This is the first of a series of three blogs that address the electricity that enters your home, what should happen, and what can go wrong.

We all just kind of take electricity for granted.  As long as someone who understands it installs or repairs it, we don’t have to worry about electricity in the home at all.  But, we, at Lon Lockwood Electric can tell you stories that would make your hair stand on end – literally!  Home Builders will take any shortcut they can take in order to save a few dollars.  As long as it passes an inspection, it is good enough.  And the homeowners just take it for granted that as long as the electrical systems passed inspection when the house was built or remodeled, it doesn’t need any further attention…ever.  And that train of thought is about as far off the tracks as it could be.  We should call it a train wreck of thought!

Let’s take a peek at what happens and what could happen when the electric current from the wire outside meets and enters the wiring in your house.  The very first thing this incoming current meets is the outside main electrical service. Your main electrical service delivers electricity to your panel box, including meter socket, and in some cases, a main disconnect.  If that main service was improperly installed, water can and, sooner or later, will seep into electrical equipment causing failures!  You never have to worry about that occurring when choosing Lon Lockwood Electric.  Our expert electricians only used rigid PVC that will not scale, crack, or leak due to normal wear and tear.  Your new outside service from Lon Lockwood Electric will provide you with many more years of dependable service!

From there, the current enters the main electrical panel/load center.  Your load center (electrical panel) distributes power to your home’s circuit breakers.  There are two types of electrical panel boxes – aluminum and copper.  Aluminum panels are prone to corrosion, overheating, and faulty connections to circuit breakers.  You really should have a solid copper panel box that is coated with silver to help prevent corrosion!  Copper also withstands 10 times more heat than aluminum, which reduces future electrical failures and increases your home’s safety.

At that point, an important total safety system should be encountered, the primary and secondary grounding system.  The grounding system is your primary defense against short circuits. A short circuit occurs when live power comes into contact with non-electrical metal surfaces, such as your appliances or plumbing.  Without a grounding system, electricity could course through theses metal surfaces and deliver a nasty shock (or worse) to anyone who touches them.   If your system is properly grounded, your circuit breakers will shut off should you touch a charged surface, saving you from experiencing a painful or deadly shock.

Finally, the electrical current enters the circuit breakers for distribution to the various circuits in the house.  In older homes, you may have had fuses instead of circuit breakers.  And this is where next week’s blog will take up this series.

Lon Lockwood Electric’s MISSION STATEMENT: Lon Lockwood Electric’s mission to take care of your problems… the reason why you called us.  However, on average, our expert electricians encounter one electrical fire or overheated connection (potential fire) every day.  These fires and overheated connections are a direct result of inadequate electrical equipment and unmaintained homes.  That is why every home we visit also receives a complete electrical safety inspection.  All of us at Lon Lockwood Electric sleep better at night knowing that everyone in your household is resting safely.  Your well being is our ultimate concern.

One of the tasks the do-it-yourself handyman most often tackles in the home is the replacement of an existing overhead lighting fixture with a new one.  Unfortunately, this is one of the tasks that seems to be the most prone to bringing about accidents in the home.  Here are a few things that can … and do …go wrong.

1. The DIY installer turns the light off at the light switch, assuming that the existing fixture and wiring is now safe to work on.  That could be a huge mistake!  One of those wires running from the ceiling to the light could still be hot and could result in a pretty serious electric shock.  The only safe way to make sure the power is off to that overhead fixture is to turn off the power at the breaker of fuse box.  And, even after you have done that, you need to check with a circuit tester once you get up there to make absolutely sure.
2. The kitchen island or dining room table or king sized bed is directly underneath the overhead lighting fixture to be replaced.  Placing the ladder next to the furniture instead of moving it is the easiest thing to do, but it certainly is not the safest.  The DIY installer is probably going to have to lean over the side to work on the overhead fixture and has set himself up for a fall.  It’s much safer to take the time to move the furniture out of the way.
3. He’s standing on either a metal step stool or metal stepladder.  Not a good idea!  If by any chance there still is a hot wire in that overhead fixture, he has just increased his chances of electrical shock as he’s created a ground with the metal he’s standing on.  Or, on the other side of the coin, rather than going to get that ladder, he’s standing on a dining room or kitchen chair.  Either way, there’s not much safety sense involved!
4. Once he has the old fixture out and the new one installed, he realizes that there isn’t enough light from the fixture to do the lighting job he desired.  The simple answer is to increase the wattage of the bulbs in the overhead fixture to provide more light.  There’s a caution sticker on that fixture stating what the maximum bulb size is for that fixture.  Exceeding that wattage will set up a situation that could lead to fire.

All of this could have been avoided if our DIYer had called in a professional.  Of course, that is what we recommend.  BUT, if you choose to do it yourself, please be sure to put safety first.  Don’t make the mistakes listed above.  Make sure the power is really off, move the furniture out of the way, stand on the proper work surface, and install and use your overhead lighting fixture according to the directions from the manufacturer.

We just returned from a service call.  Nice young couple!  He’s your typical 30-something DIY-er who, after getting quotes and doing research on the internet, decided to save himself a lot of money and install an attic fan himself.  Their initial problem was that they have baseboard hot water heat and to install AC would have been way up in the thousands of dollars, so they decided that an attic fan would pull that hot summer air up and out of the house making it more comfortable for them and their pets.  And they were right on that count.  So, off he went to that ubiquitous home store, bought the largest attic fan he could find, brought it home and, over a weekend, cut the hole in the ceiling and put it in.  And that’s where their problems started.

