Property owners have a responsibility to their tenants to keep a house or apartment in good working order. This includes the electrical portion of the home. Property owners or property management companies have to be on call 24 hours a day to handle any emergency. And because of that, you need an electrician in Glendale who is also ready to take your call anytime, day or night. At The Electric Connection, we understand that need and make sure there is always somebody to take your call. During business hours, a live person will answer the phone and after hours, there is an on call service number available.

It is crucial to any property owner they have a company they can rely on to take care of every electrical problem, whether it is big or small. It is also very important a person can rely on an electrician to make the best call to fix a problem. In most cases, the property owner will not be on the premises when the electrician goes out to investigate a Glendale electrical situation. Because the property owner, not the tenant, will have the final say in what repairs are made, it is very important there be an open line of communication between the electrician and the management company or the owner. If an electrician realizes a diagnosis of a problem may take several hours, it should be communicated up front before any work commences.

There is also the sensitive nature of telling a tenant too much about the situation. Of course some information is necessary, but ultimately, it is up to the owner or manager to choose how much a renter knows. You will want to make sure you hire a company who employs electricians that are friendly to tenants, without divulging too much information. If you are in need of a company to service your rental properties, give The Electric Connection a call today.

If improperly installed, aluminum wiring can raise the risk of a house fires! From 1960’s up to the mid 1970’s aluminum wiring was sometimes used for branch circuit wiring instead of copper wiring.  During this time period copper prices were very high and aluminum wiring became a cost effect alternative to copper wiring.  Was aluminum wiring found to be as good as copper wiring?  Not even close!  Aluminum wiring quickly became a fire risk if not installed properly.  At the time aluminum wiring methods were exactly the same for copper.  Over time it was found that improper installation methods and electrical devices not designed to accept aluminum conductors could lead to fires.

If was quickly found out that aluminum wiring could cause flickering lights, hot electrical connections and even burned or melted insulation on the wiring.  There was a severe problem with overheating which can lead to fires.

1.  A Softer Metal.  Aluminum is a much softer metal when compared to copper.  During the stripping process from aluminum it can be easy to nick.  These nicks can cause hot spots in the conductor causing overheating and the potential risk of fire.  Electricians had to develop different methods of stripping the insulation off of the aluminum wiring to avoid damaging the conductor.

2.  Aluminum Expands.  When an appliance demands electricity on the circuit the conductor heats up.  While this process takes place with copper conductors too aluminum expands at a much greater rate than copper.  This expansion and contraction of the aluminum wiring  caused the the conductor to creep out from under the terminal screws on breakers and electrical devices such as plugs and switches.  This creeping of the wiring resulted in a loose connection which lead to sparking and potential fire.

3.  Corrosion or Rust.   When steel rust it becomes red, on copper rust is green, and on aluminum it is white.  When copper wiring rust it’s not as big as problem when compared to aluminum, copper rust is actually electrically conductive.  This rust on copper still allows the electricity to flow and doesn’t create as much resistance of the electricity or simplify put it doesn’t interfere as much.  However, when aluminum rust it forms a white oxide which is not a good conductor of electricity.  This creates resistance or reduces the flow of electricity.  This resistance interferes with he flow of electricity, and can cause overheating leading to fires.

There are several options for you if you have aluminum wiring in your home.  We can evaluate your homes wiring and come up with several effective methods and affordable price ranges.  It’s important to have your homes wiring thoroughly evaluated so you can know the truth about its condition so you can make the proper decision.

Solution 1.  Rewire the entire house with copper wiring.  This would be the safest long term solution for aluminum wiring.  This method would require reduced maintenance and reduced inspections needed when compared to aluminum wiring.  Rewiring the home is the safest long term solution to aluminum wiring when compared to other methods.  This solution can be expensive when compared to other solutions.  However, we have a variety of financing options and payment plans available for almost every budget.

