Don’t waste hundreds of dollars fighting a losing battle against the heat. Your air conditioner already has enough work to do. It doesn’t need to fight against the hot air trapped in the attic. You need an attic fan to give your air conditioner a hand and your wallet a break. You don’t have to suffer through another hot summer. A Beverly Hills electrician can help ease the heat of the summer in your house by installing an attic fan. If you have never heard of attic fans, give The Electric Connection a call.

Attic fans are designed to pull out the hot, stuffy air that collects between the ceiling of your home and the roof, which leaves it all trapped in the attic. The hot air is like a giant bubble that does not allow your home to ever really get comfortably cool. Not to mention, the hot air bubble is giving your air conditioner a really hard time. It will struggle to maintain your home at a cool 72 degrees and work harder than it should, which can cause a breakdown. Repairing an air conditioner can be very costly.

It makes sense to avoid the hassle and the heat by hiring an electrician. Beverly Hills homeowners can stay cool without paying a small fortune with the installation of an attic fan. An electrician will evaluate the best placement for the fan. Ideally, you will want it placed with the opening under an eave. The air in this area is cooler. The cooler air is pulled into the attic while the hot air trapped in the attic is pushed out. Depending on the size of the attic, you may need more than a single fan. If you want to learn more, give The Electric Connection a call today and schedule your appointment.

We Respect Your Time – Custom Electrical Services knows that we live in a extremely busy world with hectic schedules. When you call one of our Ames electricians we will have courteous and helpful team members take your call and work with you to schedule your appointment.  Our uniformed Ames electrician will arrive in a warehouse on wheels.  They will have the part needed for your repair and if for some reason they do not there is no additional charge to you.  Our electricians have 24 hour access to leading Ames supply houses as well as access to all Des Moines metro area suppliers. This not only saves you time but money as well.

 We Respect Your Schedule – Our electrician in Ames understand that you are making time in your busy schedule to have your electrical problems fixed. Our friendly electricians are prompt and professional and even give you a narrow time window so you don’t have to wait around on them all day. We Respect Your Business – Custom Electrical Services knows that you have choices; we respect your business and will always do the job right the first time. Our Ames electricians never take shortcuts and always use the highest grade materials available.  We understand how important your business is to you as ours is to us.  We want to build long term lasting relationships with our customers so they know they can always count on one of our electricians in Ames to for all there electrical needs.

 We Respect Your Safety – Custom Electrical Services doesn’t just send anybody to your Ames home or business, we send one of our trusted professionals.  Your safety is our number one concern.  That is why we make sure all our service professionals undergo stick 3rd party certifications.  Our electricians are Drug Tested, Background Checked, and Professionally Trained.

Electrician in Ames 24/ 7 Service Area Map

Our on call Ames electricians have a large service area.  We cover not only the Ames area but also the entire Des Moines, Iowa metro area.  Even if you live outside of Ames please do not hesitate to give us a call 24 hours per day.  We can cover areas outside of Ames.  Our on call Ames electrician get your home or business up and running in no time.  Service calls and repairs are not the only thing our electrician can do for you.  At Custom Electrical Services we wire over 300+ new construction homes each and every year.  Are you the general contractor on your home or working with a professional general contractor?  Make sure you have Custom Electrical Services bid your next project.  Our design team and put lighting layouts on your plan and make sure you have the latest and greatest options for your homes electrical.

It seems like every day some fantastic new “must-have” electronic device comes out. Is your home equipped to handle them all? Energy use in homes these days averages around 14,000 kWh (that’s kilowatt-hours) per year—up an astounding 636 percent since the 1950s and still growing! If you live in an older home in Maryland, Virginia, or Washington, DC, your electrical system may not be able to handle the increase in energy requirements. That’s why you might need a heavy up!

Service panel upgrades, also called “heavy ups,” will enhance your electrical panel’s capacity and make it safer to operate the variety of electronic devices you may have in your home.

Getting an electrical panel upgrade will provide you with a number of impressive benefits to improve your home’s electrical service all around, including:

Better Electrical Performance – do your lights flicker when you turn on certain appliances? Does your breaker trip frequently for no apparent reason? A heavy up will take care of these problems, providing a more consistent energy supply throughout your home.

Improved Electrical System Safety – while most new electrical panels are designed with safety in mind, the same can’t always be said for panels built 30 years ago. Overloading the electrical panel can lead to major fire hazards, many of which could cost you your home. An electrical panel upgrade can resolve these dangerous issues and improve the safety of your home.

Future Expansion — if you ever need to add circuits to your home, you’ll need a larger service panel. A heavy up gives you options, whether you need to really expand your electrical system (say by adding a new addition or central air conditioner) or you just need to add a few more outlets.

