Electrical Services: Modern Homes Depend on Safe, Reliable Electrical Systems; Is Yours Up To Date? | Wilmington, NC
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From the power coming in from the street to the circuit breaker panel where it’s distributed to different circuits, many homes are still in the dark ages, so to speak, with a low-current electrical service, fuse-based circuit protection, and old wiring that may not be safe both for fire protection and personal safety. Chances are if your home is in this category, you’ve been making adjustments over the years to live with it, sometimes without knowing. You have also been facing risks that other families are protected against, such as water-related electric shock hazards and injury from ungrounded equipment. At Mister Sparky of Wilmington, NC, we provide the electrical services to renovate your home’s electrical system, get started with a new circuit breaker panel and upgraded electrical service, or make repairs to keep your existing system as safe and convenient as possible. If you’re not sure about the state of your home’s electrical wiring and equipment, our electrical experts can start with an inspection of your home’s electrical system.
Your Beautiful, Classic Home Can Have Up-To-Date Electricity
Looking behind your walls and in your attic, you may see wiring that doesn’t even look like what you’ve seen in other homes. There are still knob-and-tube homes where the wiring is cloth-covered and looks like little telephone poles with wires traveling between them. You might also find aluminum wires, a product of a period almost fifty years ago when builders needed an affordable alternative to copper. While both of these systems can still be functional, they are getting old and in disrepair, and there are also difficult and risky to connect to with new wiring and equipment. Our electrical services team can inspect your home for these fundamental issues and also others that may have arisen over time, such as wiring done improperly, especially outdoors, grounded outlets used where no ground is actually available, usually because that’s all that is available as a replacement for broken receptacles, and certain types of circuit breaker panels that have been determined to need replacement due to reliability issues. Whatever strategy you prefer, with our electrical services experts providing you with the information you need, you can plan an upgrade path that will bring your home’s electrical safety and convenience into the 21st century.
60 Amp Electrical Services Are Great for the Lights, Refrigerator, and Stove, But That’s About It
Older homes can have as little as a 60 Amp supply coming in from the electric company, while modern and upgraded homes often have 200 Amp supplies. That’s the power which is divided up into your home’s circuits, supplying what you need to run your heating and cooling, stove and refrigerator, lights, computers, automatic vacuums, cell phones, high-powered audio systems, shop tools, EV charging stations, and whatever else your family uses in our electricity-friendly lifestyle. When you upgrade your electrical service and run more circuits, suddenly you don’t have to share circuits between hairdryers, fans, TVs, and computers, losing your word processing document when the total power drawn pops the fuse or trips the breaker. A nice new circuit breaker panel with plenty of room for expansion can serve you well as your home is rewired just the way you want it, and even have a bit more space for future additions. About 60 Amp electrical services, a note: With typical circuits running 15 or 20 Amps each, you can see why that number comes up short these days. Who knew we’d need more than power for lights?
Rewiring for Peace of Mind and Full Protection
Even if you don’t have ancient knob and tube wiring, if your wires are old enough they’re probably starting to become risky with insulation problems and other fire hazards. They also may not have a ground wire included, making it difficult to provide the full protection that newer homes enjoy with grounded outlets that keep your equipment from becoming shock hazards. You’ll also be missing out on GFCI outlets for bathrooms, kitchens, and outdoors that protect even further by cutting the power quickly when a potential for water-related shock hazards exists. New AFCI breakers in your electrical panel provide an additional measure of safety, watching for signs that loose or broken wires and other wiring problems are arcing and sparking and possibly causing fires, and cutting the power so you can call your electrical services professional to investigate. When you’re upgrading your wiring, one more type of outlet you might consider is the modern child-resistant type, now required in new construction. It provides a way to prevent a problem that has existed since the electric light was invented, keeping curious children from poking metal into the power out of curiosity.
Protecting Your Expensive Electronics as Well as Your Family
While family comes first, you probably have a significant investment in computers, home theater, and other equipment, and you’ve probably invested in some power strips to protect some of it with surge protectors and similar features. It’s a good idea, because damage from power surges and nearby lightning strikes doesn’t always cause complete device failure, but incremental damage that results in failure later on. Our electrical services team can install whole-house surge protectors and lightning arrestors that extend protection to every outlet in your home, instead of just those plugged into a power strip that the cat can step on and turn off, and that often don’t provide child-safe outlets.
Upgrades and Other Electrical Services from Mister Sparky of Wilmington, NC
As your local electrical services experts, Mister Sparky of Wilmington is ready to serve owners of homes built a century ago, and those built yesterday. Our skilled electricians can guide you with the information you need to meet your everyday power needs today, and whatever you need tomorrow, whether it’s for charging your EV, properly combining solar power with grid power, or adding a backup generator. Call us for information, advice, and expert professional service.