Sometimes, nature gets a little wild and shakes things up for us. We get so used to our normal routines and typically daily lives, that when we are faced with a wild thunderstorm packed with high winds, large hail and lightning, we forget what the aftermath of one of these storms is like. It isn’t until we are forced with things like wind damage and power outages that we are suddenly forced to deal with a major interruption in our seemingly normal lives. An electrician in Burbank wants to help you prepare to deal with one of these events so it is not quite as big of an interruption. You can count on the team at The Electric Connection to provide you with valuable tips about dealing with power outages.

1-Take the time today to gather flashlights and batteries. Don’t wait until a power outage happens. Keep the flashlights in a safe place that every member of the household can easily access.

2-Post the emergency outage number in a conspicuous spot i.e. on the refrigerator, next to the phone or on a corkboard. You will want to call the hotline to get an idea of how long you can expect the outage to last.

3-Show each member of the household which electronics should be unplugged from the wall in the event of a power outage. This will prevent sensitive electrical equipment from being damaged when the power surges back on.

4-Educate your family about why it is important to keep the refrigerator doors closed when the power goes out to ensure the fridge and freezer maintain their temperatures for as long as possible without power.

5-Consider having a standby generator installed by an electrician familiar with Burbank electrical standards.

Being prepared can make all the difference when a power outage strikes. If you would like to learn more about what you can do today to prepare for an outage, give The Electric Connection a call today.

You’re all packed for your trip, and you think you have thought of everything your family will need while away, but it is important to consider how to keep your home protected while you are gone. Taking a few steps to ensure your home safety while away on vacation can lend great peace of mind as you travel and relax on your vacation. Here are a few action items you should consider to prevent break-ins and add to your peace of mind while you are away from home.

If newspapers are piling up on your porch, it is easy to guess that nobody is home. Hold services can often be placed online, so you can have all your mail and papers delivered once you return.

Keeping the lawn trimmed while you are out will keep up the appearance of your home being inhabited and add to your home safety while away on vacation. You can hire a service to take care of cutting the lawn, or maybe you have a friend who can help keep the front yard from looking abandoned. Thieves are lazy, so if it looks like you’re home, they’ll move on.

Use timers to turn your inside lights on at the right times some downstairs some upstairs and to keep the outdoor lights on at night only. It’s a little thing, but having the porch light on all day may be a giveaway that the lights are one but nobody is home.

Of course, a window can be broken, but it is easier for a thief to keep a low profile by opening doors or windows that may be easy targets. Install deadbolts on exterior doors and keep a dowel or good window lock on all windows.

It is a good idea to look at all your faucets indoors and out to make sure they are not leaking. You would not want to come home from vacation to find interior flooding from a sink that should not have been left running.

Having adequate coverage against theft will insure that you can recover your losses should you have a break-in.

By taking a few extra steps before heading off on your travels, you can add to your home safety while away on vacation. Get your home well protected, and take care of safety details now so that you can avoid worries while you are out.

Electrical engineers usually have a huge responsibility in implementing safe electrical conduits to ensure safety and efficiency in designs of power substations. Conduits are the means in which power cables run from the ground to the electrical equipment and appliances. In addition, conduits provide protection of medium-voltage circuits in the power substation. Examples of circuits that need this protection are collector circuits entering the substation and distribution circuits leaving the substation to feed residential and commercial power needs.

Electronics are some of the most expensive investments in any home. So how can you be sure you’re safely protecting them from electrical surges? With a whole-home surge protector, you can rest easy that all of your electronics and appliances are protected in the event of a lightning strike or electrical surge.

A whole-home surge protector is installed in your main electrical panel in order to cut off potential electrical surges from flowing into your home’s internal wiring. Whole-home surge protectors can protect up to 40,000 amps of current flowing into your home. When an electrical surge takes place, the device detects the excess energy and safely diverts the surge through the home’s grounding path. This will protect your home from:

This provides an easy, catch-all system that ensures every plug in your home is safe from a surge. Never have to worry about plugging your expensive electronics into standard plug-in surge protectors.

According to the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety, the Maryland/Virginia/Washington, DC area is considered at moderate risk for lightning strikes. These, along with other powerful weather events, are strong enough to fry both large and small electronics, including:

By investing in full-home surge protectors, you save yourself the risk of potentially paying thousands to replace your expensive electronic devices and appliances. Don’t suffer later when you can prevent damage up-front!

It is important that typically, it is recommended that you double protect against electric damage by also using standard wall surge protectors. This will make sure that no matter how strong the electrical surge is that hits your home, your valuable electronics will stay safe.

Everyone from the National Fire Protection Association to the Institute for Business and Home Safety recommends the use of whole-house surge protection. Fortunately, great whole-home surge protection is available and affordable! For maximum protection, you’ll want to install a whole-home surge protector at the circuit breaker box and supplement it with smaller surge protectors on individual outlets. A whole-house surge protector can protect your home from up to 40,000 amps of current (normal household power is between 200 to 300 amps). When something like a lightning strike causes such a surge, the surge protector detects the excess current and safely diverts it through the house’s grounding path. Whole-house surge protection provides homeowners in MD, DC, and VA peace of mind when a powerful thunderstorm passes the area.

Kolbe Electric’s electrician team can easily install a top-of-the-line surge protector with ease. Our whole-house surge protectors usually come with lifetime warranties and added protections for possible losses. This means your electronics are double-protected against future loss due to electrical surge! Call Kolb Electric today to learn more about our whole-house surge suppressors for your Maryland, Washington, DC, or Virginia home.

Taking on a Thanksgiving get-together is no easy task, and if you’re going to do it, you might as well make it something guests will remember. Fortunately, making it memorable doesn’t have to be complicated. We have some simple LED lighting ideas that will help you dress up your home for the holidays.