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September 27, 2017 at 5:23 pm

3 Ways to Make Your Kitchen Appliances Safer from Electrical Issues

kitchen safety

Your kitchen is one of the busiest rooms in the house. It also has a great number of electrical appliances in it including but not limited to light fixtures, refrigerators, microwaves, coffee machines, etc. It also happens to be the only room where you can find water on the floor, and even on the countertops, which makes electrical works in the kitchen immensely dangerous, and thus any DIY projects should be avoided unless you are a professional. Keep the following tips in mind to help you keep your kitchen safe from any electrical hazards, major or minor.

Build Good Kitchen Habits for Kitchen Safety

While working in the kitchen is a lot of responsibility, the bigger responsibility is when you have completed your work and are about to leave the area. You have to make it a habit of turning off every electrical appliance in your kitchen before leaving. Turn off your stoves before plugging in blenders and food processors if your wall outlets are near the cooking area. Perform checks on your electrical boards periodically and be sure to remove that grease which forms time to time near the stove. Do your best to avoid splashing water on your power outlets and switchboards.

Be Mindful of Your Refrigerator and Microwave

Always keep refrigerators at a distance from the walls to allow circulation of air. One of the most common mistakes made by most families is putting stuff on refrigerators and microwaves. They are not places to keep your stuff, especially stuff that contains liquids. And no, don’t even put your cup full of coffee there thinking that you will be back in a minute.

Be Careful to Not Overload Outlets

Use one outlet for one appliance at a time. Are you often require plugging in multiple appliances in the same outlet but don’t want to risk overloading it? Give us a call.

Our Wire Craft Electric professionals will be there at your doorstep to make things easier and safer for you. As intuitive as it sounds, most people don’t care about touching buttons and plugs with wet hands. Replace your buttons or call Wire Craft Electrical professionals if your buttons become loose, i.e., switching on a light causes it to flicker and you hear funny sparking sounds coming from the button.

Once again, take it as a reminder or warning. It is best that you let professionals handle all your electrical works for all the safety reasons, especially any electrical projects inside your kitchen. Kitchen safety matters.

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September 15, 2017 at 2:59 pm

Educating Children About Electrical Safety

children electrical safetyIt’s fairly common for kids to be curious, and this behavior allows them to discover things around them. Unfortunately, this may also lead to accidents and injuries, especially when they don’t know the real dangers in their surroundings. This is the reason why teaching them about children electrical safety that is one of the priorities that any adult should do.

Facts and Figures on Electrical Safety

Electrocution is a nasty accident that you don’t want children to get involved with. Here are some alarming facts about electricity-related accidents:

  •       According to the National Safety Council, electricity is the sixth most common cause of work-related injuries in the U.S.
  •       Electricity leads to at least 140,000 fires annually, which consequently burns down $1.6 billion worth of property.
  •       Based on data from Statistic Brain, more than 2,500 children experience electrical shock from wall outlets every year.

How To Teach Kids About Electrical Safety

You can do a lot on your own to make sure that your child’s room is safe, but teaching them about electrical safety can do even more to protect them. Consider some of these steps and concepts when walking your child through the ins and outs of electrical safety.

Explain how electricity travels from source to point of use

When they’re old enough to understand, educate kids on how electricity is carried from the power company to the wall outlets at home. This tip may require you to do a little research, but this can definitely save kids from electrical shock.

Tell them what things can conduct electricity

Letting them know the things that allow electrical current to travel will give them clues on what not to touch whenever there’s electricity near. Items such as metals and tap water conduct electricity, while rubber and hard plastic are perfect insulators.

Unplug appliances when not in use

Although plugged appliances may seem innocent, this may increase the risk of potential short circuits or power overload. Teach your kids to turn off electrical devices that are not in use, and unplug them if they’re not going to be used for a long period of time.

Be firm in dos and don’ts

Instilling discipline at an early age gives direction to children. With that, make sure to tell them not to poke their fingers into wall outlets, or stick anything in those areas. Advise them to always have their hands dry before handling electrical appliances.

Conclusion on children electrical safety

You can never be too careful in terms of protecting children from the risks of electrocution. By teaching them about electrical safety at an early age, you can help them become more alert and watchful. When it comes to using electrical appliances and power lines, they will be knowledgeable.You can also work to make your home safer for your children. Again, children electrical safety is a priority.

Reach out to Wire Craft and we’ll send one of our electricians to inspect your home. This will ensure everything is safe and in working order for your whole family.

