The third prong on a typical electrical appliance plug provides an extra measure of safety against electrical shock. Two-prong outlets, often found in older homes, may not be grounded adequately and should be upgraded.

The National Electric Code requires that GFCI outlets – with Test and Reset buttons – are installed in areas of the home where water may be present, such as your kitchen, baths, utility room, garage and outside locations.

If the wiring for your light switches or outlets is wrapped in cloth sheathing or bits of black rubber, you need to upgrade your home wiring to keep your family safe.

Appliances such as air conditioners, clothes dryers, refrigerators and furnaces use extra electricity when they start. This may be more than just a nuisance. An overloaded system can damage sensitive equipment.

Too much electrical current causes breakers to trip or fuses to melt. Don’t ignore this warning. Have your electrical system inspected and upgraded.

If you need to use extension cords on a regular basis, you probably need more outlets in your home. When you use extension cords to make up for a lack of outlets, you run the risk of placing too much demand on your electrical system. Extension cords placed under rugs or furniture may also be a safety hazard.

Rust on your main electrical service panel indicates a moisture problem, which can lead to further problems.

This may be an indication of a loose or deteriorating electrical connection, which could lead to shock or fire.

If your home is more than 25 years old, you should have your system inspected and if necessary, brought up to electrical code standards.

Were you the lucky recipient of a fabulous hot tub this holiday season? If so, you are probably eager to have it set up as soon as possible. It may be the middle of winter, but the California weather makes it the perfect time of year to enjoy the hot water while enjoying the brisk night air after a long day. It is a relaxing experience and you are likely eager to get to it. You will need to call a Burbank electrician to schedule your install appointment. The friendly team at The Electric Connection is on hand and ready to take your call.

It is imperative you do not try and install the hot tub by yourself. There are some technical things that must be done in order to install the hot tub properly. The first order of business is to have an electrician come out and check your electric panel to determine if you have the space needed to install an additional 240-volt outlet. That is what your hot tub will need to operate. If you don’t have the available space in your current electric panel for the additional breaker, you will need an electric panel upgrade. When the electrician does the initial inspection, he or she will let you know what you will need.

The hot tub will need to be hard-wired to your home’s main electric by an electrician. Burbank residents will also need to check with their county to determine what permits are needed for a hot tub installation. Depending on where you plan on placing the hot tub, the wiring from the hot tub to the home will need to buried. Keep this in mind as you decide where you want your hot tub. If you are ready to get your new hot tub up and running, give The Electric Connection a call today.

If you’re tired of shelling out a crazy amount to the energy company each and every month, then maybe it’s time to look at how your household is consuming power and improve the efficiency of your usage. To help with that, our Top Rated Local® Des Moines electricians have committed to taking calls and appointments specifically for improved energy efficiency.

If your energy bill is high, then there is a really great chance that your break-even point will be very low. In case you’re not one of the many financial experts that call Des Moines home, a break-even point is essentially just an investment term that is used to calculate the potential risk of a course of action compared to its likely reward; this means that the break-even point for your investment in optimization will be achieved through reduced monthly energy costs + any local or federal subsidies the improvements qualify you for – the costs of installation or upgrading. Costs, in this case, can be both financial and temporal, meaning that your savings need to rack up quickly to account for the time and money you’ll invest up front. The good news is this: Many new homes (built in the last 5 years) can be drastically upgraded and optimized, and just about all below that line (older than 5 years) will see an even more dramatic improvement.

When power reaches your home, it inevitably is routed to and through an electrical panel; this panel determines much of your home’s energy efficiency before anything is even turned on. From the electrical panel to the wiring and outlets themselves, the amount of upgrades and optimizations that can be done for a comparable cost to the original outdated panel that dramatically reduce energy waste are dizzying. From the smallest changes, such as installing energy-efficient lighting or new outlets, to full-scale electrical overhauls, the potential for savings are really multiplicative.

Our electricians come into the picture by offering the tools and experience necessary to quickly and effectively route out outdated and inefficient systems and find the optimal solution for improving your home’s flow of energy. In as little as a few minutes, our electricians can make pointed suggestions that can and will save you substantially on your energy bills or find nothing noteworthy enough to justify the cost based upon the break-even point. At Electrical Gurus, we believe in offering this service to optimize your systems to make them safer and save you money, not add on an unnecessary expense.

Get in touch with the master electricians at Electrical Gurus for an expert opinion on what can be done to reduce your home’s energy costs. We are proud to serve the entire Des Moines area with both residential and commercial electrician services; contact us today to put those skill to work for you!