Why Your Outlets Are Sparking (And Why You Need Them Repaired)

August 16th, 2021
electrical-outlet-wall

You plug an appliance into a wall socket. An everyday occurrence, nothing important. But as the plug goes into the socket, a spark flashes. When you take the plug out later, you also see sparking. 

Occasional sparking outlets are normal and not a reason to panic. What you’re seeing is a fast draw on electrical power, and the effect isn’t much larger than a static electricity spark. 

When sparks at outlets become regular events, ones you can anticipate each time you plug in a device, you may have a serious electrical problem. Don’t attempt to tamper with the outlets yourself. Stop using the sparking outlets and call our licensed pros for electric repair in Buffalo, NY. We can determine which of these common causes is causing the sparking and then have it safely fixed.

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5 Benefits of Installing a Home Automation System

August 2nd, 2021
ceiling-fan-over-kitchen

The idea of an “automated house” was once a common staple in science fiction (such as Ray Bradbury’s “There Will Come Soft Rains,” about an automated house that carries on long after its family has left). But home automation is now in the present and in many people’s daily lives. Maybe you don’t have robot servants scurrying around the house, but many of the systems in the home can now be connected through a single “smart” automation system. 

To enjoy effective home automation, you’ll need to have electricians in Clarence, NY install it. These are complex devices, and it takes skilled electricians to make them work the way homeowners want them to. Our team can help you find the right home automation and determine the parts of your home you want it to control. 

If you’re unsure about the value of installing home automation, we’ve listed five major benefits to consider.

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Don’t Try DIY Electrical Work: Here’s Why

July 19th, 2021
electrical-outlet

We understand as well as anyone why “do-it-yourself” work has appeal for so many people. After all, we’re technicians who enjoy our work, and many of us first got interested in home services because of doing tasks around the house on our own. 

However, handling electrical jobs as a DIY project is something we have to warn against trying. It’s not like changing the aerator on a faucet or fixing a loose table leg. For any electrical job more complicated than replacing a lightbulb or resetting tripped breaker switches, you must have a licensed professional electrician in Buffalo, NY. There are several good reasons why.

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What Your Electrical Panel Does—And Why It May Need a Replacement

July 5th, 2021
panel-replacement

The electrical panel for your house serves a vital and necessary function. You probably already have some sense of what it does if you’ve ever had to reset tripped breakers or shut off the power to part of the house. But can you give a good “job description” of your electrical panel and why it’s so important? If you can’t, that’s no problem. You don’t have to be an electrical expert about all parts of your home—that’s why you have professional electricians in Orchard Park, NY like us to help you out.

We’re going to give you the basics about your electrical panel, and then we’re going to go into the question of whether you need to have a new one installed.

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Some Ceiling Fan Problems You May Need Help With

June 21st, 2021
ceiling-fan-over-kitchen

Ceiling fans are great! They offer a way to keep cool that uses much less electricity than constantly running an air conditioner. The standard central AC in a home uses about 3,500 watts per hour to provide cooling. A ceiling fan, on the other hand, uses around 75 watts per hour. You may end up paying around $2.75 to run a ceiling fan during the year. The cost to run an air conditioner … well, it’s a lot higher, let’s leave it at that.

But ceiling fans need to have proper installation from an electrician in Lancaster, NY or they can become their own source of problems. When a ceiling fan malfunctions, it will also need a professional electrician to either fix or replace it. Below we’re going to look at a few common ceiling fan problems you might encounter that our trained and certified electricians can repair. 

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Summer Electrical Problems You May Encounter

June 7th, 2021
sunshine

Summer is approaching, and we can almost guarantee it will be a more enjoyable one than last year! But summer brings with it some major electrical challenges for a home. Households use enormous amounts of electricity during summer. For some homes, such as those that rely on gas-powered heaters, summer may have higher electricity use than winter—and the hotter the summer, the more electricity consumption rises. 

We’re experienced with dealing with summer electrical problems. Below we’ve listed a few of the most common electrical troubles you may run into this summer. 

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6 Ways to Tell You Need a New Generator

May 20th, 2021
question-mark

Many homes in Western New York have generators to help them through power outages. Weather and grid failures have become increasing problems, and an effective generator can make it easy for a household to make it through an extended blackout in comfort and safety. 

Even though generators do not run regularly—in fact, people hope they don’t have to use their generator—they still age and run down until they need a replacement. If you have a generator, you’ll want to get ahead of its eventual replacement, since you don’t want to find out you need a new generator when your current one completely fails. We’ve put together a list of six ways to tell it’s time for a new generator.

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Answering FAQs About Electrical Panel Upgrades

May 10th, 2021
panel-replacement

One of our essential jobs as electricians in Buffalo, NY is servicing and updating residential electrical panels. Outdated and damaged electrical panels are a major cause of electrical problems in homes, including potentially hazardous ones like electrical fires. We take this work seriously and encourage homeowners to pay special attention to their panel needs. 

People often have questions about their electrical panels and when they should make upgrades to them, as well as how to do an upgrade. Below we’ve answered some of the most common questions. 

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What Does a Whole-House Surge Protector Do?

April 26th, 2021
surge-protector-sparking

We often recommend our customers have a whole-house surge protector installed into their electrical systems. We aren’t the only ones who advise this: the National Fire Protection Association also recommends all homes have this type of surge protection installed. You only have to call an electrician in Buffalo, NY to set this up for your house, and it will provide many benefits.

But if you want to know more about what whole-house surge protection does and why it’s important, we’ll go into more details below.

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What You Can Do to Help Prevent Electrical Fires

April 12th, 2021
smoke-detector

One reason we tell our customers to only rely on professional Buffalo, NY electrical service technicians for any electrical need rather than to call an amateur or go “do-it-yourself” is because of the potential hazard of electrical fires. Electrical fires are one of the biggest sources of fires in homes: according to the US Consumer Product Safety Commission, electrical fires from outlets alone cause more than 5,000 fires per year.

We want you to avoid electrical fires in your house, and there are steps you can take to reduce the chance of them occurring with our help.

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