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August 31, 2017 at 10:09 pm

What is a Brownout and How Do You Protect Your Home From It?

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What is a Brownout and How Do You Protect Your Home From It?

Summer brings a lot of fun and excitement to life, giving people a perfect opportunity to enjoy the beach with family and friends or barbecuing out on the yard. Unfortunately, the warm season also increases the electrical load, which may cause power interruptions in the form of blackouts or brownouts. If you want to maximize the fun of summer, you need to protect your home from a brownout.

What is a Brownout?

In a nutshell, a brownout is the result of a power fluctuation caused by voltage drops in the electrical system. The term comes from the “browning” or dimming of lighting fixtures due to the voltage change. An extreme voltage drop may lead to total power outage or interruption, which is called a blackout.

Seasonal brownouts occur during summer, when a lot of people find the need to stay in air-conditioned rooms to protect themselves from the harsh heat of the sun. Some of the common causes of brownouts include:

Electrical system overload:

Using a lot of electrical appliances and equipment may cause an abnormal surge in power requirement, which can overload your electrical system.

Faulty electrical circuits:

With wear and tear in your home comes a potential damage in your electrical wiring.

Weather conditions:

Thunderstorms may interfere with the distribution of power in your grid, thereby causing voltage slumps.

Tips To Protect Your Home From A Brownout

Brownouts – or any power fluctuation for that matter – may damage your home appliances and shorten the life of your lighting fixtures. Here are some things that you can do to protect your home from potential damage when a brownout strikes.

Limit the use of power-hungry appliances.

 Some electrical home appliances such as the washing machine or air conditioner require a lot of electricity to get them running. Make sure that you regulate the use of these items as much as you can.

Turn on only the appliances that you will use. 

Sure, it’s going to be convenient for you to switch all of your gadgets and appliances on, but this will cause an unnecessary power requirement that may cause a brownout. In other words, turn on the items only when you’re going to use them.

Check your electrical circuits for damage. 

Look for corroded circuit breakers or bad terminals, and repair them immediately.

A brownout may look like a simple and innocent event, but it can cause a lot of problems when you fail to follow precautionary measures against it. Make sure that your home is ready for power interruptions and fluctuations when they strike. The best solution is to contact an electrician to help you prepare your home before the next brownout happens. That’s where Wire Craft can help. Our team of electricians can help you get your home ready for whatever the summer heat and power surges bring your way. Reach out to us today and we’ll work with you to protect your home.

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July 19, 2017 at 8:48 pm

Dangers of Aluminum Wiring in the Summer

aluminum wiring in the summer

Summertime and the living’s easy…right? That’s not necessarily true if you have aluminum wiring in the summer at your home. There’s a lot of reasons why aluminum wiring has become outdated, but many older homes still have it in their homes. The summer adds even more concerns for your wiring – especially if you’re living in an older home. It’s important to know exactly what those issues are and why it’s important to make a change. We walk through some of them below and give you direction on what to do next.

Summer Heat Expands Wiring

In general, aluminum wiring in the summer will always expand more than the new standard of copper wiring. So when the summer rolls along and heatwaves come in, your home’s aluminum wiring is going to feel it maybe even more than you do. As the wiring expands, it closes in the space between the wire and the connectors. This is a major fire hazard, especially if it comes into contact with any flammable materials that might be within your walls.

Wiring Working Overtime to Keep You Cool

Aside from the external factors of the weather, you and/or your family might be putting strains on your wiring as well. Running A/C or fans means your wiring is working overtime to keep you cool. The more work you’re putting on your wiring, the hotter they’ll get and, well, you now know what that can lead to. There are steps you can take to more efficiently use electricity in the summer months, but if you’re using aluminum wiring then even the best habits can still lead to disastrous results. What do you do then?

Transitioning out of Aluminum Wiring in the Summer

You’re left with a choice – do you keep your aluminum wiring and try to tip-toe around its faults and hope for the best or do you make a change? We’d strongly recommend the latter. No one wants to live in fear of their wiring shorting or causing a fire, especially in the summer when you should be relaxing and enjoying the warm, rare Seattle weather. However, summer is also a great time to rewire your home. Unlike the winter where the electrical downtime can leave you out in the cold, take advantage of the tepid summer and bring in an electrician to get your home set. This isn’t just an investment in getting through the season, but a longterm solution to keeping you and yours safe.

Convinced now is the time to finally rewire your home? Wire Craft can help! Our team of home electricians have helped homeowners across the greater Seattle area.

