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Labels: Cost of Rewiring a House, Cost to Rewire a House, Electrical Inspection, Electricians

Handling electricity can be a dangerous thing if you don't know what you're doing.

Whenever you need installations or repairs to your electrical components, it's best to hire a professional electrician and not your cousin Bob. However, some are really good at doing their own wiring projects - they manage to get the light or ceiling fan installed with no problems.

But it can be a good idea to have a pro come in to at least inspect your work (especially if permits and official electrical inspections are involved) or do some of the final stages of the project to make sure it all works well.

Another thing to keep in mind - someone may be handy with electricity but not be aware that they are overloading a circuit by adding new fixtures or outlets. When the electrical components are initially installed during construction, there could have been a faulty design to begin with and adding a new problem will only make things worse. It could be something as simple as making lights dim when an appliance starts or it could even damage an expensive fixture or appliance. Even worse, it could start a fire. Professional electricians are trained to be able to look at the whole picture of your electrical layout.

The purpose of our company, ConstructionDeal,com, is to help match you with a local electrician. It's a free service and it's very easy to use. Simply tell us about your requirements and we'll send out the request to electricians in your area. If they're interested, they'll contact you and bid on the job. And you can choose how many you want to call you.

If you do try to find an electrician on your own, make sure you contact several of them and have the electricians come out to review the project before they bid on it. Multiple quotes means you have the best chance of getting the best rate to complete your project.

Labels: Electrical Inspection, Electricians, Find an Electrician

Finding a qualified electrician is easier than finding the right carpenter or plumber. You can assume a certain level of competence when an electrician shows you his state license, but there are two degrees of pro to consider.

A master electrician has passed a standardized test and has at least two years of experience under his belt. He knows the National Electrical Code and any modifications that your state has made to it. He is qualified to plan, design, install and maintain an electrical system for your project. A journeyman electrician hasn't qualified for a master's license, but he too is licensed by the state. (Some states require journeymen electricians to work with a master electrician.) By law, he cannot design systems but can install wiring and equipment.

There's another layer in the safety net. Most electrical work requires a permit issued by your local building department. Before the building inspector can sign off on the work, the inspector must take a look at it to see if it's up to code.

Picking the Right Pro
Electricians tend to specialize. Some concentrate on new construction, some just in commercial work and some go only on service calls to fix dead outlets or faulty fixtures. Those who specialize in remodeling have mastered techniques for wiring existing homes and additions, such as snaking wires through finished walls, assessing the capacity of existing circuits and evaluating whether to install an additional service panel (where the circuit breakers are) to handle increased power demands.

Most general contractors have a short list of dependable electricians, but if your contractor can't recommend one, check with the local home- builders' association or an electrical- supply house in the area for a recommendation. Be sure to tell them the type of work you are doing so they can properly match the pro to the job.

When interviewing an electrician, ask to see a copy of his state license as well as proof of insurance. Make sure both are current. An electrician working on a typical residential -remodeling job should carry a minimum of $500,000 in liability insurance and workers' compensation coverage for himself and his crew. If everything seems up to snuff, check references and look over a previous job.

Submit a request to ConstructionDeal.com and talk to 4 electricians today. It's fast, free and easy and there is no obligation to hire anyone from our network. It saves you time and money.

Labels: Electricians, Find an Electrician, Types of Electricians

Here's some information from the Walters Forensic Engineering company on how electricity can cause fires, "The three main groups of fire causes are accidental, natural and incendiary. Of the accidental fire causes, electricity often plays a major part. Electricity can also be involved in incendiary and natural causes.

Fire investigators are faced with difficulty in determining the cause of a fire, they have often relied on the phrase 'the fire was electrically caused' as a 'catch all' to avoid the more appropriate phrase 'the fire cause was undetermined'. In fact, it is actually quite difficult to start a fire with electricity.

Three elements must be present in order for a fire to initiate. These are oxygen, fuel and heat. Not only do these elements have to be present together at the same time, but the fuel must be conditioned in a way that the heat source can initiate an exothermic oxidation reaction. Electricity can play an important role in this process by providing the heat source.

Short Circuits

"One example of an electrical heat source is a short circuit. There exists two main types of short circuits; a dead short circuit and a limited short circuit."

