Electrical work is no joke. If left in the hands of an inexperienced or unqualified electrician, the results can be disastrous. Poor electrical work can leave you at risk of electrocution or electrical fire, and even if these issues don’t occur, it will still lead to ineffective operation. To prevent your breakers from tripping and your lights from flickering, among other things, you’ll want to do your research and make sure that the electrician you hire is the best for the job.

Hoffman Electrical has been providing electrical services throughout Florida since 1989. We can help you find an electrician in the St. Petersburg, FL area with the tips below!

The best electricians in St. Petersburg tend to share similar qualities. So when you’re doing your research, make sure you look for certain key qualifications. We recommend checking out the following:

When you’re looking for quality electrical work at an affordable price, call Hoffman Electrical. We proudly serve the St. Petersburg area, providing home and building owners with the best electricians for their specific needs and the most cost effective services. When you choose us as your St. Pete electrical company, you’ll receive:

Power cables are the basic components of any electrical system. There are different types of cables that are available in the market. The choice of which specific cable types should be used for specific purposes is based on several factors, the most important of them being the technical specifications of the functions.

As much as you may be conversant with electric cables, it is possible that there are things about power cables that are new to you. Here is a brief outline of some of the things about power cables:

Many people believe that copper is a far better conductor of electricity than aluminium at all times. This is inaccurate. When it comes to matters of what type of conductor is better between these two metals, there are many factors that need to be taken into account.

The most important one of them is that conductivity in relation to cable wires is not merely a function of the measure of resistivity but rather a unique combination of the size of the cables and the insulation material that is used. Hence, in cases where super-high voltages have to be used over long distances, it becomes economical for one to use aluminium cables as opposed to copper ones.

It is common to hear people talk of the possibility of their current cable capacity to remain stable forever. Incidentally, this is a common misconception about electrical cables that people hold.

However, the truth of the matter is that the cable current capacity changes all the time and does not remain stable over the lifetime of the cables. These changes are usually caused by factors such as the prevailing ground or air temperature, the actual manner in which the laying has been carried out and the depth at which the cables have been laid.

There are several reasons as to why newly installed power cables do last as long as people expect them to. The first one is that since there are many manufacturers of electric cables, it is highly unlikely that all the power cables that you install will last for a specific period of time.

The second one is that there are many different types of power cables. A specific type of power cable is defined in terms of its capacity, durability, usage and other industry-specific characteristics.

The third one is that the extent to which a cable lasts heavily relies on the manner in which the installation is done. A poorly done installation may significantly shorten the life of a cable.

The armor that is used on your cable is not meant to help in protecting the cable against any chances of physical impact. On the contrary, if any type of power cable is exposed to a form of physical stress, it is possible that the damage to the cable arising from the impact is likely to be aggravated by the armor!

Nest truly has some for everyone. If you are looking to make your home more secure, then you simply cannot go wrong with a Nest security camera. Offering 24/7 live video, alerts sent to your devices whenever something happens, exceptional quality night vision, and microphone and speaker capabilities, the Nest Cam offers greater levels of security than others on the market. With our free home assessments and estimates, you can be sure that your cameras will protect your home effectively, and that you’ll have an idea of the costs that you’re in for.

The device that professionals in our industry cannot stop talking about, of course, is the Nest Thermostat. Forget about “smart” technology. The Nest Thermostat is a learning thermostat, meaning that it gets to know your comfort preferences and will learn to program itself. This only takes about a week. Nobody home? The Nest Thermostat will turn itself down to save energy. You can also regulate its operation via your phone, tablet, or computer.

There is also the Nest Protect to consider. A new offering, this device is a smoke and carbon monoxide alarm. You can silence false alarms from your phone, get alerts on your phone, and get precise information regarding the location of smoke or CO in your house. Contact us to learn more, and consider taking advantage of this great offer.

A microwave is basically standard in any home these days, along with refrigerators, washing machines, etc. But do you know very much about your microwave? Furthermore, is it important that you know anything about your microwave? You might be surprised by our answer!

At Kolb Electric, our experts make a point to stay up to date with any and all information regarding modern electrical practice, the workings of appliances and how they impact your home. Why do we tell you this? So you know we know our stuff when we say wattage is the single most important factor in choosing a microwave! Well, that and a popcorn button.

Avoiding the potential (and boy, is there potential) for a massive science lesson, wattage boils down to a unit of measurement for a unit of power. In how your average person understands it, wattage is how much power an appliance utilizes to operate.

Microwave wattage generally spans between six and twelve hundred (600-1200) watts. You can see the wattage of your microwave on either the original package, or on the bottom of the unit. It will either have a number and say watts beside it, or it will simply have a number and a “w”, which means watts.

Understanding the wattage of your microwave tells you a few things. In a practical sense, it tells you how strong the microwave is. This is why “cook times may vary”. It also tells you what your microwave needs to operate smoothly. Many microwaves require a dedicated circuit to operate smoothly. We’ll go further in depth on this in a moment.

But, why have varied microwave wattage?

Well, there are a few good reasons. Many homes and older building simply can’t handle the supply need of higher wattage appliances, thus lower wattage options are available. Additionally, larger or more powerful microwaves are (naturally) more expensive. So, there’s a practical reason, and a cost-based reason.

What was that about a dedicated circuit?

Many homeowners feel that just any old outlet will do for their microwave. Most of the time, they learn they’re wrong the hard way. Microwaves require a dedicated circuit because it’s code and legally required, and  because not having a dedicated circuit can lead to breaker flips, power surges and permanent appliance damage.

Microwaves are high-power items, and use some of the highest wattages in your home. Furthermore, they use energy in a very intense way, which means a microwave can stress your circuits like no other.

We hope you learned something useful (or at least a little interesting)! Do you know if your microwave is on its own, dedicated circuit? If not, contact a Kolb professional today!