Contact us today and we’ll set up a consultation and help create a plan for rewiring your home. Summer is fun – so let us take some of the stress out of your walls.

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July 7, 2017 at 9:23 pm

What to do in a Summer Blackout

summer blackout

Typically when we talk about preparing for summer blackout, the conversation centers on how to stay warm and push through the harsh winter. But during a heatwave where circuits are being overloaded from people blasting their AC and fans, you’ll find you a whole other set of challenges to face. How do you keep cool, keep your food, and stay prepared for a summer blackout? We’ll show you how.

Invest in a Generator

First and foremost, if it’s vital that you have power ASAP then you’ll want to have a generator handy.  For families with specific medical needs that require machinery or just people who are running a business from home, sometimes you can’t afford to have any downtime. Whether you invest in a portable or standby generator is up to you, but either will help you get your home running power again quickly.

Stock Up on Water and Non-Perishable Food

Those jugs of water you’ve been keeping in the garage have a purpose. While most plumbing systems don’t require electricity to function, there are some concerns to consider other than lacking hot water. The CDC points out that a widespread power outage might affect water purification systems. You can go through the purification yourself by boiling water, but you can also invest in bottled water and storage gallons to get you through while you wait for the power to come back.

With your fridge temporarily out of water, one of your best bets is investing in non-perishable foods. Typically this means pre-packaged and canned foods that don’t require cooking. If you have an outdoor grill or camping stove handy, you can use those to cook. A cooler will help you keep food for a couple days, but you’ll quickly find yourself running to the store to buy more ice (assuming they still have power as well).

Keeping the House Cool Without A/C During Summer Blackout

We’ve talked here before about keeping cool in the summer without breaking the bank, but what about when you don’t have any power at all? Summer blackouts often happen from too many people trying to run their cooling systems at the same time, meaning it’s pretty stinkin’ hot out! Without power, being in your own house can feel miserable. Instead of hiding in the car and blasting the air conditioning, first take a look around your house. Make sure you have the blinds down so that the sun won’t come in and heat things up. Wait to open your windows at night when you’ll hopefully be able to let in a cool breeze. Also try and stock up on battery operated fans. Having a few handy is always a good idea. They’ll likely be in high-demand if there’s a widespread blackout, so invest in some now before they become a necessity.

Has the power gone out in your home and you’re not sure why? Don’t wait and suffer it out in the summer heat.

Call Wire Craft today and we’ll send one of our expert electricians to inspect your home. We will identify the problem, and help you figure out the next steps. Summer blackouts aren’t any more fun than winter outages – make sure your home is properly prepared this season.

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June 19, 2017 at 10:41 pm

Preparing Your Home’s Electrical Use for Summer

electrical use for summer

Just like how meter rates typically rise in the winter from people using their heat, AC/fans can take a toll on your electricity bill as well. However, there are steps you can take to make your home more energy efficient in these high usage months. Consider some of these creative ways to keep your house cool and your energy usage low.

Use Fans and A/C Sparingly

Most people know that running their fans or A/C throughout the day is going to cause their bill to speak, but when you’re in the middle of a heatwave it’s easy to push those thoughts to the side and stay cool. That’s understandable and if you have the option to lower the heat, why wouldn’t you just turn the fan on? What it really comes down to is deciding when you’re going to use your cooling systems.

It’s tempting to leave a fan on in the other room so it’s nice and comfortable when you walk in later, but that’s money coming out of your wallet every second. There’s a mild inconvenience waiting for the temperature to drop after you turn it on, but saving your A/C time to only when you’re in the room will benefit you in the long run.

Mind Your Windows

People will often open their windows during the day in the summer months to let a breeze in and naturally cool off the house. This comes with really good intentions, maybe even with the mindset to lower your electricity bill, but it actually can have the inverse effect. Keeping your windows shut during the day will actually help keep out and maintain the temperature in your home. If things cool off at night, you can go ahead and open the windows then and you’ll definitely get the benefit of the breeze without inadvertently raising the heat. Also consider investing in drapes and blinds. By keeping your windows covered, you can block sunlight from entering your home and making you boil.

Create Less Heat Yourself

You’ve probably heard the phrase, “If you can’t stand the heat, stay out of the kitchen.” In the summer months, you might want to create your own motto: “If you can’t stand any more heat, limit your time in the kitchen.” Summer heat means you have to change up your own routine to make sure you’re not contributing to adding more heat. Obviously you have to cook sometime, but try and use less time with the oven. Maybe it’s a great time to try whipping up a fresh summer salad or wraps – something that won’t mean turning the oven on.