If the circuit is not fused properly, the current can continue to pass through the wires causing them to overheat - which can ignite surrounding combustibles causing a fire.

In the case of the limited short circuit, "Wires come in contact such that the volume of material through which the current flows is smaller than the fusible link. This will create a spark or flash and result in melting of the copper of the wiring. This situation can also cause ignition of combustibles provided the mass of the combustibles contacting the heat source is small enough that the heat source can cause it to reach ignition temperatures and initiate a self-sustaining exothermic oxidation reaction or fire. Cotton products, sawdust, wood chips and combustible gases can be ignited."

Overloaded Circuits

"Over fusing of a circuit can result in high current flow through the wires overloading the circuit. Although electrical wiring is designed to carry current at much higher than its rated capacity, increasing current above this rated capacity causes the wire to generate excess heat. if the wire is enclosed within a small insulated space, such as the holes through which wires run through floor joists in a home, the heat in these areas may not be able to dissipate as quickly as it is being generated. As a result, the surrounding combustibles can pyrolyze and eventually ignite, causing a fire."

Leakage Current

"Fires can also be caused electrically through what is called leakage current. Leakage current occurs when water is in the presence of electricity. Exposed wiring, which exists primarily at connectors and switches, can come in contact with water. Since water conducts electricity, a current will flow through the water between contacts or from the live to ground or common."

Electrical Contacts

"Electrical contacts can also fail resulting in uncontrolled heating. Each time a contact is opened or closed, a small spark is generated. This causes degradation of the surface of the contact."

Check out the rest of the article that discusses how the investigators must assess liability.

A great way to insure the protection of your home or business is to have regular inspections by an electrician. And, as a backup to regular inspections and maintenance, you might want to consider adding fire sprinklers - it can reduce damage and lower insurance costs, as well as protect your family or employees. If you need to find a local sprinkler company, check out our blog on Fire Sprinkler Installation for more details.

Labels: Electrical Inspection, Electricians, Fire Safety

Many people want to know how much it will cost to rewire their entire house. Where is an electrician when you need one? Like the answer to so many difficult questions... the cost to rewire your house... depends:

Factors in the Rewiring Cost:

• Age of the Home - older homes can require more work - the electrical box might only be for 100 amps while homes today need 200 amps.
  
• Number of Rooms - you can rewire one room, three, just the main floor, or the entire house.
  
• The Level of Intrusiveness - will the electrician need to go behind the walls to remove and replace wiring? Or will they be able to run new wire in the baseboards and through the floorboards through an unfinished basement and attic?
  
• Area of the Country - like any labor intensive job, costs can vary from state to state and within urban versus rural communities.

Need to Talk to an Electrician about the Costs to Rewire Your House?
Talk to a qualified electrical pro:


Rewiring Your House
Make sure that the electrician installs GFI outlets in all the wet rooms. GFI outlets are instantly turn off the electrical supply when the appliance, cord, or outlet comes in contact with water. A wet room is the bathroom, kitchen, laundry room and even the garage is now considered to be such.

Plan on spending about $1000 to $1500 to rewire a single major room, such as your kitchen (which requires multiple outlets and usually has a lot of accent and task lighting.)

Smaller room could be in the $300 to $1000 range. To completely wire the average home in the U.S. it will cost anywhere from $8000 to $20,000.

To find a local electrician for your rewiring project - post the request with us at ConstructionDeal.com. We'll match you to electrical experts in your area and it won't cost you anything.

SAVE TIME - Electricians call you. You only have to submit one, simple online form and you'll get 4 fast and free quotes.

SAVE MONEY - You'll be able to choose from several electrical companies and at get 4 Quotes to make sure you get the best price!

Labels: Cost of Installation, Cost of Rewiring a House, Rewiring Costs

Everyone loves to save money when it comes to anything involving their house. Their home is usually their biggest expense. It costs money to heat it, cool it, light it up, and run all those appliances.

Sure, a lot of people have heard about Energy Star appliances but may not know what the real culprit is when it comes to large electricity bills. It's a good idea to take a look at some of the major energy users and abusers in the average household to see where you can save money. According to the Energy Star website, the average home spends $1900 a year on energy costs per year. Whenever you do anything that reduces the amount of energy you use, you can not only cut your electricity bill but you'll even be doing your part to help the environment.

