Scherer Electric Blog: Archive for the ‘Electrical’ Category

The Penny in the Fuse Box and Other DIY Electrical Panel Nightmares

Monday, February 1st, 2021
panel-replacement

Many home service contractors discourage customers from attempting “do-it-yourself” work on their home, and often with good reason. Many of these jobs are time-consuming and easy to get wrong without the proper tools and training. 

But the situation is different when it comes to electrical services. We don’t just discourage DIY work—we are adamantly against it because of the immense danger that amateur electrical work can cause. Rudimentary mistakes can mean a house is no longer up-to-code and increase the chance of electrical fires. Only licensed electricians can provide electrical repair in Amherst, NY and throughout Western New York, and you wouldn’t want anybody else to provide service for your home.

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Handyman vs. Electrician: Does It Really Matter? (Yes It Does!)

Monday, January 18th, 2021
electric-tools

We’ll admit that there is something people find attractive about the term handyman (or handyperson). It creates this image of a “jack of all trades” who can whip up solutions when there are problems. You can call on the handyman when things go wrong.

But this is not the case. When it comes to electrical jobs in a house, there’s a massive gulf between bringing in a “handyperson” and calling a licensed electrician (a.k.a. an electrical contractor). It matters who you call, because the consequences when something goes wrong, as well as the likelihood of something going wrong, is far higher with the handyman.

If you read nothing else in this post, just remember this: for any electrical service in your home, only call a licensed electrician. 

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The Benefits of Professional Ceiling Fan Installation

Monday, January 4th, 2021
ceiling-fan-wooden

Among the many services we offer as a top electrician in Lancaster, NY is the installation of fans for homes, including attic exhaust fans, bathroom exhaust fans, and ceiling fans. For homes that have the space to install ceiling fans, we highly recommend them: they’re beneficial for comfort and energy savings, and they look attractive as well! 

It’s important that you have professional electricians handle installing ceiling fans for your house. This is not a DIY project or one you want to let an amateur handle. We’ll get into that more below, but first we’ll explain why ceiling fans are beneficial.

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Electrical Safety Tips for Christmas Lighting

Monday, December 21st, 2020
christmas-lights-exterior

It’s a different holiday season this year, but even if you’ll spend most of your festive family time in your house, that doesn’t mean you can’t put up great colorful light displays. Whether on the inside or outside of your house, these Christmas lights can brighten up the season.

However, light displays can also create major electrical hazards unless people take precautions. As professional electricians in Orchard Park, NY, we’ve seen our share of electrical mishaps due to Christmas lights, which can range from damage to the electrical system to electrical fires. We’d like to share some basic safety tips for your holiday lights so you can enjoy a season of warmth and family without worrying about power outages, high voltage shocks, or electrical fires.

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Unsafe Electrical Panels That Might Be in Your House

Monday, December 7th, 2020
electrical-panel-working-on-one

Any Orchard Park, NY electrician can tell you that the secret to having a safe and effective electrical system isn’t much of a secret: it starts with having an updated electrical panel. The panel is the switching station for a residential electrical system, the point where the incoming current divides into separate circuits. The panel protects the rest of the system from suffering damage with breakers that cut off voltage flow in case of overloads. A broken or outdated panel can lead to power outages around a home as well as electrical fires.

One of the important jobs we handle for our customers is installing new panels to replace outdated ones. If you live in a house built before 1990 and you still have the same electrical panel, calling us for an inspection to see if it’s time to upgrade the panel. In fact, you may have something worse than an outdated panel—you might have one that was never safe to begin with! Below are three of these potentially hazardous panels we recommend you have us replace.

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Ways You Can Reduce Your Electric Bill (And How We Can Help)

Monday, November 23rd, 2020
budget-scissors

Do you have to brace yourself each time you receive your monthly electricity bill? The cost of electricity is increasing, but your high bill may be the fault of the ways you use electricity in the home or outdated fixtures and appliances. 

There are several ways you can cut down on your monthly electricity bills. We can help with some of them: call us when you need an electrician in Buffalo, NY to give you advice on the best steps for an energy-saving home.

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Is Whole-House Surge Protection a Good Idea?

Monday, November 9th, 2020
lightning-bolt

When you think of protecting valuable equipment in your home from a high voltage surge, what first comes to mind? If it’s just plugging your computer or your audio equipment into a power strip, then we’ve got news for you—that may not be enough. 

These power strips are often sold to consumers as “surge protectors.” But in most cases, they’re basically just safer versions of antiquated octopus plugs and a way to extend the reach of the electrical equipment that needs to be plugged in. Yes, they’re useful, we won’t argue that. You should use them. But to rely on them to protect all the equipment in your home from a powerful voltage surge is folly.

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What to Expect During an Electrical Inspection

Monday, October 26th, 2020
electrical-schematic

One important service you may need from an East Aurora, NY electrician is an electrical inspection (electrical audit) for a house. A professional electrician can give the house a clean bill of health, i.e. find out that the home meets the local electrical code requirements, or else determine what work is necessary to bring it up to code.

There are several situations where you may need to arrange for an electrical inspection. It’s recommended whenever you are looking into purchasing a new home; you want to know if the electrical system needs extensive work or not. An inspection may be required by your insurer for home and fire insurance. If you’re considering renovations or remodels to your house, an inspection will tell you if the current electrical system is capable of managing the changes or if you should arrange for upgrades to the system at the same time. 

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The Best Way to Wire a Home Theater System

Monday, October 12th, 2020
electric-house-rewire

There has never been a time in history when more people have discovered the value of the home theatrical experience. And there’s never been a time when the home theatrical experience can be greater than it is now. With the wide availability of large-screen 4K televisions, broadband streaming, immersive surround sound systems, and Hi-Def Blu-ray players, you can transform a living room or other room in your home into a premiere movie house—with no worries about paying for parking or some rando a few seats below you turning on their smartphone in the middle of the show.

We want you to enjoy the best Buffalo, NY home theater experience! But you may be a bit bewildered about where to start. You’ve got the great 4K monitor and the speaker system, maybe the receiver and the Blu-ray player and the streaming device … but this can all be overwhelming. How do you find the best way to wire up a great home theater system?

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The 5 Best Tips to Lower Your Electrical Costs

Monday, September 28th, 2020
lightbulb-on-its-side

Do my electric bills have to be that high?

If you find you’re asking yourself that question month after month when the utility bills arrive, then the answer is probably no. Unless the cost for electricity has taken a steep rise in your area, extremely high electrical utility bills are often warning you of wasteful practices or a malfunctioning part of the electrical system. You can take steps to correct this problem. Some are simply tips, while others will require the assistance of East Aurora, NY electricians.

Below we’ve listed the five best tips for cutting into the high cost of powering your home.

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