Dryers can also raise the temperature in your homes. Instead, make the summer weather work in your favor and hang dry your clothes and wash your clothes in cold water. Even when it’s hot out, a warm shower is often preferable to a cold one. There’s no need to force yourself into an icy shower; just change up your routine and take showers at night instead when it won’t heat up your home.

Upgrading Appliances to Improve Electrical Use for Summer

For a long term solution, maybe it’s time to upgrade your home appliances. We’ve extolled the virtues of Energy Star appliances before and how they can help lower your bill. It’s important to note that you won’t likely reap the benefits right away – it takes a while before the savings outweighs the upfront cost of buying a new dishwasher. But this is a step to preparing for those future summer months and other year round savings you want to take advantage of.

Need some help getting your home read to beat the heat? Wire Craft can help. Reach out to us today and we’ll have one of our electricians help you walk through your home and find ways to make your home more energy efficient.

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June 9, 2017 at 7:10 pm

How to Find the Right Generator for Your Home

How to Find the Right Generator for Your Home

As electricians, we don’t ever hope for someone’s power to go out. However, sometimes an issue or violent weather happens that makes it unavoidable. This is especially true in the Northwest, with winter windstorms and occasional snow leaving many without power. Seattleites may even remember the equipment failure earlier this year that left 20,000 people without power. Situations like these are unpredictable, even if you’re doing everything to try and save power.

If you do want to prepare yourself for the unexpected, maybe it’s time to start considering investing in a power generator. There’s nothing worse than being stuck without power for days on end and many homes within city limits aren’t equipped to handle your needs without electricity, relying on central electric heating. Having a generator handy can make all the difference. It’s not something you ever really want to use, but having a generator in your garage can be the difference between being stuck in the cold and staying safe and comfortable. Generators don’t have to be a massive, complicated investment, either. We’ll walk through what specs to look for and how to stay within your budget.

Portable vs. Standby

There are essentially two types of generators you need to know: portable and standby. You can infer a lot just from their names. Somewhat obviously, portable generators are ones that you can move around from place to place. If you’ve ever watched someone pull a generator out of their garage to get the power going again, this is a portable generator. In contrast, a standby generator is one that’s implemented more-or-less as a permanent fixture outside your home. They automatically will start running as soon as the power goes out.

Whereas you can sometimes get a portable generator for as low as a few hundred dollars, standby generators are going to start in the thousands range. What it comes down to is how much you’re willing to invest and what your commitment is to ease of use. What’s nice about the standby generators is that you don’t have to lift a finger. They’ll take care of themselves and you won’t miss a beat. However, if you’re not planning on living in your home for the long haul then it’s a costly investment that you can’t take with you. A portable generator will stick with you as long as you want to move it around, but it requires much more work to use and can be especially annoying when you’re trying to set up in the dark during a snowstorm. There’s no right or wrong answer here – it’s about what works best for you.

Decide How Much Power You Need

Is your refrigerator running? Well you better go… get the proper generator to accommodate its electrical needs. Jokes aside, one of the main factors in buying a generator is going to determine on your intended use. Do you want a generator that’s just going to keep the lights on or are you trying to keep everything from your HVAC to freezer working? If you’re leaning toward the latter, double check your appliances and see what their wattage needs are.

How Long Will You Need Power

How long do you like to keep you appliances on?

Some people are fine with turning on their generators at key times. This is just to get some basic housework on-going, like cooking or using the washroom.

However, if for whatever reason you need to keep the power on for longer than you need a generator. You can also check your home’s electrical panel to see what the maximum wattage your home can take. After that, find a generator that matches those needs.

Feeling like it’s time to invest in a generator but not sure what’s right for the limitations of your home? Wire Craft can help so just give us a call.

Our team of electricians will help you find the right generator for you. We can also help proof your home from other potential issues like wiring and repairing faulty outlets.

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March 24, 2017 at 9:37 pm

Seattle’s Electrical Grid: Stats and What You Need to Know

Stats About Seattle's Electrical Grid

Stats and What You Need to Know

Electricity is one of the most important things in our lives. Most of the time hardly a thought is given to it. You open your refrigerator and get a glass of milk. After that, you turn on the bathroom light in the middle of the night. Next, you charge your phone overnight to make sure you have a full battery for the next day. Think about what happens with all of those tasks without energy. Your milk gets warm and sour. You may stub your toe getting to the bathroom. Your phone won’t charge. Your electricity is often not thought about until it’s gone. Then, you really wish it was back. Let’s talk about the statics of Seattle’s electrical grid and how this impacts you.

