Scherer Electric Blog: Posts Tagged ‘Buffalo’

Tips for Better Indoor Lighting

Monday, November 22nd, 2021
recessed-LED-lights

It’s easy to take for granted the indoor lighting in your home and imagine that it’s “fine” the way it is and there’s not much room for improvement. But lighting styles and technology are constantly changing, and if your house is more than a decade old, there are probably several ways you can enjoy superior indoor lighting in Buffalo, NY. 

The best way to improve your home’s indoor lighting is with the assistance of our professional electricians. Below is a list of suggestions for indoor lighting to help you get started thinking about making upgrades and changes. 

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Whole-House Generator vs. Portable Generator

Monday, September 27th, 2021

New York State got a bit … wet … this month. And whenever a major storm strikes the East Coast, it’s an important reminder of how easily whole neighborhoods can lose electrical power for long stretches of time. Western New York is at high risk for extended power losses, and this is something we at Scherer Electric want to protect our customers from. We install whole-house generators to help homeowners make it through a power outage of any kind in safety and comfort.

But when it comes to generators, we often hear people say something like this: “What about just using a portable generator in Buffalo, NY? Do I really need to go with a full whole-house generator installation?” 

Portable generators have their uses—such as on camping trips, or to keep in the car in case of emergencies. But if you want peace of mind about getting through an extended blackout in your house, a portable unit can’t hold up to a permanent standby generator. We’ll explain why.

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Maintenance Is Essential for Your Backup Generator

Monday, September 13th, 2021
emergency-home-generator

The recent storm that hit New York State and much of the Northeast is a big reminder of how important residential generators are for modern living. A backup generator in Buffalo, NY is looking more and more like a necessity with each year. If you already have a backup generator for your home, you’ll know the sort of peace of mind it can bring during calamities like storms or heat waves.

But a generator cannot bring this peace of mind and relaxation if you cannot trust that it will work. An unreliable generator isn’t worth much—it undermines the purpose of having one in the first place. Fortunately, it’s not difficult to keep a backup generator reliable. All it takes is to schedule regular maintenance for it with our expert electricians.

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

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

Monday, 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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Summer Electrical Problems You May Encounter

Monday, 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

Thursday, 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

Monday, 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?

Monday, 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

Monday, 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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