Spring brings with it a myriad of home repair and remodeling projects, many of which require electrical wiring or installations. Unfortunately, it is also a prime season for contractor scams, including those that involve so-called electricians. Learning how to spot these con-artists can help ensure you don’t get taken advantage of—keep reading to see our tips!

Knowing the tell-tale signs of electrical scams is key to recognizing these ne’er-do-wells early and sending them on their way without any of your money in their pockets. Below are just a few that should alert you of possible electrician scams:

At Kolb Electric, we employ only the most skilled and trust-worthy electricians. We’ve been helping Maryland, Northern Virginia, and Washington, DC area homeowners for over 90 years and have built a reputation based on our honest, reliable service. We understand that electrical terms can be confusing to most homeowners, so we make sure we take the time to explain everything that’s needed for your project—and the cost—before we start any work.

If you’ve spent any amount of time on our services pages, you’ve probably noticed us consistently mention dedicated circuitry. You need it for your outlets, for heavy appliances; gosh, you even need one for your microwave. But what is a circuit, and how many do you really need? Important questions, and luckily for you, our certified electricians have answers.

When it comes to electrical work, Kolb Electric has everything you need to maintain optimal home performance. Our Rockville electricians carry years of top-notch training, and possess all of the know-how and technical knowledge needed to get your circuit wiring done right. Contact Kolb any time you need electrical services!

Put super basically, a circuit is an engineered circular path that electricity takes to do work. Think about the light switches in your home. When you flick them on, electricity flows into the closed circuit that sends power to your fixtures and bulbs, and voila! You’ve got light. All electronics and electrical applications work off of the concept of circuits.

A circuit always starts and stops in the same place, creating a revolving door of sorts for harnessed electricity.

So, What Is a Dedicated Circuit?

Technically speaking, a dedicated circuit is no different from a regular circuit in application. It is simply set aside to power one, specific appliance , tool, or piece of equipment. Dedicated circuits are required by NEC (National Electric Code) for all major appliances (generally those that involve massive, fluctuating voltages). So what about portable tools that eat power? Your electric drills, and hair dryers? This is why outlets are on dedicated circuits, too!

The answer here is a little malleable. It depends on a number of variables including:

Notice that all of these variables can change, or be changed. That means the number of circuits you need equates to basically this: As many as it takes. If it has a switch, uses a motor, or gets plugged in, odds are it needs a circuit (maybe not a dedicated one, but a circuit). But how do you find out exactly how many you need? Well, that’s what electricians are for! One thing you can find out on your own, is if you have too few circuits.

If you experience any of these complications, you probably need more circuits, or an upgrade:

There are more complications than this, but they can get complicated, and often have other causes as well.

Think you might need some electrical work in Rockville? Call on the certified electricians at Kolb Electric! We can have your needs assessed and provided for in no time, and our services are guar

Fact: There are 7 species of sea turtles and 6 of those are found in the United States and all 6 are listed under the Endangered Species Act.

Sadly, they typically end up being eaten by predators or die from not being able to enter the water quickly enough. To combat the reduced population, regulations have been made to help protect the nesting areas of the turtles on beaches.  A special LED light that uses amber colored LEDs that have longer wavelengths undetectable to turtles are now being used to illuminate coastal areas.  This allows hatch-lings to not be distracted by the street lights and enter the ocean just as nature intended! How amazing!