By Clarissa Allison | March 18th, 2016

Using the right mixture of outdoor lighting in your front yard will enhance your home’s safety, security and beauty!

While it may seem like we can simply duplicate our backyard lighting scheme in the front of our homes, there are actually differing objectives to lighting your front yard. Lights in your front yard add security by deterring unwanted visitors while also adding ambient lighting to our landscape, and highlighting the architecture of our homes.

John is a critical part of our residential service division.  John is a very experienced electrician, skilled in fishing in wires, and updating existing homes to bring them up to code or even install elaborate upgrades.  John is also a recent graduate of a service training program he attended last October in Palm Springs California were he brought back with him skills and various techniques to provide the best possible customer experience to our customers.  John takes pride in is work and takes his job serious.  He takes time to understand the customers needs and makes sure they fully understand the options they have available to them.  He is a dedicated team member always making sure our customer needs are meet first and is willing to help other team members with any issues they encounter.

John is a resident of Grimes Iowa and has two kids.  He is a former paramedic and also recently became engaged and has spring wedding plans in his future.  Congratulations John!  Thank You for being such a critical part of Custom Electrical Services!

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The electrical infrastructure that is the backbone to power our electrical devices is a manmade marvel. The ability to provide power to cities and towns all over the country is a benefit that we can all enjoy. Power lines are a basic component to provide electrical current throughout cities, neighbourhoods and ultimately our homes. These high-powered lines are packed with strong current and can be highly dangerous if not respected. It is critical that we exercise caution when working around electrical power lines. We have assembled some tips to bear in mind.

Depending on the location of power lines around your home and property, you may encounter situations where you must work nearby electrical lines. Often trimming hedges or trees will bring us within a short distance of live wires or poles.

Standing on ladders, can put you into harms way. Power lines carry a high capacity of electrical current that flows through the wires themselves. By placing yourself closer to high power lines, you may be at risk of causing an electrical arc. If your hedge clippers or ladder comes too close to power lines, the electrical current may jump to the metal ladder, or electrical device. These objects act as a conductor for the electricity to travel to the ground. The result of this could easily be an electrical shock or burn to your body. When performing jobs near power lines, always look up and be conscious of your proximity to the lines. You should always remain at least three meters or 10 feet away from power lines.

If you are trimming a tree, take extreme caution that your falling debris does not come into contact with the power line. A falling branch could cause a spark or stress on the lines that may result in an electrical fire.

During periods of heavy wind, trees may bend and break under the stress of the wind. Should a tree or large branch break and fall, it may pull down and disconnect a power line from an adjacent pole. Should a power pole fail due to a car accident at the base of the pole, this may also cause power lines to break and fall. During any of these events, take extreme caution and remain at least 33 feet or 10 meters away from a downed power line (The equivalent of one school bus in length). The line is likely still active and charged. If you come across a downed power line ensure that nobody moves near the power line and call 911 immediately. Quick actions can prevent serious loss of life.

As much as we love electrical use in our daily lives, it can be very dangerous. If you have questions or concerns with power lines in your neighbourhood you can contact BC Hydro. For assistance with your home electrical, surge protection or service panel upgrades use a licence electrician. Contact your local Expert Electric at 604-681-8338.

Older homes generally have a character quality that can’t be seen in newer houses. These homes offer great value, and renovation improvements can bring new life into them. Unfortunately often enough the electrical wiring is never inspected during these updates for years at a time. To ensure that all your hard work is going to be safe, look for these common dangers that could threaten your older home.

From the 50s to 70s many homes were built with aluminum wiring. This was used because it was cheaper and more conductive than copper wiring. Unfortunately many pitfalls were found with aluminum wiring after it was used. Overheating and cracking are common problems with aluminum wiring. If your home was built in this time period, have your wires inspected. There could be a number of hazardous points behind your walls that may cause major issues. For more information and hazard signs of aluminum wiring, read our blog article.

Knob and tube wiring was used in homes in the early 1900s and even as early as 50 years ago. It is possible that these homes still contain knob and tube wiring in them. This wiring can be dangerous as it is more likely to crack and result in electrical fires.

The dangers of these two out-dated wiring systems are that they were installed without worry and the problems were not realized until years later. The electrical wiring systems in these homes were left untouched and so did the problems that came with them. Electrical fires, are especially dangerous as the fire starts and spreads quickly and out of sight. By the time the fire is visible it is too late and the damage can be done.

Over the years homes can see additions: new rooms added onto the home, new electrical lines added, hot tubs, etc. If a licenced electrician did not perform these additions there can be a mess of wire connecting the additions to the original home. This problem comes to a head at the service panel. If it is not properly maintained the breaker will trip constantly and electrical outlets will be overloaded. This is very dangerous as the electrical panel is in charge of keeping your home safe from electrical hazards. It is very important that the electrical panel is upgraded in order to provide the correct control of electricity throughout the entire house, old and new. This also means the panel is properly labelled so it is easy to maintain if further updates are being made.

While there is nothing wrong with purchasing an older home, we recommend that a licenced electrician inspect the electrical system in order to identify potential electrical hazards. One of our expert electricians can provide you with a list of items that should be handled. This will help you have peace of mind that your family is safe in their home.