We’re finally through another summer in Texas. Our air conditioners are being turned off for the first time in months, and we’re all looking forward to watching that power bill drop. Now that your electrical system is under less stress, it’s the perfect time to make sure that the system is working the way it should.

Nobody should go years without performing maintenance on their vehicle. It just makes no sense to throw away the investment you made on a vehicle. And yet, people regularly go years and years without having their electrical system inspected on their home. Typically you spend a lot more on your home than a vehicle, yet both can be dangerous if you don’t do regular maintenance!

With this in mind, I wanted to share some important Electrical System Maintenance with you that can help keep you safe and even keep your power bill low! Keep in mind that the things I’m going to share with you aren’t really things you can do on your own; you should always contact a Licensed Dallas Electrician to implement any of these tips.

With that in mind:

Every year, we see dozens of do-it-yourself jobs go horribly wrong. While our trained and certified electricians can fix the issue, the property owner who tried (and failed) to do the job in the first place probably made it worse. Even if that supposedly simple job sounds easy and you find yourself reasonably handy, you should never attempt to do it yourself. Here are three reasons why you should always hire a professional.

The first and perhaps most serious risk associated with DIY work is injury. Electricity is no joking matter—it’s a powerful force with the ability to change your life in a sheer instant. The current that’s flowing through your walls has the ability to seriously injure you in a split second, and could even kill you in serious situations. You should never take working with electricity lightly, and you shouldn’t even attempt to work with it unless you’ve had extensive training and know how to do so properly.

We hear of too many people who are injured while trying to work with electricity and they fail to notice a hazard or are unaware of a potential problem. Our technicians have all been trained through years of education, practical application, and apprenticeship in order to become a certified electrician. We know how to properly handle electricity and can do so with minimal injury risk.

Are you trying to install a new appliance you just purchased? What about something larger, such as installing a ceiling fan or changing over to recessed lighting? These are all things you should trust to a professional. Not only can a professional do so quickly and cleanly to avoid the mess often caused by a lack of experience, but you can avoid potentially damaging your new purchase as well.

Lack of experience frequently can melt the wires or overload circuits through improper installation, which can ruin your brand new device, and may even void the warranty on it in some situations. If you want your new home appliance installed correctly, trust a professional to do it right the first time.

Hundreds of fires are started by faults in electrical systems every year, such as shoddy connections, low-gauge wire choice, or even loose wires left dangling. These are not only against code, but extremely dangerous and could spark at any moment. Sparks cause fire, which will damage your home considerably. A professional Marietta electrician is well-versed in the ever-changing electrical code rulebook and can do the job you need while adhering to these rules and minimizing your fire risk.

Looking for new ways to reduce your electricity bills? The Department of Energy is on the job. The agency is sponsoring research that could help decentralize the nation's electrical grid – instead of powering your electrical work from large generating stations, you could create your own electricity on-site by burning natural gas. As a bonus, the equipment could provide homeowners with heat energy as well. Read on to learn more about the Energy Department's program to spur the development of small generator technologies.

Advanced Electrical Work for Your Home

The projects are part of the Department of Energy's Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E), which is spending $55 million to support research and development into various technologies that could strengthen the flexibility, dynamism and independence of the nation's energy production system. The generator-related programs, known as GENSETS, or GENerators for Small Electrical and Thermal Systems, are receiving $25 million of the funding.

In addition to the GENSETS projects, the Energy Department is also sponsoring a program called Transportation Energy Resources from Renewable Agriculture (TERRA), aimed at developing biofuels.

“The GENSETS and TERRA programs demonstrate ARPA-E’s unique approach to developing innovative ideas to advance energy technologies,” ARPA-E Director Dr. Ellen D. Williams said in a statement. “ARPA-E is pushing the boundaries of current energy technologies to create a more secure, sustainable and affordable American energy future.”

Waste Not, Want Not for Excess Heat

The GENSETS technologies being developed are similar to microtrigeneration systems, which use natural gas to create electricity and capture excess heat for hot water and general home heating. With one of these systems, you'd still have a gas bill to pay – but if you combined your equipment with rooftop solar panels, you could reduce the cost of powering your home electrical work to a minimum.

The generator technology already exists and has been deployed to a certain extent, but the Energy Department program hopes to further refine the devices and make them more efficient, reliable and affordable. Twelve different teams are working on generator projects to take the equipment as far as it can go to meet the needs of the homeowners of today and tomorrow, focusing variously on internal combustion engines, Stirling engines, micro-turbines and solid state devices. One technology could end up being a clear leader and push the others out of the field, or multiple engine types could be competitive and give consumers a choice in their home electrical generation system.

A Glimpse into the Future of Electricity

If you have any questions about how the Department of Energy ARPA-E program could affect your electrical work, contact a qualified electrician today.