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The Purpose of GFCIs and Why You Should Install them in Your Home

Electrician Blog - Advice and Tips from a Licensed Electrician Ground faults are a dangerous condition that occurs when electricity develops an unintended path to a grounded surface. Properly functioning electrical systems follow an intended low-resistance grounding path. When there is a break in this grounding path, one’s body can become the grounding path, causing severe or fatal electric shocks. GFCIs are designed to mitigate the risk of this electrical danger. ...

Inspecting Your Electrical Outlets for Safety and Preventing Dangers to Children and Pets

Electrical outlets are necessary in homes for obvious reasons. What might not be so obvious is the dangers associated with outlets that are damaged, improperly installed or used, or easily accessible to children and pets in your home. In this article, we’ll give you some tips on properly examining and protecting the electrical outlets in your home. The primary dangers of electrical outlets in the home are twofold. Electrical outlets provide enticing items for children, who hav...

The Causes and Dangers of Power Surges and the Importance of Whole-House and Individual Device Surge Protection

As a top power service in Orlando, we know a thing or two about power surges. Surge protection has become far more important in recent years than it was previously, if only for the simple fact that there are a greater number of devices in most homes that can be negatively impacted by power surges. In this article, we’ll examine the different types of power surges as well as tell you how to protect against them at the whole-home and individual device level. In the past, it was ...

Christmas and Holiday Season Fire Safety Statistics and Tips

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from our entire family at Spectrum Electric Inc., an electrical service in Orlando. We wish the very best for you and yours this holiday season. We'd like to take a moment to sincerely thank all of our customers, both past and present, for their business. You are the reason we do what we do, so "thank you" from the bottom of our hearts! As Christmas approaches, Americans are expected to spend a little over $20 billion this year on Chr...

6 Steps to Determining your Electrical Service Size

A message from your local electrical company in OrlandoYour home’s electrical service size is directly responsible for determining the power and efficiency of your home’s electrical distribution system. In layman’s terms, it indicates how many appliances, lights, or other electrical devices you can operate simultaneously. Several years ago, a standard electrical service size of 100 amps provided enough electrical current to operate any devices the average home would use. Nowada...

Selecting a Ceiling Fan and Ceiling Fan Installation Considerations

If you've visited your local home supply store lately, you've probably seen the vast amount of ceiling fans available in a variety of configurations and designs, from a variety of manufacturers. The choices can be overwhelming. This article aims to serve as your guide when selecting a ceiling fan, to ensure you get the best quality, best price, and most well-suited ceiling fan before you begin your ceiling fan installation project. The energy savings and climate control bene...

Federal Pacific Stab-lok Electrical Panels – Why you should care, how to tell if you have one, and what to do about it

The main electrical service panel in your home is a highly essential component of your home’s electrical system. It is responsible for the distribution of power throughout the home. Power comes into the home through a utility company service drop and enters the electrical service panel, where it is split into the separate circuits running through your home and providing power to your outlets. Each circuit in an electrical service panel must be protected by a circuit breaker. C...

Home Electrical Fires and How to Prevent Them

Facts and Statistics The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) reports that electrical receptacles are involved in 5,300 fires every year, causing forty deaths and more than 100 consumer injuries. Sixty-five percent of home fire deaths result from fires in homes with no working smoke detectors. Many electrocutions and home fires can be prevented simply by understanding basic electrical safety principles and adhering to safe practices. The best way to p...

How to Choose the Right Electrician in Orlando

Note: Throughout this article we'll use the terms electrician and electrical contractor interchangably. There are differences between the two, but we always recommend you hire a state certified electrical contractor company. Electrical contractors have passed state exams and operate under a strict set of rules protecting residential, industrial, and commercial cust...

Why Hire an Electrician?

Even if you are an experienced do-it-yourself homeowner, there are times when it is best to hire an electrician. Sure, you might know how to add a light switch to a room, and you may feel comfortable swapping out a damaged electrical outlet. But there are electrical tasks around the house that can be difficult, or even downright dangerous, when attempted by anyone other than a licensed electrician. In fact, in some cases there may be electrical jobs around house that are required to be done t...