Here are just some of his mistakes:

1. He located the fan in the wrong place for maximum overall ventilation.  While aesthetics certainly should play a part in the placement of the attic fan, he also needed to take into consideration the best place to install it with regards to overall air flow and efficiency.
2. He purchased an off-the-shelf attic fan and installed it as it came out of the box.  What he didn’t know is that an attic fan needs to be insulated properly.  This one was not.  As a result, that precious heat in the winter was escaping into the attic and, then, outside.  His house was less comfortable and his heating bills were higher.
3. He bought the largest fan he could buy figuring that bigger was better.  In this case, it was not.  If there is not proper attic ventilation, a whole house attic fan that is too large will quite possibly draw all of the hot air up from the interior space and into the attic, and then push that hot air, along with all the attic dust, dirt, and debris, back down into the living space through the wall switches, ceiling lights, electrical outlets, and HVAC vents. In fact, a whole house attic fan that is too large for the dwelling will quite possibly make it warmer, not cooler.
4. Combined with poor placement of the fan, he didn’t read the operating instructions closely enough which clearly stated that he was supposed to open the windows when operating the fan so the cooler outside air was drawn in while the warmer outside air was pulled out.  In essence, he created a very dangerous situation by actually drawing air from the diverter on the water heater and pulling carbon dioxide into the house.

In the end, this DIY installation of an attic fan ended up costing him far more than it would have cost him had he had a professional and qualified electrician do the job for him.  Labor is almost always the most expensive cost in a project like this and the cost of having the job done right plus the cost of undoing his mistakes ended up being far more expensive than if he had called us in to do it in the first place.

Save yourself the time, extra in-the-end cost, and safety hazards when installing an attic fan and have it done by a professional.  You’ll be happy you did.

Whether you are looking at a large wiring or rewiring job or a smaller and seemingly simple outlet installation, you should think twice before attempting to do it yourself. There are just too many safety and performance issues related to electricity that you need to consider and, for the safety of yourself and your family, having the job done and done right the first time can save you the heartache of fire or personal injury that, unfortunately, is directly associated with do-it-yourself electrical projects.

Take, for example, the seemingly simple task of tapping into an existing line to add an electrical outlet outside your home so you can add a timer to your sprinkler. Should be a piece of cake project, right? Well, there’s more to it than you might think. A certified Rochester electrician from Lon Lockwood Electric will help you though the process which includes checking the circuit to make sure it will handle the additional requirements to drive that sprinkler timer. If it isn’t and you had used it in your DIY project, you could have set up a situation where the circuit breaker could overheat, resulting in a fire! Of course, you have to use a special outlet for an outdoor installation, even if it seems like it would be sheltered from rain and snow. But, as a certified Rochester electrician will tell you, the installation will have to go beyond just buying the outlet at a home improvement store and slapping it on the wall. You may, for example, have to run wires through your wall to where you want to install it and there are codes that govern how that must be done for your safety. A certified Rochester electrician from Lon Lockwood Electric will know what those codes are and will abide by them. Your safety is first with us.

Oh, and of course you knew that the outdoor outlet must be installed with a GFI, right? Yes, that Ground Fault Interrupter is mandatory and, if improperly installed, could easily lead to a fatal electrical shock to you, one of your precious family, or even one of your neighbor’s kids! If ever there was a compelling reason to hire a certified Rochester electrician, this has to be it!

Don’t ever take electricity for granted! There are too many things that can go wrong when someone who is not a certified Rochester electrician is attempting a repair or an installation. You really, really need to choose the right person for the job, someone who is a certified Rochester electrician. Of course, at Lon Lockwood Electric, we would love it if you would call us to assure that the repair or installation is done with your safety foremost in mind. But, if you don’t choose us, we beg you to call someone who is qualified and certified to accomplish this task for you. After all, our primary concern is you!

Beyond the obvious outdoor lighting over our front doors, most of us seldom give much thought to outdoor lighting, but there are several safety reasons why we should.

Outdoor lighting that is exposed to the elements must be protected from the elements in such a way that those who use them or are in close proximity must be protected from electrical shock hazards. Any outdoor lighting that is installed in close proximity to water, such as ground water, pools, and/or hot tubs, must be protected with a Ground Fault Interrupter (GFI). A GFI is designed to break the circuit and prevent the flow of electricity if and when water is present, thus preventing electrical shock to anyone nearby. Beyond that, the outdoor light must be designed to be resistant to weather so a sudden summer downpour doesn’t cause it to short out and start a fire or worse.

If the outdoor lighting is designed to be plugged into an outdoor outlet, it must have a three pronged plug for proper grounding and this plug must be molded onto the wire. Outdoor wire is different than indoor wire as it is heavily insulated to prevent moisture from seeping in. Wiring, including plugs, must be checked frequently to assure that there has been no damage, such as cuts or cracks, in the insulation that would allow water to enter. Wiring must be the proper size to safely carry the current to and from the outdoor lighting. If the wire is not the proper size, i.e., too small, it could easily overheat and potentially cause a fire.

Outdoor lighting should be on the proper sized circuit and, when installed, should not be added to a household circuit that is already near capacity for the amount of current it can carry under normal usage.

Never use a bulb that has a larger wattage then what that for which the outdoor lighting is rated. The potential for damage to the light or, worse, fire hazard is much larger than most of us realize. The outdoor lighting’s wattage rating is printed on the box and on the light and is there for a reason: Safety!

Be absolute sure that the circuit to the outdoor lighting is turned off before you change a burned out bulb! This is especially important if you have to stand on a ladder or might be standing on or near water, such as a deck or porch wet from rain.

Finally, have your outdoor lighting inspected by a certified electrician once a year to assure that all is well and that your safety is assured. We at Lon Lockwood Electric will be happy to provide you with certified electricians to help you be safe in and around your home. But, PLEASE, whomever you call to evaluate your electrical service, be absolutely certain they are qualified and certified to do so.