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Read This before Completing Your Electrical Project

Whether you’re a professional or a DIY junkie, it’s important to be fully educated on the task you’re going to be performing. There are many reasons for this. One, it’s the safe choice—you don’t want to take any risks around high voltage, because it’s fast and merciless. One slip up and you’re in shock city, and it’s not a fun place to visit.

Before you do any work anywhere in Pennsylvania, it’s required that you check with your local township or city officials to make sure that the task doesn’t require an electrician’s license. Many DIY “experts” will scoff at this and say that it will just result in them having to pay for an electrician. But, is that really a bad thing? As electricians, we’ve seen what can happen when things go wrong, and that’s why we offer our services: basically, it’s to keep people from electrocuting themselves.

Don’t Try to DIY, Hire A-1 Electric!!

Once you’ve decided to play it safe and smart, keep the following tips in mind.

Pennsylvania doesn’t offer “state licenses,” so if you hear an electrician say that they do, run away fast and don’t look back. Nearby New Jersey, Maryland and Delaware provide state licenses, but Pennsylvania doesn’t; mainly because those states are significantly smaller than Pennsylvania. These licenses require quite a bit of experience and training; for some people it’s a wake-up call to just how seriously complex electrical work is.

When you do bring an electrical contractor in, make sure you get everything in writing. Electricians are not allowed (at least in the state of Pennsylvania) to start any work without a contract and agreement, period. If you encounter an electrician, whether they’re building your home or fixing your air conditioner, and they don’t need some kind of contract or agreement to continue, you may want to question just how knowledgeable and qualified they are. These kinds of problems won’t ever occur at A-1 Electric—we guarantee it.

It’s okay to want your electrician to do extra work for you. Once you’ve gotten the ball rolling on a huge project, it’s easy to see things that you overlooked in the past while creating the design, and then want modifications on the spot. Unfortunately, electrical work is extremely intricate and requires a lot of planning. Good electricians should express that to their customers but aim to modify the agreement to accommodate the extra changes that the customer wants. In the world of electrical work, it’s a must to stick to the agreement and contract.

Electricians who don’t pay close attention to their agreements are setting themselves up for disaster. Always choose an electrician that treats your contract like the law, because it is. Put yourself in an electrician’s shoes; you just did some work that wasn’t on the contract, and something goes wrong—you’re now liable for acting outside of your contract, which is bad. You don’t want to ask for more than your contract outlines, true, but you also don’t want to accept less, either. That’s why you should only hire the most qualified electricians throughout Philadelphia.

Understand Conflict of Interest!

The last thing we want to touch on is conflict of interest. We’ve heard of it in politics, but what about in the world of electrical work? We’ll explain; in the state of Pennsylvania, and many other states, your electrical contractor absolutely cannot be the same person that does your electrical inspection. If you have a trusted contractor, someone who you know has your best interests in mind, and you want them to perform one or the other, make sure to set them aside for that, because they won’t be able to do both.

At A-1 Electric, we’re perfectly capable of performing both tasks, but legally we are bound to only perform one for each of our clientele. However, we could point you towards a third party inspector that we trust. Make sure you get the contracting and inspection services you need.

We hope this helped some people think before they went off to work on their own electrical project. Unless it’s seriously minor, you probably shouldn’t. If you’re not sure, call your local town or city municipal building and ask about the proper steps to take. If you’re still not sure, you can contact us at A-1 Electric – we definitely have an answer for you. Reach us today by phone throughout Pennsylvania at 800.401.6114.

What the U.S. Fire Administration and FEMA Tell Us about Electrical Fires

Electrical systems are complex things. Each element of the system is integrated with complex circuitry, wiring and potentially deadly high voltage electrical currents. Because of this, each county and city has strict, specific laws and codes governing electrical systems inside and outside of properties.

When an electrical system isn’t constructed properly, malfunctions happen and can cause electrical fires. These fires can be difficult to extinguish and sometimes sneak up on property owners by starting inside of walls and under flooring.

Improvements in Fire Safety – Numbers Don’t Lie!

Fortunately, people are getting better at protecting themselves against and preventing fires in their residences. Every few years, the U.S. Fire Administration provides a variety of useful statistics about fires in America. These statistics tell us a lot about trends in fires between 2002 and 2011. For one, both fires themselves and deaths occurring from fires are down 20%. Injuries occurring during fires also decreased by about 5%. While this is great news, fires are still occurring and electrical fire prevention is more important than ever.

The Risk is Still There

In 2012, electrical fires accounted for 5.4% of all residential fires and 6.9% of all non-residential fires across the nation, which is about one out of every 20 fires—not something to scoff at. A significant amount of fires were also caused by appliances and heating systems, which often incorporate complex electrical systems as well. So, it’s still important to have your electrical systems regularly checked and updated, regardless of how advanced switches, circuit breakers, detectors and sensors have become.

And these issues hit close to home, too! You may not realize it but Philadelphia, Bucks and Montgomery County, PA, residents suffer from electrical problems every year, whether it’s an electrical fire, or just a faulty system that doesn’t work when they need it. Look at this recent story by Philadelphia Magazine where an electrical fire caused a popular high-end menswear showroom to be evacuated and closed “until further notice.”

Now these business owners have to go through the troublesome task of relocating their merchandise, treating it for possible smoke damage and operating their store out of a temporary or entirely new location. Whether they are at fault or not, it’s clear that having quality, fully functioning electrical systems is a must for businesses in Philadelphia.

Smoke Alarms and Your Property

You might know that you should check your smoke alarms every month to make sure nothing’s gone awry. What you might not know is that you should also install a smoke alarm close to the core of your property’s electrical system. If you need help identifying areas at risk on your property, call us at A-1 Electric and we’ll help. If anything goes wrong with your electrical system and smoke starts to appear, you want to know about it as soon as possible—you don’t want to wait for the smoke to waft and rise up through your property to discover the fire.

Your power might not go off when an electrical fire starts!

Sometimes, the problem is with wiring or incoming electrical currents. Sometimes, the flow of electricity still continues and will make the problem worse. This is especially true for older appliances with weak or frayed electrical lines. Electricity will continue to flow through the system, causing further damage. Over time, outlets, transistors and transformers have been developed to produce less heat and stop the flow of electricity in the event of a FAULT. If you are holding on to old appliances, they are probably presenting an electrical fire hazard to your property and should be upgraded.

Space Heaters 101

Space heaters, portable or wall mounted, will also present a huge risk and it’s not because of the electricity! Because they are so convenient, many times people carelessly plug them in near things that are at risk of burning with prolonged heat exposure. Any time you plug something in, you have to think about risks.

Our goal is to educate you first and foremost, and then help you with your services, whether you need an electrical contractor or a third party agency in Montgomery County, Bucks County or Philadelphia, PA, A-1 Electric can help you. Call us today at 1.800.401.6114 for a consultation or to schedule a visit for us to check out your system—you won’t regret it. We also help with reintroduction of service throughout Montgomery County, Bucks County, Philadelphia and all the surrounding areas.

 

To see the US Fire Administration’s Fire Statistics: http://www.usfa.fema.gov/data/statistics/