Solution 2.  Check all connections in home and repair as needed.  Then re device the entire home with aluminum rated devices.  This short this method entails replacing all the homes plugs and switches with ones that are designed to accept aluminum conductors.  It’s important to note aluminum rated devices can be hard to find at the big box stores.  When these devices were first introduced they simply had a larger screw or terminal for the aluminum conductor to fit under.  Unfortunately, these CU/AL devices failed to work good enough and was not an effective solution.  New devices CO/ALR are created out of a similar metal which shares a similar expansion and contraction rate as aluminum which reduces the creeping of the conductor.

Solution 3.  Pigtailing.  Pigtailing simply means taking the aluminum wire connections that go to the device and splice on or pigtail on a copper conductor to go to the device such as a plug or a switch.  It is important to note that it does take a specially designed wire nut or twist-on wire connectors to to perform this method.  While this method is the cheapest it is important to make sure that routine safety checks and inspections are performed on your homes wiring to reduce the chances of future problems.

Even with all the disadvantages, aluminum wiring still has its advantages under certain applications.  It’s important to note even with these advantages you should not use aluminum wiring in your home for standard 15 or 20 amp branch circuits.

1.  It’s Light Weight.  Aluminum is lightweight in nature.  Being lightweight is an advantage when conductors are used over long distances.  This lightweight property is most beneficial for aerial applications were the aluminum wiring is suspended between poles.  This wiring method is most commonly seen in utility company applications and telecommunication lines.  Being light weight also makes the aluminum wiring easier for the installer to work with.  This makes the cable less physically demanding to install.

2.  Aluminum Wiring is Cheaper.  Aluminum wiring can be half the cost of copper wiring.  When a large amount of wiring is needed saving half the cost can be a huge benefit over copper wiring.  This method is mainly seen in feeder circuit applications in commercial buildings as well as sub panels and 220 circuits in residential applications.  It’s important to note this practice of using aluminum wiring for sub panels, services, and 220 circuits in residential applications has been deemed acceptable when properly installed and connected.

The energy consumed by a single building or business can prove to be a huge overhead cost, especially for those buildings of a much larger size.

Starting the initiative to reduce energy consumption is becoming more and more common as the benefits become more and more clear. The benefits of reducing energy consumption is often times for one major reason, and that is to reduce overhead costs. By making switches (such as those listed here), you could realize a 50% or more reduction in overall energy usage in your facility.

Sound interesting? Learn how you can do that with the tips below…

Whatever lighting technology you have right now, if it isn’t LED, then you are probably consuming more energy than you have to be when it comes to your lighting system.

By converting to LED from a technology like fluorescent, you will easily realize a 30% reduction (on average) in energy consumption from your lights. Now, if you have lights such as metal halide or HPS (often used outside or in high ceiling lights), then you could realize even greater savings (by up to 75%)! This, in and of itself, can prove to be a major way to reduce energy usage in your buildings.

facility manager is, but it’s just a fact. Think, who knows more; someone who works with all the equipment everyday or someone who overlooks said worker? Probably the former, and that’s okay! But, just remember to ask them to be on the lookout for things and get them on-board with your efforts to reducing energy in your building. It will help a lot with your efforts!

Planting save energy in your building, but they are definitely the huge players that eat up a lot of energy. By changing just these 9 things, you will be able to put your efforts to the highest reward type initiatives.

Once you’ve switched these major energy consumers, you can then work on smaller areas of your building that are inefficient, just not as much as these 9 things.

What is one thing not listed here that you find to be a huge energy consumer? Comment it down below so we are all aware of it!

If you’re a great Electrical Service Technician you should join our team!

Candidates must know there will be NO high pressure sales or quotas in our company. We are a reputable electrical contractor in the Denver and Arvada area with many differentiators.  We  promote  value versus price, and have NO high pressure sales or quotas.

Anyone interested in applying for this Electrical Service Technician job opening, please send all resumes, cover letters and inquires to careers@piperelectric.com.  You may also stop by and fill out an application at our office location: 5960 Jay Street Arvada, CO 80003 Monday through Friday 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. We look forward to hearing from you soon!