Electrical FAQs

Do I Need to Have My Entire Home Rewired?

Over time, your home may experience electrical issues related to wiring. These concerns shouldn’t be ignored as they can put your property in danger, including putting it at risk of a fire.
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7 Ways to Keep Pets Safe From Electrical Hazards

As a pet owner, you need to take extra measures to protect your home against electrical risks. Pets are known for knocking items over, chewing on wires, and more, all of which could cause harm to them and your family.
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What You Need to Know About Home Generators

A generator is a backup solution that provides electricity to your property. It is generally used when there is a power outage due to factors such as bad weather, low grid supply, and so on.
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Should I Unplug Everything Before Going On Vacation?

While this is partially true, you actually shouldn’t unplug all of your devices. By carefully choosing which devices to keep connected and disconnected, you can strike a balance between saving energy and maintaining the ideal conditions for your home.
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What Is A Power Surge?

If the surge is strong enough, it has the potential to destroy your electronic devices, such as your TVs, computers, stereos, and more. Even small surges can add up over time, causing your appliances to stop working altogether.
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Power Outages: Types, Causes, and Risks to Appliances

It can be an inconvenience when the power goes out, given our reliance on electrical appliances. However, do note that, in most cases, your electrical company isn’t to blame. In this article, we’ll tackle the various forms of power outages including their common causes. That way, you can gain a better understanding of why they occur.

Different types of power outages

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How Much Power Does the Average American Home Use?

Knowing how much electricity your home consumes can provide you with vital information, ensuring well-founded decisions. You can identify areas where you can cut costs, decide if it’s time to buy a new generator, and overall, ensure your home is equipped to handle your daily energy needs.
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How Do Whole Home Surge Protectors Work?

Power surges can happen to any home, and while they can last a fraction of a second, they’re enough to fry your circuit board and your plugged-in items.
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What Is a Power Factor Corrector Box?

If you’ve ever searched for ways to lower your electricity bill, chances are that you’ve heard about power factor corrector boxes before. But what is it, exactly? Let’s take a deep dive into the world of power factors and find out.
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Is My HVAC Contractor Legit? 6 Crucial Things to Consider

You’d think that all HVAC contractors are capable and have your best interests in mind, but the sad reality is that many of them are only after your money. To ensure you only work with the real deal, we’ve put together this guide on choosing a good and legitimate HVAC contractor in Indiana:
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Leave Your HVAC Electrical Needs to A Licensed Electrician

A license allows an HVAC technician to perform HVAC-related activities. One of those activities is maintaining the electrical components in an HVAC. So, does that mean HVAC technicians are also electricians, or will they need a whole new license?
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Electric Trends for 2023

Electrical trends are ever evolving, and 2023 won’t be any different. But while some trends rule the roost for some time before getting replaced by something new, a few have the potential to leave a mark on the industry.
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Why Do My Light Bulbs Keep Blowing Out?

Blown-out lightbulbs are a minor inconvenience, but in some cases, they indicate a more serious problem with your electrical system. Below, find out what's causing your bulbs to blow out and what you can do to stop it from happening again.
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What Is a Short Circuit and What Causes It?

An electrical short circuit occurs when electricity doesn’t go where it’s designed to go. It’s when electricity travels via a low-resistance route or takes a shortcut – hence the term “short” circuit. This can occur when the current comes into contact with a conductive material that’s not meant to carry electricity.
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Is My Electrical Capacity Enough to Power My Home?

The electrical capacity is the total amount of electricity that your main electrical service can provide. The main electrical service is a panel that receives electricity via your utility company and supplies that electricity to all the circuits in your home. On the other hand, the electrical load calculates how much electricity is needed to run all your electrical appliances. It is measured in amperes or amps, a unit of electrical current that refers to the volume of electricity that flows via the wires.
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Is My Electrical Panel Safe?

