Most homeowners in Los Angeles who buy an electric car, like a Nissan Leaf or Chevy Volt, will want to purchase a special charger that allows them to charge their vehicles overnight. This is called a “Level 2 Charger.” It can take a Nissan Leaf, with a range of 100 miles, from empty to fully charged in about eight hours. A Chevy Volt hybrid, with an electric battery range of 40 miles, takes about four hours. Click here for more on Level 2 chargers.

Important Note: A few days ago, on April 27th, L.A. DWP announced a rebate of $2,000 to homeowners who install a Level 2 charger and a special electric meter as part of a DWP research project on charging electric vehicles. This rebate will result in a significant price reduction on charger installation. Call me for more info (800) 990-9490.

Of course, it would be more convenient to be able to recharge your car (electric vehicle or “EV”) with the speed of going to a gas station. Such chargers, “Level 3” are already available, but so far, only in Japan. Level 3 chargers fully charge a Nissan Leaf in 15-30 minutes…and cost about $45,000 installed. When they come to the U.S., they will most likely be installed for electric trucks and for fleets of company cars. But they will also be installed in the U.S. in shopping malls and gas stations. Shoppers and travelers will be able to top off their batteries in a relatively brief stop.

An even faster system is currently being built in Israel. A Palo Alto company called “Better Place” is building a network of “carwashes.” Only, when you drive your EV in, instead of getting a wash job, your spent battery is pulled out and within a few minutes, is replaced with a fully charged battery.

Better Place is also considering construction of car charging networks in Denmark and Hawaii. It’s focusing on small self-contained locations, what it calls “islands.” So, it probably won’t be coming to Los Angeles any time soon.

The good news is that the pressure to be fully charged when leaving home will ease as chargers increasingly are installed in public places. In Los Angeles, Level 2 Chargers are already available for a fee in train stations, LAX, the Burbank Airport, the L.A. Convention Center, and other public places. Some businesses, like Costco in Burbank and in Canoga Park, have also installed Level 2 chargers. Click here for an up-to-date map of public EV chargers near you.

Soon, more businesses and shopping malls will begin installing Level 2 or Level 3 chargers as an inducement for shoppers. Workplaces will be installing them as an employment benefit. We’re only at the beginning of a changeover to electric cars. With the federal government setting the goal of one million EVs on the roads by 2015, and with incentives provided by the State of California as well as L.A. DWP, charging your electric vehicle is going to get easier and faster.

For more about my company, The Electric Connection — all the stuff you wanted to know but were afraid to ask — click here. If you’re interested coupons for electrical work, for example $50 off installation of a Whole House Surge Protector in the L.A. area, click on our coupon page.

Fans in the attic? The idea at first may sound odd. We usually think of fans as blowing somewhere in our home where we can feel their effects, like hanging from ceilings or mounted in windows. Few people spend more time in their attic than they absolutely must, so it seems useless to install fans there.

However, attic fans can form an important part of maintaining the overall efficiency of your air conditioning system. If you’ve taken all the steps you can to keep your HVAC system working its best (regular maintenance, duct cleaning, changing the filter, proper insulation), attic fans will take you a step beyond. We’ll explain why putting in attic fans will benefit you.

Attics are both heat traps and heat escape routes. You can use insulation to stop heat from escaping in winter, but what about summer, when heat gathers in the attic and creates excessively high temperatures that will seep into other parts of your home? (Go up into your attic on a hot day and see what it’s like. It can be miserable. You don’t want any of that to get to rooms you actually use.) To stop summer attic heat, you’ll need attic fans.

Attic fans should be wired to a thermostat that will turn the fan on based on the temperature. This saves energy since you won’t have to keep the fan on constantly or continually check on it. The movement of air in the attic will lower the high temperature.

The first benefit is the most obvious: your home will not get as hot during the summer. On average, the temperature in the attic will decrease 50 degrees with a fan, which means a drop of 10 degrees in your house.

This not only translates into comfort, it also means savings on your energy bills. A cooler house requires less work from an air conditioner to cool it. You’ll spend less, and your air conditioner will not receive extra stress that will lead to repairs and possibly an early replacement.

Attic fans will also extend the life of your roof. Rising moisture in your home will get into the roof, eventually creating mold in the insulation and the roof material. In winter, the freezing moisture can be extremely damaging. Attic fans move moisture away and keep it from settling.

Here in the MD/DC/VA area, it’s not uncommon for us to lose power when a summer storm rips through. And while these outages sometimes last only a few hours, storms that have occurred over the past several summers have left people in the dark for several days at a time. At Kolb Electric, we’re big fans of Generac generators—they are among the most reliable systems available, and they’re the only ones we install. That said, there are a few things you should consider if you’re thinking about installing a standby generator:

You can’t stretch the amount of power that generators supply, so make sure you receive an NEC (National Electric Code) approved load calculation with each proposal. Kolb Electric will provide this calculation with our estimate.

Standby generators must be permitted prior to installation and inspected following installation. Kolb Electric will do the work of acquiring the necessary permits for you, and we want to remind everyone not to have your system installed by a contractor who says they can do it with no permit. HOA requirements and approval processes vary, but key concerns often come down to noise and location.

In the event that your standby generator installation does not require a permit, make sure to ask if it will be installed up to NEC code.

Some people install generators to keep the essential functions of their home running, such as the refrigerator and a few lights. Others install theirs to be able to carry on with life as if nothing had happened. Before you install a standby generator, decide what you’ll want to run and what you can do without. Remember—too much capacity will needlessly inflate the cost of your system, so try to be realistic when deciding.

At Kolb Electric, we’re committed to installing your generator efficiently and effectively. Even so, the generator installation process can get hung up at different phases, such as permitting, and may take up to a few weeks to complete—especially during the busy summer months. Don’t wait until a major storm has been forecast before you install your standby generator! Try to do it during the spring or fall, before you need it (and, more importantly, before everyone else needs it!).

What type of generator will you be installing? Air cooled or liquid cooled? Is it natural gas or propane? Will you be receiving a gas meter upgrade? At Kolb Electric, we’ll talk you through your options and help make sure your standby generator does everything you need it to.

Whenever you have any sort of electrical work done, you’re not just buying the system—you’re also buying the company doing the install. With this in mind, it’s important that you know their qualifications as well as those of the technicians who will be installing your generator. Ask the following questions:

Kolb Electric has been in business since 1925, and all of our staff is licensed and trained to install Generac generators.

Standby generators require on-going annual maintenance, which Kolb Electric will provide with a service agreement. Make sure you also register your Generac generator with the manufacturer for warranty claims.

The lowest bid may sound appealing, but the deepest discounts won’t offset the costs of correcting an improper installation. When you see a huge price difference from one company to the rest, you can be sure something is being left out: load calculations, size inspections, and gas meter upgradesare just some of the areas where some unscrupulous contractors may cut corners and leave you up the creek when the big one hits.

Standby generators are designed to protect your biggest investment: your home. Take the time to get accurate answers regarding your system to keep your family safe.

If you’re thinking about installing a Generac generator in your home, call Kolb Electric today!

Every electrical installation, whether at home or workplace, is bound to experience common electrical problems every now and then. The majority of these problems have noticeable symptoms and are easily identifiable by non-technical users. Others are complex and require qualified electricians.

All electrical issues should be fixed as soon as possible before they become severe and can cause fires or accidents. While the consumer can see the symptoms, it is advisable to isolate the problem. Accomplish this by either turning off the faulty equipment or circuit and then hiring a qualified electrician. The consumer should never try to repair electrical problems unless qualified to do so.