When you are looking for an electrician, look for someone whom you can form a long term relationship with. This is true for homeowners, of course, but also true for apartment managers and owners of investment properties.  As an electrician in Los Angeles, I’ve built up long-term, on-going relationships with property management companies and apartment owners. I’ve found that these relationships save me and the client time and money whenever the client needs electrical work.

Find Recommended Electricians You can get recommendations for electricians from other apartment managers and also from homeowners. You can also search on-line for electrician Los Angeles or electrician Burbank, and so on. If you add the word reviews to your search, you can look for companies that have the best reviews.

Another approach is to search websites that feature reviews. Reviews appear on many websites including Google Places, Yelp.com, AngiesList.com, and CitySearch.com. You may be familiar with AngiesList.com, a paid service. It’s an excellent source of recommendations for contractors. It asks customers to rate contractors, including electricians, and give specifics about how their job went.

When looking at customer reviews, take a look at the big picture. If there are one or two bad reviews among the many good ones, does it seem like it’s just a grumpy customer? Is there a company reply that clears things up or says that it has corrected its employee?

Once you have three or so recommended electricians, take a look at their websites.

Check the Electrician’s Website

• Is it presentable and well-maintained? If the website checks out, it’s time to interview the electrician.

Interview the Electrician When you talk with the electrician, pay attention to how comfortable you are, including your trust level. Ask about:

• Experience with your type of work, including tenant relations • Names and contact info for five clients, preferably apartment or other property managers

Take notes on all this, particularly the License Number. If you decide to go ahead, you may wish to check some of what the electrician has said. If you decide not to go ahead, no need to proceed any further with this electrician. But save the notes so that you can remind yourself later of which companies you’ve already ruled out.

Look and Listen Electricians who are bidding jobs are on their best behavior. If you already notice that an electrician treats you or others in ways that concern you, better to find another with whom you feel more comfortable.

Check It Out • Check the company’s rating at the Better Business Bureau. Ratings run from A+ to F based on customer complaints made to the Bureau. As a note, an “A” reflects the same level of customer satisfaction as an “A+.” The “A+” is earned by an “A” contractor becoming a paying member of the Better Business Bureau, which supports the Bureau in its work.

Call References • Would you be happy to continue to use this electrical company?

Speak with at least three references. Listen carefully for enthusiasm or lack of enthusiasm about the electrician. A competent electrical company will have given you names that they believe are satisfied customers. Clients, past or present, may not feel comfortable saying anything negative. If they express little enthusiasm or say something negative, take this into consideration when making your decision.

Don’t Automatically Choose the Low Bid A bid may be too low. How can that be? An electrician may intentionally omit items that the job requires, only to come back later saying that additional work needs to be done. On the other hand, some electricians may unintentionally bid low through inexperience. Either way, the electrician may ask for more money to finish the job or may leave you with an incomplete project.

Look at the Whole Picture Price is important, but judge the entire picture an electrician is showing you — character, expertise, the ease of working with him or her, and overall value. A large part of an electrician’s value is that he/she gets the job done right and safely without taking too much of your time and inconveniencing you or your tenants. A very competent electrician can save you money by suggesting more efficient ways to do a job or to save on electricity.

If you  are looking for a fully licensed, bonded, and insured electrician in Los Angeles who can work with you and provide you quality electrical services at reasonable prices, please give us a call at (800) 990-9490, 8-5 pm. I look forward to hearing from you and will be happy to provide you with contact info for satisfied property managers. Or you can look at a couple of reviews by property managers on our website.

Do you find that your home’s indoor air is extremely dry? Are you frustrated by dry skin and sore throats during the winter time? Do you need something a bit more comprehensive than the small humidifiers that you can buy at the local hardware store? If you own a central air unit/furnace combo or a heat pump, then you also have a network of ducts installed in your home. A whole house humidifier may be just what you need to ensure that your air is optimized when it comes to the humidity level. Dry air can disrupt your comfort and aggravate health issues.

Get him two Battery operated LED Picture Light.

source) Make sure your BBQ Master has enough light to control the flow of wickedness with the Black Mo Tools Axe by Brook & Hunter and a Power Box 360 stereo by Bosch is a dust and moisture resistant powerhouse with a rubber cage exterior. Rock the night away with a LED Headlamp for smaller, intricate ones that need direct light.

You know the kind — he has the biggest TV you’ve ever seen and has an entire room devoted to it. Upgrade the man cave with his favorite LED Fiber Optic Star Ceiling Kit.

This is the second blog post in this year’s 15 smart gift ideas for students of any age. Visit our Holiday Specials!

The push for solar power is growing stronger and with good reason. There are several benefits that solar power offers and many homeowners have gained from these benefits. If you’ve been dragging your feet on looking to solar for your electrical needs, you are missing out! Solar panels have a lot to offer your home.

Solar power systems derive clean, pure energy from the sun. Installing solar panels on your home helps combat greenhouse gas emissions and reduces our collective dependence on fossil fuel. Here are a few more benefits that you will get by installing solar panels on your home:

Solar Panels Help Save You Money.

