You’re on top of grounding your children, but are you familiar with grounding your home? It improves the safety of your home as well as increases the life of your electronics, and who doesn’t want that? Mr. Electric has all you need to know in order to have your home properly grounded.

Electricity likes to travel the path of least resistance. When there’s too much of it, it needs somewhere to go. That’s where grounding comes in. You see, without it, that path of least resistance is your appliances and electronics – and possibly you when you use them. Burn! Zap! Not a good thing.

Since you don’t want your appliances – or you – to take the heat in these situations, a grounding wire is added to your home, offering all that electricity the perfect chance of escape, via a wire attached to your home’s electrical system which is submerged firmly in the ground – the reason it’s called “grounding.” Both your home’s electrical box and your home’s outlets need to be connected to this grounding wire in order to be properly and safely grounded.

Without proper grounding, you and your home could suffer burned out electronics and appliances, electrical fires and potentially deadly electrical shock.

Without special testing equipment, it may be difficult to tell. Just because you have three prong outlets does not mean the outlets – or your home – are properly grounded. These outlets must be properly wired in to your home’s main grounding wire for proper protection. There is also more to grounding than sticking a big metal rod in the dirt, such as properly attaching wires, grounding to your home’s water pipes correctly, and much, much more. If you don’t want your electrical behaving badly, you can ensure it is properly grounded by having it inspected by a licensed, qualified electrician.

Newer homes, as a result of increased safety regulations, are typically properly grounded. Older homes, on the other hand, may not have had a proper grounding experience, or any at all. Homes built before 1950 are especially at risk. You should always have your home, regardless of age, inspected for proper grounding by a licensed, qualified electrician to avoid the potential risks of fire, electrical shock, and property damage. You never know what the previous resident did without a permit.

Don’t suffer the punishment of burnt out electronics or a burned down home. Mr. Electric® will keep you out of trouble – get grounded today!

As summer comes to a close, it is time to get ready for the fall cleanup season. This is a great time to have your outdoor lighting inspected, revamped or replaced by your electrician in Los Angeles. Summer storms and typical wear and tear will often result in broken lights or bulbs that need replacing. Although you may not be planning on spending as much time outside during the cooler months, lighting provides safety as well as enhances the appearance of a home. At The Electric Connection, we know how important it is to maintain a gorgeous landscape no matter how cold it is outside.

This is also a great time to review your current lighting scheme and make adjustments to areas you may have noticed were a little more shadowy than you would prefer. Take the time to note these areas and then call your electrician. Los Angeles homeowners have plenty of options when it comes to creating a beautiful, well-lit landscape.

Maybe you have taken advantage of some of the end of season sales and need some help hooking up that beautiful new water feature. Or maybe you have a new piece of yard art that deserves some special lighting to highlight it during the shortened days.

While you do have the option of using solar lights, winter months make it very difficult for the lights to charge. They will often go dark before the sun rises due to the limited amount of charging time allowed during the shorter days. For this reason, many people opt for outdoor lights that are electric. They tend to be more reliable and will stay illuminated throughout the entire night. If you would like to learn more about having electric lights installed in your landscaping give The Electric Connection a call today.

The MD, DC, and VA area is known for getting slammed with violent and powerful thunderstorms that produce severe lightning. Electrical surges, which are caused by lightning, can wreak havoc on your expensive electronics and appliances.

A lightning strike that hits a power line several miles away from your house can impact all your electronic items. Whole-house surge protection is the best option you have to protect your home electronics and wiring from the damage caused by lightning strikes.

Everyone from the National Fire Protection Association to the Institute for Business and Home Safety recommends the use of whole-house surge protection. As a homeowner, the good news for you is that protection is readily available, and even top-of-the-line solutions are affordable. The gold standard in whole-house surge protection is a two-tiered system—a whole-house surge protective device, or SPD, installed at the circuit breaker box, and plug-in SPDs on individual outlets. A whole-house SPD can protect against up to 40,000 amps of current flowing into your home from the outside; normal household power is between 200 to 300 amps. When an electrical surge occurs as a result of a lightning strike, the device detects the excess current and safely diverts it through the house’s grounding path. Whole-house surge protection provides homeowners in MD, DC, and VA peace of mind when a powerful thunderstorm passes the area.

Whole-house surge protection can typically be installed in a home for around $200—it’s an easy job for a top electrician. The cost of replacing electronic equipment in an average home is a whopping $8,000, and it may be even higher for homes in MD, DC, and VA. Whole-house surge protection is cheap insurance against electrical surges caused by lightning strikes. It provides a layer of protection to all the electronic items in your home.

To ensure complete safety, Kolb Electric recommends that you allow a qualified, experienced electrician to complete the wiring for whole-house surge protection—there are several steps involved that are best left to a professional.

If you require surge protection wiring or want a full whole-house surge protection installation, contact Kolb Electric.