If you live in an older home that contains outdated aluminum electrical wiring, now is the time to hire an electrician serving San Jose to replace your old wires. Aluminum electrical wiring is now recognized as a safety hazard in homes and commercial buildings. Without the proper grounding, aluminum wires could put your property at risk of experiencing an electrical fire. With professional assistance from an electrician, you can rest assured that your new wiring system has been properly installed. Here is an overview of three reasons to trust your aluminum wiring conversion to the professionals.

Avoid Safety Hazards

Attempting to perform electrical work on your own could create a serious safety hazard in your home. Electrical repairs and conversions can be extremely dangerous if they are not performed by licensed and trained professionals. By trusting the professionals to perform your aluminum wiring conversion, you can make sure that the procedure is performed safely and without risk of injury. Your electrical team will have the tools and training needed to safely remove and replace the aluminum wires in your home.

Ensure Proper Conversion

An aluminum wiring conversion is a highly technical procedure that involves many different steps. Fortunately, your electrician will have received special training on the art of converting a home’s aluminum wiring over to a modern system. After your professional aluminum wiring conversion has been completed, you can feel great knowing that your home’s electrical system is set up correctly.

Comply With Insurance Requirements

Depending on the terms and conditions of your homeowner’s insurance policy, you may be required to provide your insurance agent with proof that your repairs were performed by a licensed professional. If you are unable to assure your insurance company that your home is outfitted with professionally installed electrical wiring, you may no longer be eligible for your same insurance plan. With assistance from an electrician, you will be able to make sure that your new wiring installation complies with your insurance requirements.

If you live in a home that was built prior to the 1940s, chances are that your electrical system is equipped with aluminum wiring. While aluminum wiring was the standard for homes in previous decades, this wiring material is now considered to be outdated and unsafe. A residential electrician in San Jose can provide you with an electrical wiring conversion that will fully replace your aluminum wires. Along with replacing your electrical panel, you may want to ask whether a new wiring installation is right for your home. Let’s explore three popular upgrades that can be used for homes that have aluminum wiring.

Copper Wire

When you are shopping for an affordable and effective wiring solution, you may want to consider a copper wire installation. Copper wire is popular due to its terrific conductivity. Along with being very conductive, copper wire is also flexible enough to be placed in areas throughout your home. Your new copper wire will also be resistant to loosening, which will help to keep your fixtures and outlets properly intact.

COPULUM Wire

If you do not wish to go through the process of completely removing and replacing all of the aluminum wire in your home, you may want to ask your electrician about the possibility of scheduling a COPULUM wire installation. During a COPULUM installation, your technician will splice copper wire into your existing aluminum wire. The unique properties of copper will prevent the aluminum wire from expanding, sparking, or creating any other safety hazards.

AlumiConn Connectors

Your electrician may also recommend that you install AlumiConn connectors throughout your home’s wiring. These unique devices can be used to safely connect aluminum wires with copper ports. Using separate ports, AlumiConn connectors are able to dramatically reduce any electrical risks throughout the home. Since AlumiConn connectors are constructed out of a single piece of equipment, your electrician will be able to easily install these devices.

When your business grows and expands, you may find that it is necessary to build an addition to your office or retail space. Rather than attempting to perform your remodel on your own, you will want to trust all of your electrical work to a commercial electrician in San Jose . From hanging lights to installing electrical outlets and more, your electrician will be able to safely and efficiently manage the electrical components required for your addition project. Here is an overview of what business owners need to know about setting up an electrical system when planning an addition.

Proper Lighting is Key

One of the most important aspects of your business addition is your lighting design. The proper lighting design will provide visibility for your employees and clients, while also highlighting the architectural components of your new space. Working with a licensed electrician will allow you to plan out the perfect lighting design for your property. Your electrician can help you find and install the right types of lights for each area of your addition.

Electrical Outlets Should Be Strategically Placed

Along with choosing the lighting design for your commercial addition, you will also need to think carefully about the placement of all of your electrical outlets. Your workers will use outlets to power appliances, computers, and other types of electrical equipment that is needed for your daily work tasks. Having your electrician place outlets in strategic locations will help you improve the productivity and efficiency of your business.