What does a heavy up entail?

Depending on your specific goals, you have a range of upgrades available for a heavy up. Some service upgrades are as simple as adding a few additional circuit breakers to the existing box, or expanding the box with a subpanel. More complex upgrades may include things like replacing a fuse box or an aging panel with one that allows for higher energy capacity. A Kolb Electrician can evaluate the condition of your current panel with any problems you are experiencing to determine how extensive your upgrades will be.

How long does an electrical panel upgrade take?

The time depends on the job. Adding additional breakers to an existing panel is usually pretty quick, often taking less than an hour. Installing a subpanel is not too complicated either, often taking no more than a few hours.

Where it starts to take a long time is when you need to make serious upgrades. If you need to replace a fuse box or circuit main, you could be looking at a job that takes all day.

Still asking yourself “Should I upgrade my electrical panel?” Let us help you decide! Already know you need a heavy up? Don’t let your favorite electronics put your home at risk—for electrical panel upgrades in Maryland, Virginia, or Washington, DC, call Kolb Electric at 877-385-0818 today!

Question:  How many psychiatrists does it take to change a light bulb?

Answer:  Only one…but the light bulb has to really WANT to change.

Maybe you’ve heard this joke before.  And, maybe you are tired of hearing light bulb jokes in general.  But, like it or not—Change is inevitable and the LED light bulb is leading the way.

Nearly a day goes by that we do not hear about light emitting diodes (LEDs) and the changes taking place in the lighting industry.

And, for good reason.  LED is changing the way we see the light.  The latest ceiling pendants, mini chandeliers, task lamps and outdoor light fixtures are accepting these new bulbs with tremendous gusto.  The lighting effects are becoming more versatile and redefining our vision of elegance.  The price of LED lamps is even coming down.

As LED light fixtures become more affordable and user-friendly, the choice of which bulb to use in your next lighting design will be clear…or frosted or soft white or blue…but it will be LED!

1.  LEDs lasts up to 50 times longer and use 80% less energy than old standard incandescent light bulbs.

2.  LEDs burn out slowly over time, so the dreaded pop and bulb blow out will be a blast from the past–something to tell your grandchildren about!

3.  LEDs radiate little to no heat and they hold up extremely well in harsh winter weather conditions.

4.  LEDs are eco-friendly; they do not contain toxic gas or emit harmful IR/UV radiation.

5.  LEDs are also referred to as “solid-state” lighting  (SSL) because they use semiconductors and are solid light sources; they are shatter-resistant and durable.

Embrace change. Learn the facts and put LED to work in your home or office environment.

√ Buy from a reputable dealer.  All LED bulbs are not created equal.  Through a process of “binning,” LED chips are sorted according to the quality and degree of luminescence.  Cheaper LED bulbs may be equipped with a lower quality chip that will not provide the brightest light and may burn out prematurely.

√ Look for Energy Star®-ratings to find LEDs of the highest quality.

Some of the latest LED innovations include designer mini pendants and ceiling fixtures from ELK Lighting.

You know that little meter outside your home that is fairly unattractive and unnoticeable until you hear it making a scary sound. The sound is the little dial spinning around and around. That dial spinning represents your money flying out the door. The dial is measuring the amount of electricity you are using in your house. A spinning meter can be a little scary and you will be dreading the next electric bill. When you think about this summer, it is easy to really get concerned about how much it will cost you to keep your home cool. An electrician in Glendale can help you manage your spinning meter and help keep some of that money in your pocket. The team at The Electric Connection is here to help.

These are 5 ways you can help limit your electricity usage and keep your electric bill down.

1-Make a commitment to set your thermostat at about 74 this summer. That is a comfortable temperature and you can maximize it by using a ceiling fan installed by a Glendale electrician to help stir up a breeze and circulate the cool air.

2-Buy a laundry rack and dry a few things outside on the patio to cut down on how often you use the dryer.

3-Be more conscientious about the amount of hot water you use. Don’t leave the faucet running while you wipe down cupboards or rinse dishes. Shave a few minutes off your shower time as well.

4-Switch out your old bulbs for the much more energy friendly LEDs. These tiny little bulbs use a fraction of the electricity of the standard bulb. You can also use CFLs. In some cases, you will need to have your light fixtures upgraded by an electrician. Glendale homeowners will appreciate the new look an updated fixture brings to a room.

5-Buy new curtains and blinds to use as sun shields this summer. It will help keep your home warmer and save on cooling costs.

Give The Electric Connection a call today to install that new light fixture or ceiling fan so you can start saving money on your electric bill.