The largest users of electricity in your home are the:

• Air Conditioner and/or Heater
• Hot Water Heater
• Clothes Dryer
• Refrigerator
• Lights

The smaller things in your house, like your stereo and computer and clock radio, do use electricity when they're on but they do not draw as much as these larger appliances. However, some of the smaller things do use electricity even when they're not on. Having a product on "standby" or any product that may have a clock on it will continue to pull power and cost you money.

How to Save Money on Electricity:

• Replace Older Appliances - if you can afford to swap out old fridges or dryers for an Energy Star appliance, it will definitely help lower your monthly bills.
• Replace Regular Light Bulbs - drop in halogen or fluorescent bulbs to cut down dramatically on the amount of wattage being used.
• Cut Down on Use - use light sensors to turn on when you enter a room and off when you leave, hang clothing out to dry instead of always using your dryer, do laundry on cold instead of hot, go with fans and open windows instead of air conditioning, turn off items instead of standing them by,
• Eliminate - get rid of the second refrigerator in the garage or any second appliance that you really don't need

If your city or state offers a decent rebate, you might even consider going solar. Solar is still very expensive to buy and install, which means your "payback" date would be years off, but if you're going to stay in your house a long time and want to "get off the grid", you'll really cut down on nearly all electric bills.

And don't forget about ConstructionDeal.com if you ever need to find a quality electrician. You can upgrade your house and save a lot of money by using a professional for any installations. It will be done right and will help make sure there is no potential fire hazard.

Labels: Electricians, Energy Costs, Saving Money

We've gotten very used to using the Internet. It's become a major part of our life. People are connected at work and at home. Most people can hardly picture what life was like before we had access to the information superhighway.

Of course, nearly everyone who uses the 'Net in their home is doing over the same system that we've used to receive our phone calls on or watch cable TV shows. But technology is finally catching up and it's becoming more and more affordable to have wiring installed in our homes that will allows to use the Internet at maximum capacity.

New homes are being built with this structure wiring, similar to our electrical wiring, that includes ethernet and high-quality coaxial cables. Old homes are being retrofitted, as well, so that everyone is able to have top performance options for their computers. A qualified low voltage electrician can install what you need, where you need it, and your home can be ready for the 21st century.

According to the Leviton Institute:

"How Structured Wiring Works

Structured wiring connects each room on a "direct run" of high capacity bundled cable to a central distribution box in the house, which manages and distributes voice, data, video and audio signals throughout the home. Homeowners have the flexibility to plug a computer, phone, fax machine, television or security camera into a wall jack in any room in the house without the messy tangle of wires running from room to room.

Networking Your Home

But that's just the beginning. With structured wiring, home networking becomes a breeze. Here are just some of the possibilities available to you:

• Link all computers in your home into one high-speed network, sharing files, printers, and scanners, and other hardware.


• Monitor the security system or check on the safety of family members in different parts of the house with remote cameras, accessible from any television or computer in the home.


• Have extra phone and data lines already built in, if future need arises.


• Play music in different rooms, controlled from a central location.


• Distribute video signals throughout the home.


• Store and distribute all the home's digital files (MP3, data, image and video files) on a home media server and view the output from the home's media player on any connected TV.
  

What's Next?

Before you decide to retrofit a structured wiring system for your house, consider these facts:

• Retrofitting structured wire into an existing home is not as easy as installing it in new one. Since retrofitting requires drilling holes and fishing wires behind walls, many homeowners only connect the rooms that benefit from it the most: the home office, home theatre or media room, and the kitchen.


• Surprisingly, retrofitting is often easier in homes 50-55 years or older because they generally have more space behind walls, ceilings, and floors than newer ones.
  

• More space makes routing easier.


• The bigger the remodeling job, the easier the retrofit. With other construction and wiring under way, adding structured wiring is both easier and less of a disruption.


• Structured wiring makes an effective "backbone" to combine with a wireless network.


• The value of the home will almost certainly increase."

If you need to find a quality low voltage electrician in your neighborhood, you can post your request with ConstructionDeal.com.

We'll help you find an expert to install structured wiring in your home. You'll receive calls from them, which saves you time. And you'll get multiple bids on your project, which saves you money. And you'll have the technology you want - which is everything that you want!

Labels: Electricians, Low Voltage Wiring, Technology Installations