Statistics about Seattle’s Electrical Grid and Companies

For your information, Seattle City Light has about 422,810 metered customers that will use an annual 9,157,494 megawatt-hours. This breaks down to 41,391 business customers using 6,242,931 megawatt-hours and a pool of 381,419 residences using 2,914,563 megawatt-hours.

That’s a lot of electricity per person, and many of the sources of energy come from non-renewable resources. Seattle City Light has an interactive map. It shows people how many electrical outages are occurring, and how many customers the outages are affecting. This gives you an idea of the size of the grid and their methods of clearing up outages.

More Statistics

In addition to that, Seattle has a long history as being an energy conservation program, and in fact, has one of the longest running programs in the country. Seattle was the first utility company offering electricity to become a greenhouse gas neutral entity. Moreover, Seattle is at the cutting edge of finding renewable resources for energy production and employs the use of hydroelectric power at 86% percent in 2021. The other sources of energy for the city includes nuclear, wind, coal, biomass, natural gas, petroleum, and landfill gasses.

This can make it sound like Seattle has it all figured out when it comes to the reliance on renewable resources. The truth is that the increasing use of electricity is presenting more and more of a burden on the electrical grid. It’s great that Seattle is using hydroelectric power, but there is still a duty on every person to find ways to decrease their demands on the grid. This not only helps the environment in not having to have as much electricity produced, but it also can help to reduce your electricity bills. This is a complete win-win incentive to do your part in the green movement.

What You Can Do

It’s easy to think that there is nothing you can do to make a difference when it comes to the usage of electricity in Seattle. You’re just one person, right? Your family, however, can make a big difference when added to all of the other people that do something small to change how they are using electricity. There are a number of things that you can do to reduce the amount of electricity your family uses.

Beware of Energy Vampires

Any appliances that have a little light on them to show they are plugged in, but not on are sucking up energy that’s not necessary. It can be a good idea to locate the different appliances that are energy vampires and unplug them. If unplugging them isn’t an option, you can invest in power towers that allow you turn off a row of plugs at a time. This means that some plugs will still have power while others are not on.

Monitor Electrical Usage

Another way to examine your electrical usage is in your larger appliances. It may be time for an upgrade to an energy star appliance that uses electricity more efficiently. Older refrigerators, washers, dryers, air conditioners, and more all use more electricity than their newer counterparts. Upgrading may cost you money in the short-term, but you may find that your lower electric bill can make that investment well worth it.

Upgrade Your Electrical System

Another place you can upgrade is with your electrical system. You may have an older system that is failing to provide the best use of electricity in your home. Getting an electrical audit in your home can help you to find ways to improve your home’s electricity use.

Power is an important resource and it’s up to everyone to do their part. Seattle has a large electrical grid with consumption to match for a big population. It can be easy to think that any efforts on your part wouldn’t do much to change the numbers, but with everyone working together, reductions are possible. You can work to save natural resources by reducing your electricity demands by making an effort to reduce energy waste and to improve the electrical system in your home.

Need assistance with improving your electrical usage?

Contact us at Wire Craft Electric to see where your electrical system could use an upgrade.

We will help you to eliminate energy waste in your home.

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March 20, 2017 at 7:15 pm

Energy Star Appliances: Do They Really Pay for Themselves?

energy starYou’ve probably seen the Energy Star sticker on countless appliances throughout the past couple decades. The symbol has become ubiquitous with energy saving since it emerged 24 years ago. But how effective are Energy Star appliances in application? Is it just another marketing tactic or does it have a real impact on your energy bill? Will the appliances pay for themselves? The answers to these questions aren’t exactly simple, but can be enlightening.

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March 15, 2017 at 7:01 pm

Animals and Its Electricity Impact at Home

electricity impact

Many of you in the Seattle area might remember this incident from last May, when a raccoon managed to somehow cause massive power outage in the Seattle area, affecting almost 40,000 people due to electricity impact. A smaller number of you might recall this strange event, as well. While these examples are rather unusual sets of circumstances, it’s not unusual for animals to cause problems with power and impact electricity on a much smaller scale.

Even though animals causing large-scale blackouts isn’t as uncommon as you’d assume, we’re going to leave that alone for today and talk about animals and their impact on your personal and local electrical situation: your house, and maybe the ones right in your immediate area.

So, how can animals cause the power in your home to have problems?

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