The Homeowner's Guide to Electrical Services

LIVERMORE — If you live in an older home and have never looked at your electrical panel, it’s time you did. Why? There’s a chance your entire electrical system is relying on a defective product. Despite advances in circuit breaker technology, many older homes still have their original electrical panels. However, in some cases, this isn’t merely an energy efficiency issue—it’s a safety issue as well. Certain brands of discontinued panels (most notably Federal Pacific and Zinsco) are still present in homes across the United States, despite having lost their UL listing and being known to be defective. One of the biggest problems seen with these panels is when their circuit breakers fail to register dangerous conditions such as shorted or overloaded circuits, Read more

SAN RAFAEL — An electric car offers several advantages, from eliminating fossil fuel usage to reducing maintenance needs. However, if you’re thinking about purchasing an electric vehicle, one factor you’ll need to consider is how you’re going to charge it. Since residential power capacity varies from home to home, you’ll need to make sure yours is capable of handling the output required to charge an electric vehicle. Have an electrical professional come out and perform a load calculation, which will determine how much energy output your home can handle. In some cases, you’ll have to upgrade your electrical panel or utility electrical system to accommodate the power load needed to charge your vehicle. Read more

SAN RAFAEL — A common electrical issue is when the power goes out in a certain area of the home. More often than not, this is due to a tripped circuit breaker, which is something you can easily fix yourself by going out to your breaker box and resetting the breaker in question. This may sound simple, but in some instances, it can get more complicated than you might expect. Consider the following scenario: You reset the circuit breaker and the power doesn’t come back on, but when an electrician comes out and resets it, the power “magically” returns, leaving you scratching your head. In most cases, the problem is the circuit breakers weren’t labeled properly, Read more

SAN FRANCISCO — Are you remodeling your kitchen? If so, you probably want to upgrade your lighting fixtures and appliances. However, if you live in an older home, there’s one thing you may be forgetting: your electrical panel. If your panel isn’t up to code, you’ll need to upgrade it—otherwise, it may not be able to handle the power needs of your newly remodeled kitchen. The extent to which panel upgrades are needed can depend in part on the age of your home. For example, if it was built in the early 20th century and still has knob-and-tube wiring, you’ll need to replace its old fuse box with a modern breaker panel. This will make your electrical system safer, Read more

OAKLAND — There are two types of electrical systems found in homes today: fuse boxes and circuit breaker panels. Regardless of which you have in your home, it’s beneficial to gain an understanding of how each functions. Fuse box As the precursor to modern circuitry, fuse boxes are commonly found in older homes. There are two kinds: plug fuses and cartridge fuses. Plug fuses are short, mushroom-shaped fuses that are designed to conduct a maximum of 125 volts. Cartridge fuses are cylindrical in appearance (with contact points on each end) and have a higher power capacity: up to 600 volts, depending on the design. When a fuse is subjected to an excess amount of electrical current for an extended period of time, Read more