Safety

According to the Electrical Safety Foundation International, more than 300,000 Americans receive non-fatal electrical shocks every year, and that’s not including the number of electricity-related deaths. Many of those incidents are caused by using outdated outlets. Using older outlets increases your risk of shock as well the chances of your home experiencing power outages and electrical fires. A licensed electrician in Fairfax, VA will protect your family from the dangers associated with outdated outlets, and it’s never too late to make the change.

Energy Efficiency

As with safety, older outlets simply can’t compare to the kind of energy efficiency provided by modern three-prong outlets. Two-prong outlets often need more electricity to power appliances, and they simply weren’t made to handle the demands of today’s high-powered electrical devices. All that extra energy means your energy bills are higher than they need to be. Updating your outlets is an effective way to lower your monthly electric bill and save money in the long run.

Better Compatibility

Good luck plugging your laptop charger or plasma screen TV into your old two-prong outlets. Two-prong outlets are a thing of the past, and most of today’s electrical devices can’t even use them. There’s nothing more annoying than having to search the house for an appropriate outlet or buying adapters every time you need to plug something in. Upgrading your outlets will make your life instantly less complicated.

CRI) of 82 to show the true colors of objects and surroundings.

A rocker switch allows for two levels of light, but the fixture can also be dimmed with an electronic low-voltage (ELV) dimmer. Up to 10 under-cabinet fixtures can be joined in a series with our interconnect cables. The low-profile white aluminum fixture has 120V AC operation and is designed to last 30,000 hours—three times longer than equivalent fluorescent fixtures.

If you are looking to start working from home, an important aspect is to have a legitimate workspace. One of the best ways to create a highly-functional and productive home office space is to update your house wiring. At Electrical Gurus, our electrician services include both commercial and residential electrician specialists who can help transform your spare bedroom into a proper home office. With our help, you can transform your spare bedroom into the most efficient office in the Midwest. In fact, you’ll probably wonder why it took you so long to abandon your cubicle!

If you are requiring a home office, there is almost a 100% chance that you are going to require internet services. Although most devices, including computers, phones, printers, and tablets, are WiFi-capable, having a dedicated, hardwired ethernet port in your home office will increase reliability of your service. Additionally, one of our expert residential electricians can ensure that all of your devices are correctly powered and have the proper grounding to prevent power surges.

In addition to reliable internet and power for your home office, great office lighting will increase productivity. With our speciality lighting design services, Electrical Gurus can design and install lighting that will maximize your natural light while also providing an excellent workspace without the neon buzz that convinced you to leave your regular office job in the first place.

When you want to start working from home, the first step should be setting up your home office. Contact Electrical Gurus online today, or call 515-446-7040 to have an expert residential electrician help you plan your home office.

If you live in the United States, you’re likely well-familiar with our typical wall-socket setup. Your plug has two flat pieces of metal roughly half of an inch wide, with one side sometimes being slightly wider than the other. Your wall socket has two slots that match this, with one side also being slightly larger than the other. However, sometimes there’s a variance: some plugs have a third prong below and between the normal two, and most electrical sockets also have a third hole to match this plug. What’s the difference between these two types of plugs and is one better than the other?

To put it simply, yes, one is better than the other. When it comes to electrical plugs, the old adage “less is more” does not apply—the three-prong plug is far better than a two-prong. To learn why, let’s discuss the difference between the two.

In order for electricity to flow, you must complete a circuit. A circuit essentially is a connection from your power source to the device, and then from the device back to the power source. The line that brings power from the power source to the device is called your “hot wire”, which is most often red and comes off the positive terminal (noted by the large “+” sign). The line that then returns from the device to the terminal, usually a black wire connected to a “-“ sign, is known as the “neutral wire.” A plug must have both of these lines in order to work.

However, the third prong in a three-prong plug is a “ground” plug, which dramatically improves safety. When an unexpected burst of electricity happens, such a short in the device or a surge from your power supply, the ground plug will take that abundance of additional electricity and move it away from the device and down into the ground where it is safe. This prevents your device from being overloaded which can cause overheating, sparking, and fires in addition to ruining it.

Three-prong plugs didn’t become the standard in homes in North America until the late 1960s. If you have a home that was constructed around this time or after, odds are your wall sockets are probably already of the three-prong variety. Two-prong plugs can work with three-prong sockets just fine, and you’ll rarely experience any issues.

However, if you have any old two-prong plugs, you’ll likely need your electrical system updated in order to upgrade to a three-prong setup. Properly installing ground wires can involve several hours of electrical work and even cutting into your walls in order to do so properly, so it’s a rather large undertaking. However, it’s by far the safest and most prudent option.

Another option that doesn’t involve tearing open your walls is to install a ground fault circuit interrupter outlet, otherwise known as a GFCI. These sockets are two-pronged, but feature a miniature circuit breaker that measures the resistance through a plug and mechanically shuts off when the risk of a shock is present. While this can help you avoid being shocked by a faulty device, there is still no ground wire present so your electronics are not protected from a power surge.