Hi Nick,

Mike and I just wanted to thank you and Rick for the excellent service yesterday, a Sunday during a major power outage at that.  From the time I placed the call for help to the time Rick walked out of our soon-to-be-warm-again home, it was only an unbelievable 1.5 hrs!!  I so appreciate your ‘straight-shooting’ with me on the phone about whether our problem could be Oncor related or in our wiring and the option to switch our dead furnace thermostat to the one working leg of power we seemed to have.  Rick arrived just when he said he would, went right to work and determined that we were indeed receiving full power from Oncor, but one of our breakers was bad.  He replaced it, checked things out and was on his way.

You have impressed us with your quality of service.  We certainly will use you again and recommend you when someone asks if we know a good electrician….we do now!

Breaker boxes or commonly called electrical panels are the modern day replacements for fuses boxes.  Breakers are the electrical devices that go into a panel or breaker box.  Breakers can easily be reset by flipping there switch versus having to unscrew and completely replace a fuse.  A circuit breaker can automatically open or trip upon an overload or a short circuit protecting the circuit and the appliances plugged into the circuit from possible damage.  For larger equipment such as those used in commercial or industrial applications switchgear is commonly used to protect and control equipment.

There is a lot of brands of breaker boxes or electrical panels on the market with some better than others.  Most breakers boxes on the market have been proven to be reliable and operate correctly and safely.  Brands such as Seimens, Square D, and Cutler-Hammer offer superior products and can provide the best protection possible with installed correctly.

Most brands that we currently know have safety and fire hazards have been pulled off the market.  However a lot of these brands that have been pulled off the market are in thousands and in some cases hundreds of thousands of homes across the nation.  One of the worst brands of electrical panels we see in the Des Moines market is Federal Pacific brand breaker boxes.  Federal Pacific panels were most commonly uses from 1960’s to the 1980’s.  These panels have circuit breakers that simply do not trip or open the circuit properly to provide the necessary protection.  Federal Pacific panels have been linked to countless fires and have even resulted in death.  If you have a Federal Pacific breaker box in your home we highly recommend it be replaced by a licensed electrician as soon as possible.  Another brand we advise immediate replacement on is Zinsco panels.  Certain types of Zinsco panels have been linked to several fires.  If you own a Zinsco panel we recommend it be replaced by an licensed electrician.

Having enough electrical outlets in any given room of your home is often a concern for Des Moines residents. Whether you are attempting to find the proper amount of outlets for your television and entertainment setup or trying to find room for your alarm clock, bedside lamp, and a place to charge your phone at night, almost every room in your Iowa home could benefit from electrical improvements such as upgrading the outlets in your home to include USB connections. While upgrading your outlets seems like a DIY project, your best bet for electrical installation is to call a residential electrician.

Almost every single modern gadget released on the market today uses a USB connection to charge its battery. One of the reasons for this is that while your smartphone or other device may have a special connection for charging the device, such as the 8-pin connection used by Apple for their newest iPhones referred to as the “lightning connector,” the part that plugs into the wall is universal. Having a residential electrician upgrade your outlets would allow you to plug the USB cable directly into the wall without taking up outlet space. This improves your ability to charge your devices without requiring electrical installation of additional outlets or rewiring your entire house.

Before you start pulling the covers off the outlets in your home, call a professional residential electrician. Installing USB outlets requires expert knowledge, and messing with your electrical services only increases your chances of damaging your electrical systems, your property, or even injuring yourself. Contact Electrical Gurus in Des Moines today, and let us handle the electrical installation of USB outlets for your home.