How much can you save on your electric bill with solar panels? Depending on the sun exposure we receive here in Virginia, solar energy could save you well above $100 a month. Multiply that savings times the length of a typical solar panel warranty (25 years) – and that’s some serious cash!

Solar Panels Pay for Themselves.

Panels purchased in cash typically pay for themselves in less than 10 years courtesy of lower electricity costs. In some states, like here in Virginia, as little as five years to pay for themselves. The more sun exposure your solar panels endure, the more they will pay for themselves!

You can Start Saving from Day One.

Solar purchase power agreements (PPAs) and solar leasing has made it possible for homeowners to go solar for little or no money down.

Many homeowners choose to finance their solar panels with one of the “pay-as-you-go” financing options. This means that a third-party company – the solar provider – owns the solar system and takes care of installation, maintenance, monitoring and repairs. You simply pay the solar provider for electricity – less than you would`ve paid the utility company.

As of June 2013, 75% of all American homes have access to pay-as-you-go solar.

Solar Panels Add Value to Your Home.

Solar panels lower your home’s electricity costs, increasing its attractiveness to potential buyers. How much? A National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) study showed homes with solar panels sell 20% faster – for 17% more!

Taking Advantage of Solar Energy Offers Tax Incentives.

As of 2009, there is no cap on the Federal Solar Tax Credit, giving you access to up to 30% of total system costs back, including equipment and installation. State, local, and utility incentives may also be available in your area, as well as Solar Renewable Energy Credits (SRECs). Use them while they last – they could cut your costs in half!

Solar Panels Benefit the Environment.

We know that the majority of homeowners choose to go solar because it makes good sense from a financial point of view. That being said, the environmental benefits are also clearly worth mentioning.

The U.S. places second in the world in annual carbon dioxide emissions at 17.9%, right behind China. You can go a long way in lowering your carbon footprint by replacing utility power with clean electricity from solar panels.

A solar panel system can really help you lower your carbon footprint. In fact, the installation of a typical residential system offsets carbon dioxide emissions the equivalent of driving a car for 100,000 miles.

If you own or manage apartments or offices, how can you tell whether your Beverly Hills electrician is treating you right? I’ve been providing electrical services to property managers and owners for over 30 years in the Beverly Hills and surrounding areas and have learned a lot about what they really need and want and how to treat them right. There are eight benefits that your electrician should provide you if are a property manager.

1) The electrical contractor should be easy to reach. A live person should always answer the phone during business hours. After hours, there should be an emergency number that you can call.

2) If you have an urgent electrical situation, your electrical company should handle it right away. Let’s say that one of your office buildings loses its exterior lights at 8 p.m. on Sunday night. You want an electrician who can fix it, whether it’s as simple as flipping on a circuit breaker or whether troubleshooting is needed to find where bare wires are touching. The electrical company should be large enough that it can send you experienced and knowledgeable electricians right away to get the lights back on.

3) Your electrician should quote you prices in advance of doing work. If you want something new installed, the electrician should be able to give you a price up front in writing once he’s seen the job. New installations include, for example, a new light fixture, a rewire of an apartment, an electrical panel upgrade, or installing any other new electrical equipment.

If there’s something broken, for example, an electrical outlet that no longer works, he’ll want to charge you per hour for troubleshooting. However, within about an hour, he should either have fixed it or have figured out the problem and be ready to give you a written estimate for fixing it.

4) You should be able to trust that the electrician has the judgment to give you accurate estimates. For example, the doorbell for one of your apartment units has broken. Even though door bells look small and simple, in this case, looks can be deceptive. Hunting for an electrical short or loose wire somewhere in the walls could turn into a larger project. Your electrician should have the judgment to realize this and give you an accurate estimate early on so that you can decide if you want to go ahead.

5) The electrician should act professionally with your tenants. Electricians should have a friendly, professional manner with tenants. They should also have the training to give information to tenants on a need-to-know basis, knowing what to say and what not to. For example, an electrician should start by saying something like, “The management company asked us to come out to get your power back on for you.” The electrician should know not to say, “The wiring in your apartment is scary. I’m going to recommend a rewire to the management before it burns down!”

6) The electrician should make sure that you know when the job is done. When the electrician finishes, he should check that everything works, clean up after himself, and if the tenants are home, let them know that the job is done. He should also tell you.

7) The electrician in Beverly Hills should keep you posted on the condition of the electrical in your units. Let’s say that you asked the electrician to add a circuit for a computer. He adds the circuit, but also notices that a bedroom has no smoke detector. Or the tenants might tell him that at night, when a hair dryer is turned on in the lit bathroom, the circuit breaker trips off. Without saying anything to the tenant that would obligate you to do electrical work, the electrician should give you a heads up.

8 ) The electrical office should provide you with accurate bills. Bills should arrive when expected with the detail needed to provide you with a clear accounting for the property owners. Paperwork should be smooth and simple, just as the electrical work should be smooth and complete. During business hours, an office manager should be available to answer any questions about billing.

If your electrician gets the job done, charges honest and reasonable rates, and offers you these eight benefits, you’ve found a keeper. Keep his contact information at hand and you’ll know who to call the next time you have an electrical problem.

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