Safety Is a Top Priority

As you are planning an addition to your commercial building, you will want to keep the safety of your workers in mind. A properly installed and maintained electrical system will help to keep your new addition safe and protected from electrical fires and other dangers. For answers to your questions about your upcoming commercial addition, be sure to get in touch with an experienced electrical company.

A functioning circuit breaker in San Jose will prevent your appliances from using a dangerous amount of energy, but it cannot perform this task unless all of its circuits are working. The good news is that fixing the problem is relatively simple and straightforward. Watch this video clip for tips on replacing a faulty circuit.

The first step in replacing a faulty circuit is locating the breaker box. Once you have found your breaker box, open it up and turn off the main; this is a very important step that should never be skipped over. Unscrew and remove the panel and loosen the screw that holds the wire, then remove the circuit breaker itself. Now you can simply insert the new circuit breaker and tighten the screws, put the lid back on, and turn on the main breaker. Your circuit breaker should now be functioning at optimal capacity once again.

It is tempting to become frustrated with your circuit breaker in San Jose if it continues to trip, but it helps to keep in mind that you are on the same team. Your breaker box can keep you safe in the event that your appliances attempt to draw too much power through your electrical system; instead of hazardous consequences like fires, your system will shut down and recover. Keep reading if you would like to find out why your circuits keep tripping.

Overload
Your circuits trip in order to prevent excessive amounts of electricity from flowing and creating too much energy, and in many cases this occurs when someone attempts to use too many appliances at the same time . It is important to note that circuits and outlets are different things; just because your appliances are plugged into different outlets does not mean that they are operating on different circuits. Always consider the amount of power that any given appliance uses, and make sure you do not attempt to use a variety of other appliances at the same time. Sometimes circuits will trip in this manner because of loose connections, but you should always have a licensed electrician address these issues.

Ground Fault
If you are not using too many appliances at the same time, your tripping circuit problem may have to do with a ground fault. When a hot wire touches a ground wire, a ground fault occurs; the same can happen when the hot wire touches a metal outlet box. Diagnosing this problem is simple, as all you have to do is make sure that the hot wire is not touching either of these other elements. A ground fault is one example of a short circuit.

Short Circuit
When a hot wire touches a ground wire or metal outlet box, a ground fault occurs; this is because whenever a hot wire touches a hot or neutral wire, a short circuit results. Short circuits tend to be more severe than circuit overloads and can involve melted cords, so in this case it is wise to have a professional electrician take a look at your electrical system.

While there are many household problems that you may be able to diagnose and handle yourself, others tend to indicate the presence of a much bigger problem on the horizon. If you notice any problems that relate to your electrical wiring or circuit breaker in San Jose, a call to your local electrician should be placed immediately. As handy as you may be, electrical problems may compromise the safety of your home. Read on for a look at some of the top reasons to call an electrician.

Moving Into or Out of a Home
Relocating to a new house or apartment can be a positive and exciting experience, but you will need to take care of some things before you can sit back and relax. When you put your home on the market, it is important to make sure that it is as safe as can be and perfectly suitable for a new family. This means that any outlets or fixtures that have given you trouble in the past should be taken care of before moving so that they do not cause problems for the new homeowners. If you are on the other side and you are the one looking for a home, hiring your own electrician to scope it out is never a bad idea.

Issues with Your Light Bulbs
Whether you are at home or in your office building, take a moment to consider the lighting. Do the lights flicker? Have you seen one or more bulbs pop? Are some bulbs brighter than other bulbs of the same quality? If these questions bring memories to mind, your electrical system may not be working properly, and it may be showing through your lights.

Malfunctioning Outlets
There is no reason to accept the fact that an outlet simply does not work; you paid for your home or office, so you paid for the electrical wiring inside of it. If your outlets do not work the way they should, call an electrician and have the problem addressed. Keep an eye out for appliances that malfunction after consistently being plugged into the same outlet as well.