A circuit breaker is bound to trip sometimes, but if it keeps tripping, it may be a sign of a more serious problem. It can trip due to a short circuit, overloaded circuit, arc fault, etc. Another common cause is when you plug in a large appliance (this is a telltale sign that your electrical panel can’t handle the load). Since these persistent problems have the potential to cause a fire, it’s best to contact an electrician, such as Beeson Mechanical Service, and have your panel replaced.
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What Causes Circuit Breakers to Trip? 4 Reasons Why

Every circuit is connected to a breaker, a device that keeps the electrical circuit safe in the event of an electrical fault. An electrical fault occurs when there is an interruption to the electrical current. A common example is when too many large appliances are plugged in at once. When this happens, the breaker shuts off that particular circuit to “contain” the electricity and reduce the risk of an electrical fire. Simply put, it’s a switch that tells the circuit to cut off power when the flow of electricity is in excess.
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Why Are My Lights Flickering? 5 Common Causes

Lights will flicker from time to time, but if they flicker too often, that may be a sign of a more serious issue (one that could cause a fire). Below are the common culprits of flickering lights and what you can do about them:
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What is a GFCI Outlet?

When matters are related to electricity, it is always better to be safe than sorry. The GFCI or Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter is one invention that has severely reduced the risk of electrocution and shocks since its introduction in the 1970s.
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Whole-Home vs. Plug-In Surge Protectors: What’s the Difference?

Our devices are part of our everyday lives. We turn on the television, switch on the computer, open the refrigerator, run the dishwasher, and more each day. We’re so dependent on our devices that it would be unimaginable for them to be suddenly wiped out. The bad news is that it can occur. A power surge can wipe out our electronics and appliances in one swoop.
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What You Need to Know About ACFI Circuits

Each year, there are nearly 380,000 electrical fires in the United States. One of the leading causes of a house fire is an electrical fire. In fact, according to the Electrical Safety Foundation International (ESFI), electrical fires account for around 51,000 of these. Fortunately, you can protect yourself and your family from the risk of a fire with an AFCI circuit breaker.
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What are GFCIs and Why Do You Need Them?

A not-so-fun fact is that electrocution is one of the common causes of workplace deaths in the U.S. Statistics also show that in the U.S., around 400 people die due to electrocution each year, and another 400 suffer from electric shocks. Fortunately, to protect yourself from electrocution, you can install GFCIs in outlets, particularly those that are near water.
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Top 3 Electrical Trends to Look Out for in 2022

In case you weren’t aware, the United States has targeted a 50 to 52 percent reduction in greenhouse gasses (GHG) by 2030. With this, President Biden is calling for 80 percent “clean power”, which includes renewable power such as geothermal energy, wind energy, and solar energy. Hence, it’s safe to say that there’ll be a few changes when it comes to energy generation if the U.S. is going to meet its goals.
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Power Surge

It takes less than a second for a power surge to damage your devices. This sudden spike in energy can destroy your laptop, computer, television, and so on. While you’re powerless against power surges caused by the weather, you can reduce the risk of your things getting fried.
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Why Should an Electrical Company Have Insurance?

Working on electrical systems is risky. Every day, electrical contractors deal with the dangers involved in handling exposed wires, active circuits, and more. Compared to other industries, being in the electrical business is more hazardous. That’s why electrical companies need insurance.
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Why You Should Always Hire a Licensed Electrical Contractor

Homeowners often hesitate to hire a licensed electrician because they’re worried about the cost. What they don’t realize, though, is that electrical projects can’t be DIY-ed due to the dangers involved. When homeowners hire an unlicensed electrician, they end up with faulty wiring or worse -- fried appliances. As a result, they end up spending so much more.
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Trends in the Electrical Sector History

The electrical sector is undergoing a significant change. An increasing number of developments are geared towards obtaining more sustainable methods of generating, distributing, and storing energy.
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What Can I Do to Save on My Electric Utility Bill?

Working from home has made many of us aware of how much we’re spending on electricity. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), American households spend an average of $117.65 per month on electricity.
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How Do I Know What Size Electrical Panel I Need in My Home?

