As a homeowner, you face loads of trials and tribulations. Home maintenance, jobs, relationships, and plenty more! Life is rough enough without adding the uninvited members of the animal kingdom into your home, and when you find a chewed wire, you’ve unfortunately got just that! But, hey, don’t stress. The experts at Kolb Electric are here to help!

Why do rodents chew on the wiring in my home?

Rodent teeth are very capable of doing serious harm to your wiring. Why do they even chew on wires? Well, interesting fact, that. A rodent’s front teeth never finish growing, so they chew on anything around to control the length of their incisors. Cool fact, but bad news for your wiring!

Rodents chewing on electrical wires can bring you a world of frustration at the minimum, but can be a source of serious harm at worst! An infestation left unchecked can cause:

Well, traps are always an option, of course. But that remedy tends to be a little unreliable. The unfortunate fact is there’s no magical remedy here. There’s no magical rodent-proof wire coating, or specially crafted mouse vacuum. It really comes down to prevention, and failing that, quick action. To prevent a rodent incursion:

What do I do if I already have a rodent problem?

Call a pest-control specialists right away. It’s frustrating, and costs money you didn’t want to spend, but with each passing week you run the risk of paying more than a few lost cracker crumbs. Rodents chewing on electrical wires is no joke, and left unaddressed will leave you in a bad way, electrically speaking.

Once the nests have been handled, call on an electric professional (like us!) to inspect wiring as soon as possible. Damaged wiring can be caught and fixed before you end up with a real costly problem on your hands.

If things don’t go your way and you end up with some damaged wiring, don’t stress! The experts at Kolb would love nothing more than to assist, bringing you the expertise and service you need to set your wiring right again. Contact us today to learn more about our repair and installation services, or to set an appointment!

From your cell phone to your washing machine, you’ll find all kinds electronics in your home.  Entertainment, lighting, comfort, and even cleaning can be electrically powered.  Most people know that it’s a good idea to disconnect electronics during an electrical outage or lightning storm.  This is due to possible electrical surges.  Electrical surges are sudden increases in current that can damage connections and electrical components throughout your home.  Most devices have some protections, but strong surges can overpower these protectors, leaving you with a very expensive paperweight after the surge is through.  Fortunately, surge protectors exist to stop this from happening.

A sudden increase in current occurs when more power is being delivered to the same system.  If a lightning storm strikes a transformer or relay that’s connected to the same grid you’re on, excess power is diverted to your home and creates an increase in current.  This sudden surge is what damages components.  But, it isn’t just limited to sudden electrical discharges either.  When power is applied to a system, it has substantial initial current.  This is known as inrush current and is the reason that you’re advised to disconnect electronics whenever there’s an outage.

Once power is restored to a system, either because you turn on a switch or the power grid is reconnected, initial current surges into the system.  Disconnecting devices helps to decrease that inrush current.  The electrical panel in your home is also designed to handle inrush current, which is why your breaker system doesn’t automatically trip whenever power is restored.  On a smaller scale, any sudden call for extra power pushes a small surge into the system.  When you power up an electric vacuum cleaner or portable space heater, there’s a small surge.  The more powerful the device, the larger the surge.  These are the types of surges that common surge protectors guard against.  For lightning strikes you’ll need something better.

While the majority of surges are protected against by those tiny power strips, because most surges originate inside your home, they aren’t strong enough to protect against the dangerous surges that will irreparably damage your in-home electronics.  Most homewoners prefer the power strip surge protectors because they’re inexpensive.  But, while a whole-home surge protector can cost over $200 to add on to your home, they don’t suffer from many of the drawbacks found in the tiny in-home protectors.

Whole-home surge protectors guard your entire home from outside surges.  They’re installed near and wired to the electrical service panel for your home.  Any power surge that travels to your home is immediately shunted away, preventing disaster from ever reaching your home.  You’ll find that whole-home surge protectors are also not as fragile as standard home surge protectors.  They’ll last for years and are less likely to be burnt out by a single surge.  A quality surge protector is capable of shunting tens of thousands of amps without burning out.

If you want the best in electrical protective devices, a whole-home surge protector is the right choice.  Compared to most safety installations, they’re relatively inexpensive and you only need to install one device to protect your home for years.  It’s still a good idea to use power strips to protect in-home devices from smaller surges, but you need a quality surge device to protect against lightning storms or substation surges.

For the best in quality electrical repair work and installations, contact the professionals at Custom Electric!  Be sure to check back here each week for helpful advice, news, and guides or follow us on Facebook and Twitter!

Categories: Business, commercial electrical, Residential« 3 Reasons You Should Hire a Professional Electrician  |  Mood Lighting for Romance »

Today’s lighting styles could very well take permanent hold for the future – mainly, focusing on sustainable and energy-efficient options that are becoming increasingly important even in vintage-inspired styles. Added to this are fun trends that are taking off in the moment.

Be ahead of the game by knowing 7 major lighting trends to look for in 2015:

1. Making the Switch to LEDs

This will come to no one’s surprise. Even those clinging desperately to their beloved incandescents (if there be such folks) know that LED lighting is here to stay. Remember, these oldies are being phased out as of 2014, meaning the U.S. will no longer import or manufacture these bulbs. Significantly, LED lighting is both practical and affordable as compared to other alternatives.

The demand for LED lighting, particularly in the kitchen and bathroom has grown exponentially according to residential architects. Costs for customers are also going steadily downward as their use becomes more ubiquitous. LED cabinet lighting is in especially strong demand, along with LED cove lighting.

Outdoor LED lighting is also on an upswing. Many consumers are enhancing their patios, pathways, porches, and gardens with additional lighting.

2. Clustering Glass Pendants

Pendant lighting is a hot item at the moment. Artisan glass pendants and bowls are important silhouettes that stand out for the next year.

Glass pendants are extremely versatile and transcend several décor styles. Glass pendant lights can be used to offer a direct source of light to a particular task area or can be a decorative accessory use to bring mood and color into a room. Clustering single-light pendants or hanging multi-light fixtures in gathering spaces like the living room or dining room, is another growing trend, with many consumers attracted to the sleek and timeless figures of these types of lights.

3. Chandeliers In New Places

Chandeliers are another item that used to be relegated to the dining room, weddings or a dramatic ball room. They were often seen as a glamorous object suited for only equally opulent surroundings. Now, these beauties are turning up in unexpected places; from kitchens and baths to laundry rooms.

Also, chandeliers aren’t just for the super-wealthy anymore. There are plenty of stunning, affordable options on the market today that will not sacrifice style.

Mini chandeliers fit into this category. With their small scale, they are just right for limited-size spaces such as bathrooms, attic bedrooms and small suites.

And, if you can easily afford it, the demand for traditional crystal chandeliers is coming into play once again. Many manufacturers are also willing to customize chandelier details which sees customers now willing spend extra for personalization.

4. Lighting Inside Drawers and Cabinets

Using a flashlight or turning on an overhead light to peer into a dimly-lit space is a thing of the past. There are simple and elegant solutions to this problem: they’re adding lighting inside those formerly-dark spaces.

You can use LED strip lights, motion detecting lights that use AAA batteries, or unlike  battery operated units, you can also use a strip system that turns on and off and is controlled by the contact between two magnetic switches. This model would need to be plugged into a power supply.

5. LED Lighting In the Shower

Rainshower heads with changing LED lights are a fun fashion in bathroom lighting that will be sure to take off in the next year. These heads are constructed of stainless steel and possess temperature sensitive LED lights, that will treat you to a dazzling display of color when you wash.