Acquiring a new home in Baltimore is an extremely exciting event for any homeowner. But it can be a time for stress, too. There’s a lot going on—keeping tabs on it all can become a bit overwhelming and, at times, outright frustrating. Because of this, our Baltimore electricians wanted to provide a quick, easy checklist for what you should be checking for in the wiring in your new Baltimore home. 

In the world of Kolb Electric, superior service is the name of the game. We’ve built our reputation of quality and dependability by providing just that! And when it comes to wiring and the electrical needs for your new home, there’s no one better in Maryland.

Keeping NEC codes in mind, unique layouts, etc; wiring can get a little bit complex and confusing. So we’re keeping this one simple, stating the primary and most important goals and methods of wiring a new home.

That got a little confusing, we know. But honestly, there are just loads of factors that come into play with your new wiring. This is why certified and licensed experts are so important! But when you work with the experts at Kolb, our Baltimore electricians can ensure you’re getting everything you want and need out of your new home wiring. Contact us today to learn more!

Taking on a Thanksgiving get-together is no easy task, and if you’re going to do it, you might as well make it something guests will remember. Fortunately, making it memorable doesn’t have to be complicated. We have some simple LED lighting ideas that will help you dress up your home for the holidays.

Everyone’s aware that the electric companies keep raising the prices per kilowatt-hour (kWh), and we all know, too, that there’s no chance of rates going down and that they’ll just keep going up.   There is a way, however to avoid paying the higher prices, which is to get solar panel installations. This is one sure step that we can take to help make the cost of paying the electric companies prices per kWh less.

Every family wants to pay less for their electricity, and although the cost to install solar panels is an initial investment, it will pay off in the long term for a business or homeowner. Often homeowners can pay in monthly installments for their solar installations, and this helps to reduce the impact of the expense for the cost of solar panels.

With solar panel installations, homeowners will often save up to 1/3 of what their normal electric bill was before their solar panels where installed. With this type of efficient technology,  homeowner will no longer need to worry about spending more money on their utility bills each month, and they will be able to sit back and enjoy the savings.

Let’s face it, we all know there’s nothing better than being able to save money on a regular basis,  and what better way could there be to save than on our electricity bill each and every month. With the money that homeowners save by having solar panels installed, they will be able to save that money in the bank, or put it towards something else that they need for themselves or their family.

To learn more about solar installations, you can do a quick Internet search for “solar panel installations.” Please feel free to call us for more information.

As a Top Plano Electrician, I know better than anyone how powerful and useful electricity is. It also makes me more aware of what most people tend to ignore or forget: electricity is dangerous. Electricians are required by law to carry insurance, and for good reasons. Electric current is capable of starting fires and destroying your property and equipment in a matter of moments. The proper safety precautions really can save lives, and there‘s always something we can do to improve home safety.

One of the most important precautions is located in your electrical panel: the circuit breaker. It is designed to keep you from using more electricity than the wiring or receptacle can handle at one time, what we refer to as overcurrent protection. This protects your wiring from taking on too much current, which can cause the coating around your wiring to melt, the leading cause of electrical fires. Circuit breakers serve another purpose as well; not only to protect from surges coming from outside your home, but from potential hazards within it as well. Current flowing through a failed piece of equipment or appliance can cause sparks, which have the potential to start fires or damage other electrical devices. A properly functioning circuit breaker can shut off the power to this device. It’s very important, however, that you use a circuit breaker of the proper size for the circuit to ensure that your wiring is properly protected.

Circuit breakers come in specialty varieties as well; the most important are ground fault circuit breakers (GFCI), for wet locations, and arc fault circuit breakers (AFCI). AFCI’s, in particular, can help prevent some of the most common dangerous situations in your home.

I’ve dealt with plenty of cases where electrical fires have started because people ran an extension cord under the carpet, so that they can power the lamp in the center of the room. Over time, people walking over the cord stretches out the wiring, making it so thin that the current overloads the thinly stretched wire, creating an arc fault; the electricity “jumps” the wire, completing the circuit in a way the cord can’t handle and generating heat that starts a fire. Arc fault circuit breakers prevent this by shutting the circuit down when the arc fault occurs.

So what do you need to know about arc fault circuit breakers? To start with, by code AFCI’s should be installed on any circuit that isn’t protected by a GFCI or directly wired into an appliance. It’s in your best interest to have your safety devices routinely inspected to maintain their optimum performance and capabilities; in particular, your circuit breakers should be inspected at least once a year. The inspection process is quick and relatively inexpensive, and something that simple really can save the lives of you and your family.