The size of your home’s electrical panel indicates the number of electrical appliances that can be used at the same time. If your home runs purely on electricity, you may require a much bigger electrical panel.
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Five Common Causes of Electrical Fires

Electrical fires are responsible for more than 500 deaths and 1,400 injuries each year. In the United States, it is estimated that 24,000 fires each year are caused by faulty electrical systems. Because of this, it is crucial to be aware of the potential causes of electrical fires to prevent disasters from happening. Here are the most common causes of electrical fires:
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5 Most Common Electrical Problems at Home

Almost everything in our homes runs on electricity, from the coffeemaker we use to wake up to the lampshade we turn off before going to bed. It’s no question that electricity has improved our lives, but with all of the upgrades come common electrical problems that we all experience during our lifetime. We aren’t talking about flickering lights -- we mean deep-rooted problems that are causing recurring issues in your home.
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How to Keep Your Lights Lit on Christmas

It’s the most wonderful time of the year again. Millions of homes across the country are taking their twinkle lights, ornaments, and mechanical Santas out of their garages and basements, ready to take on the festive holiday activity of decorating. While Christmas decorating is exciting, it’s important to make sure that your Christmas lights won’t create a fire hazard or worse -- shut down the entire power grid..
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Surge Suppressor for the Whole House

We all are fearful of those dreaded surges where the sparks fly, and all of our electronic equipment goes on the blink. So, we go out and purchase those surge protector strips and plug them in. But, do they really work?
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What to Remember When It Comes to Home Generator Maintenance

Lots of people may think it odd that we are even writing this article. How many people actually have the need for a home generator, right? Wrong! Home generators are great pieces of equipment that more and more people are investing in.
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What Does A Capacitor Do?

>This is one of those age-old questions that has probably been one that has bothered lots of people! We were probably all taught exactly what a capacitor does and is back at school, but it is one of those pieces of information that seemed useless to us at the time and probably deleted itself from the memory bank! However, as an adult there are numerous situations where it would have been quite useful to have retained that knowledge. From staff in electrical stores talking about capacitors in televisions, to engineers telling us about the capacitor in a digital camera, it would be useful to know what they are talking about.
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Growing Electrical Demands: Is my panel up to par?

These days, we use electricity nonstop. We have numerous equipment and devices such as televisions, exercise machines, computers, tablets, and cell phones that draw a lot of power. There are also new home appliances that require a heavy amount of electricity. Today, old homes do not have the capacity to provide for the heavy electrical demands of these advanced technologies. This is why most homeowners consider getting an upgrade on their electric panels. With the ever-growing electrical demands, it’s necessary for homes to be able to provide for all the needs of devices, appliances and equipment.
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The Types of Wiring

There are different types of wires and each type has a different purpose. Some people think that the terms cable and wire are the same thing. However, cable refers to a bunch of wires wrapped in a sheath whereas wire is a single entity.
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Outlets Not Working? 6 Common Culprits and Fixes

Your phone’s battery is down to two percent, but the problem is that when you plug in your charger, the percentage bar doesn’t go up. You unplug it and plug it in again, but it still doesn’t work.
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What's the Difference Between a Circuit Breaker and a GFCI Breaker?

Both circuit breakers and ground fault circuit interrupters (GFCIs) cut the flow of electricity when there is a fault—this is an occurrence where there’s an abnormality in the electric current. While circuit breakers and GFCIs share some similarities, they each serve distinct purposes in protecting your home and its contents.
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Why Do Circuit Breakers Commonly Trip? 5 Common Causes

In every home, there’s a device that completely cuts off electricity as a form of protection. This is called the circuit breaker. Connected to your main service panel, this device stops the flow of electricity in case there’s a fault or irregularity in the electric current. In that way, the excess electricity doesn’t do any damage. In other words, a circuit breaker is like a switch, actively waiting for faults so that it can protect your circuit, and ultimately, your home.
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How Do Whole Home Surge Protectors Work?

Power surges can happen to any home, and while they can last a fraction of a second, they’re enough to fry your circuit board and your plugged-in items. Because they have so many causes—such as plugging in too many appliances at once, poor wiring, and lightning strikes–it can seem impossible to avoid them completely. The good news is that there is a way to offset this sudden fluctuation in electricity: surge protectors.
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Electrical Safety: 4 Things to Teach Your Children

While you may be well aware of electrical safety practices, it’s also important to consider the young members of your household: your children. As a parent, it’s your responsibility to teach your children the potential risks of electricity. While you don’t need to go into detail (kids are likely too young to understand how it all works), you should at least tell them about the basics. This simple precaution can prevent accidents and potentially save lives.
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