Tips and Info
A customer in Shoreline contacted us recently about some issues in a four-unit apartment building she owns. One of the units had some flickering lights, and the tenant heard a crackling noise at one of the outlets. We sent an electrician immediately and he found that the aluminum wiring had overheated. This type of wiring presents a significantly higher fire risk than copper wiring and remediation or rewiring is necessary.
You can see the scorch marks on the wire sheathing and junction box in the photo below. It’s a good thing we came out when we did. We quickly scheduled this customer to have the whole unit rewired with copper and now the unit is safe and functional!
Homes built between about 1965 and 1973 may have aluminum wiring. If you have flickering lights, outlets or switches that feel warm to the touch, you hear crackling sounds, or smell burning plastic, contact us today for remediation or rewire to eliminate the fire hazard from your home! You can learn more about this outdated unsafe wiring by clicking here.
The people have spoken! Our fantastic customers voted us the 2023 Best Electrician Bronze Winner in the Seattle Times Best in the PNW people’s choice competition! Just the fact that our customers nominated us was a huge honor in and of itself. And winning bronze for Best Electrician reaffirmed that people appreciate our customer-focused approach.
The past few years have been a challenge for many small businesses facing inflation and continuing uncertainty. We kept our prices as stable as possible and didn’t participate in the price gouging that seemed to be becoming rampant. We stayed focused on the thing that’s been the goal across our decades in business: providing excellent service at the best price we can. And your vote tells us that we’re still on the right track.
Thank you so much to all those who voted for us in the 2023 competition. Customer recognition for providing excellent service means the world to us! We look forward to another year of helping our PNW community with electrical issues big and small. And who knows? Maybe 2024 will bring us the gold!
Contact us today to schedule your project and find out why customers voted us the Best in the PNW!
Bronze Winner!
Thinking of adding more lighting to your home, or updating existing lighting? Recessed lights may be the perfect option! Modern LED recessed lighting products are energy efficient, and they work well for ambient lighting or task lighting needs. We even have options for “canless” lights that can be installed virtually anywhere, even where there’s no clearance for a housing (aka can). We can retrofit existing recessed lights with new LED modules, and we can even replace standard light fixtures with recessed lights.
Halo is our preferred brand for recessed and canless lights for multiple reasons. For example, Halo LED modules have a high lumen rating, long life at full lumens, and 5-year warranty. They also have a high color rendering index rating, or CRI, which is the ability of the light to represent color accurately. High CRI means that colors look rich and true to life. Another important feature is the built-in selectable color temperature with 5 different settings from warm white to daylight. The modules also come in multiple sizes. And they’re available in adjustable gimbal style that to highlight art or architectural features.
So, what does it take to have recessed lights installed? Reach out by phone or email today to chat about your specific goals and site conditions! We can help you get an understanding of the scope and cost of the installation. In the example featured in the gallery below, there were no existing overhead lights in the room. And the ceilings were vaulted so there was no attic access. But we completed the installation without cutting any extra holes. The ceiling joists were oriented in a way that allowed us to fish from one light opening to the next without cutting anything extra. This meant the homeowner didn’t need to do any sheetrock patching! Each job varies, and our experienced electricians will find the most efficient option for your home.
Check out the gallery below to see a recessed lighting installation from start to finish!
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- Marking the recessed housing cutout on the ceiling
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- Pulling the wiring to the new recessed light opening
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- Fishing wiring through to each recessed light
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- Fishing wiring through to each recessed light
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- Installing the recessed housing in the new opening
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- Connecting the LED module to the recessed housing
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- Adjusting the gimbal module so the light beam aims down
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- Reworking the switch box and installing a dimmer for the new recessed lights
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- Recessed lights finished, cleanup begins
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- Clean up almost done
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- Completed recessed light installation
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- Recessed lights completed and room reset
We’ve all been there…you have a tripped circuit breaker and you’re not sure why it tripped or what to do about it. Sometimes breakers trip because you’re using too many things on the circuit at once. But other times they trip because there’s an issue like an incomplete connection or a wire making contact with the side of a metal junction box. When this happens, the breaker trips to prevent a safety issue.
So what should you do? First, you can try to reset the breaker yourself if you feel comfortable. Check out the video below to see how it’s done. Some breakers go to an in-between position when they trip, which can sometimes be difficult to spot. They don’t look off, yet they’re not fully on either. If you have a tripped breaker in this middle position, you won’t be able to push it straight to the on position. First you’ll need to push the breaker fully into the off position until it clicks into place. They you can push it in the on position. If it holds and never trips again, you may be all set. But if it won’t hold or if it trips again soon, it’s time to have an electrician take a look.
Contact us today for more help tips about tripped circuit breakers or to schedule a service call!