Tag Archives: Penndel

Only Have One Roast This Fall – Protect Your Electrical System

As fall approaches, so does the beauty of the fall and winter weather, including heavy rains, wind, snow, ice and more. It’s never easy for your electrical system, since it has so many responsibilities as the weather gets colder and the nights get longer. Winter is coming, and the only roasts you want to count on having should be during the holidays. Instead of roasting your electrical system too, how about following some tips:

Produce Some Comfort with a Generator – They’re not meant for forever, and they aren’t meant to take you “off the grid” like a homesteader, but generators are helpful and can be a lifesaver in the winter. If you’re faced with a catastrophic winter power outage, a generator, which is usually powered by gasoline, can run a heater until the electricity turns back on. Enough backup fuel and a strong generator will not only keep you warm in the winter when you need it, but you can also use it to preserve refrigeration and even charge some mobile devices, if it’s absolutely necessary.

Remember: It’s not going to be possible to power everything in your house efficiently off of a generator unless you spend a substantial amount on a large genset. Determine what parts of your home are absolutely essential and then only hook up your generator’s power to these systems through a transfer switch. If you need to free up an outlet to use for specific needs, that can work as well.

Maintain Your Heating and Cooling – Nothing puts quite as much strain on your electrical system as your heating and cooling appliances. Every little bit counts and you should preserve your heating and cooling for as long as possible. The first thing you should do is make sure all of the connections to your system are in good condition and that your thermostat is functioning properly, because if not, it could trigger the system turning on and off when it shouldn’t, or it could potentially output more energy than it has to.

Check Your Property’s Exterior for Weak Points – There are many places where a property can be vulnerable to air leaks. Windows are the place everyone points, however, siding and foundations can pry open over time and leave small areas for air to leak in. Also, don’t forget to check your gutters. Clogged gutters will fill up with ice over the winter and the accumulation of ice building up can cause some serious problems with your roofing and infrastructure.

Check Batteries for Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Detectors – Power just might go down when you least expect it. Who knows exactly what will go wrong during a severe fall or winter weather event? Keep the batteries in these vital instruments fresh so that they’re going strong even when the power goes out. Do you need more advice or some guidance on fixing your problems?  We’re certified electrical contractors in Philadelphia as well as inspectors and will hear you out. Call us today at 800.401.6114.

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.