Some people may still call them “fuse boxes,” though most homes and office buildings have circuit breakers in San Jose. These panels are crucial to the function of any modern building, since they prevent circuits from overloading, which in turn prevents damage to the wiring and electrical fires. Only a licensed electrician should attempt to repair or replace a circuit breaker . Find out more about this critical piece of electrical equipment by reading on.

Modern Circuit Breaker Design
The original design for home electrical panels were indeed fuse boxes. Fuses contained filaments that would melt when overheated, interrupting the circuit and preventing a fire or overload. Fuses needed to be thrown out and completely replaced when they “blew out,” so homeowners needed to keep a supply of them on hand or call a residential electrician when this happened. Modern circuit breakers contain switches that trip, allowing you to restart the circuit simply by flipping the switch.

Signs of a Circuit Breaker Problem
If you find that breakers in your home or commercial property frequently trip, cutting off power to a certain section of the building, you should call an electrician for an electric safety inspection as soon as you can. This can be a sign of faulty wiring or an overloaded breaker. Beyond the inconvenience of constantly having to visit the breaker box to flip the switches, these problems can lead to sparking, electrical fires, and other serious dangers. The circuit breaker should be a safety feature, not a safety hazard.

Solutions for Breaker Problems.
Often, an electrician can fix your breaker problems simply by rewiring the panel. In some cases, however, your building may need electrical panel upgrades. Today’s electrical usage, with computers, phone chargers, televisions, broadband routers, and much more, far exceeds that of even two decades ago. To bring you up to code, an electrician may install smaller sub-panels, or upgrade your circuit breaker to a larger size that can handle the increased load on the system.

If you’re like many people, chances are you don’t give much thought to your home’s electrical system—unless something is going wrong. You rely on electricity in your house to get you through your day, so if there is a malfunction, it can be frustrating and inconvenient. Many common electrical issues can be fixed with relative ease by a residential electrician near San Jose . If you have an electrical outlet that no longer works, an electrician can replace it for you to greatly reduce the risk of an electrical fire. Too many appliances working at the same time can overload a circuit, so ask an electrician about installing a separate circuit to avoid this hassle. Take a look at this infographic to learn more about common electrical problems that require the attention of an electrician. Please feel free to share this info with your friends and neighbors!

Your circuit breakers are designed to ensure the safety of yourself and your family. When your home experiences a power surge, your circuit breaker will automatically shut off power to a certain area of your home. When you are building or remodeling your home , you may need to place new outlets on your electric panel. By hiring an electrician serving San Jose, you can ensure that your electrical wiring is performed safely and in accordance to electrical code. To provide you with an inside look at some of the important services offered by an electrician, here is an overview of the process of placing outlets on a 20 amp electrical circuit.

Determining Breaker Load
The first step of placing outlets on a 20 amp electrical circuit is to determine the allowable breaker load. The breaker load stands for the total amount of electricity that the circuit can handle before it becomes overloaded. As a general rule, a breaker can handle up to eighty percent of its rating. This means that the total load on a 20 amp circuit should be no more than 16 amps.

Balancing the Load
Once the total allowable load has been determined, the next step is to decide which appliances and lights should be plugged into the circuit. To ensure the safety and performance of the circuit, it is a good idea to strike a balance between lights and outlets. This will ensure that the circuit does not become overloaded.

Assigning Each Receptacle
Another way to prevent an overloaded circuit is to make sure that each receptacle is properly balanced. On a 20 amp circuit, this means that each receptacle should draw no more than 1.5 amps. These receptacles can be connected to fixtures and appliances using 12-guage wire. With the services of an electrician, you can ensure that your 20 amp circuit is properly set up.

Dedicated circuits are designed to supply electricity to appliances with power demands higher than average appliances and electronics. If you are installing an electric cook top, for example, you may need to hire an electrician in San Jose to install a dedicated circuit. According to the National Electric Code, an electric cook top needs its own dedicated cir cuit only when there are no other built-in cooking appliances installed. An electric cook top does not need its own circuit if it is connected to the same circuit as a built-in oven. ​

The best way to protect your appliances and stay up to code is to schedule an in-home inspection with a San Jose electrician . Your electrician will inspect your electrical supply and recommend whether a dedicated circuit is needed for your electric cook top.