifteen minutes. That way, you can get an alert in real-time if your usage spikes so you can track down the culprit before you have to shell out a fortune in bills.

In addition to monitoring your own consumption, it's a good idea to watch the meter so you will know if the utility company accidentally overcharges you. If you need any help figuring out how to read your meter, contact a trusted electrician today.

Other parts of the country may be warming up and getting ready to use our air conditioners, but we’re still relying on our heaters to get us through more than a few chilly nights. So if yours begins to malfunction, you may start to panic. This is understandable, but know that if you’ve had your system maintained before the heating season began, it may likely not even be an issue with the system itself.

Instead, you may be in need of Newton, MA electrical wiring services for some component of your heater. Keep reading to learn more about how your heater can be impacted by electrical issues.

This applies to both electrical furnaces as well as boilers. Both of these systems use heating elements—a set of coils that burn hot as a current passes through them—in order to raise the temperature of the air (furnaces) or water (boilers).

Both of these systems contain more than one heating element. Therefore, if you one fails you likely won’t lose your heat entirely, but your heater won’t be able to work as efficiently as it otherwise would.

If you’re utilizing a heat pump, then this is the most common electrical problem you might run into. Capacitors are cylindrical devices about the size of a soda can, responsible for sending electrical charges to the motors to start and keep them running.

Capacitors can burn out after years of use, or suffer from wiring issues, causing the heat pump to “hard start” (draining power) or quit functioning all together. You’ll need a professional to replace the damaged electrical capacitors.

Even if you have a heater that runs off of natural gas, oil, propane, or geothermal power, it’s going to have an electrical thermostat controlling it. Thermostats with failing wiring will begin to malfunction, often incorrectly registering your home’s temperature or failing to accurately set the heater. If your heater is failing to reach its target temperature with no other signs of a problem, your thermostat wiring could certainly be to blame.