If you are interested in purchasing an old building for commercial use or maybe your business is in an old building that needs a serious upgrade, you will need a specialized crew of professionals to make it happen. Commercial projects require a different set of skills and talents than the standard residential projects. Everything is on a much bigger scale, including the wiring and electrical needs. For this reason, it is absolutely critical you hire an electrical team that has experience and training to work on commercial projects. A certified electrician on your job ensures everything will be done right and up to code, which means your renovation or upgrade will chug along according to your schedule. The team at The Electric Connection has the commercial experience you want and need.

It is always best to bring the electrician in at the very beginning of a restoration project. This allows the professional to provide valuable insight and input as to where the wiring needs to be as well as the best type of materials to use for a commercial project. Bringing in the certified professional early on also makes the scheduling of the project much easier. You won’t have to worry about down days or redoing certain areas because the wiring wasn’t put in first. The construction team needs to work together and that means everyone needs to be involved from the get go.

The planning phase is an excellent time to discuss all of the commercial lighting options and various upgrades that can be put in place throughout the building. It is important these are thought about beforehand to make sure the project runs smoothly. Projects that are delayed or run into various hiccups can cost more money and end up pushing back opening dates. Give The Electric Connection a call today and talk with one of our professionals about your commercial building renovation.

Do you have working smoke alarms? It could mean the difference between life and death. Smoke alarms are the first line of defense in a house fire. They act as an early warning sign, allowing you enough time to evacuate the premise. While these devices are small and often unnoticed, they could save your life. If you can’t recall the locations of your smoke alarms or when they were last tested, now is the time to act.

Elon Musk’s vision of an entirely electric car market is coming into form.

Just a few years ago, a former Daimler chairman was quoted in an L.A. Times article by calling Tesla “a joke that can’t be taken seriously compared to the great car companies of Germany.” They aren’t laughing now after 325,000 buyers put down reservations for the Tesla Model 3 in its first week.

Already though, the cost of electric car batteries have dropped from $1,000 per kWh to $350 per kWh over the last five years. As the battery and thus the vehicle becomes more affordable, the presence of electric cars will only continue to grow.

With that has come the need for home charging stations.

Just about all electric vehicles will come with a Level 1 Charger. This is your baseline charging system, where the car connects with a 120V outlet in your home and takes about an entire night for a full charge.

If you’re mostly driving throughout the city, then that’s probably all you need. But if you’re always on the go, and use your electric vehicle for distance trips too, then you should look into a Level 2 Charging Station.

We need to quickly say that the chargers don’t actually increase the capacity of your car’s battery, that’s already established when it’s manufactured. Level 2 chargers simply direct more of your home’s current when you hook it up, enabling a much faster charging time.

To give an idea, the Nissan Leaf takes 25 hours for a full charge on a home outlet; with a Level 2 hook-up, it takes 7 hours. Or compare it to the Chevy Volt, the hybrid-electric vehicle that takes 11 hours on Level 1 and just 3.2 hours on Level 2.

Sticking with the Nissan Leaf, an all-night charge on Level 1 current will give it about 105 miles. If you drive more than that, you will be comforted with a Level 2 charge, which gives you the same mileage in half the time (4-5 hours with Level 2 Charging). This means you can go about your day without having to come home and charge, or have to find a public charging station to hook up to.

Good thing is, costs on installing residential stations are becoming more affordable. Many people go with the Level 2 charge off the bat and just factor it into the costs of buying the car.

Minor power surges happen in milliseconds and can easily ruin many of today’s delicate electronics. Is your home protected with a whole house surge protector?

Today’s homes and families consume a great deal of power due to the abundance of electronic devices we use to function daily. As a result, damaging power surges are common today even when storms and downed lines are not a factor, with homes near the end of the power line being particularly vulnerable.

Install a whole house surge protector today. Contact Mr. Electric® and schedule the installation of one of these simple, effective devices for the protection of all of your home’s essential electronics.