It seems like every day some fantastic new “must-have” electronic device comes out. Is your home equipped to handle them all? Energy use in homes these days averages around 14,000 kWh (that’s kilowatt-hours) per year—up an astounding 636 percent since the 1950s and still growing! If you live in an older home in Maryland, Virginia, or Washington, DC, your electrical system may not be able to handle the increase in energy requirements. That’s why you might need a heavy up!

Service panel upgrades, also called “heavy ups,” will enhance your electrical panel’s capacity and make it safer to operate the variety of electronic devices you may have in your home.

Getting an electrical panel upgrade will provide you with a number of impressive benefits to improve your home’s electrical service all around, including:

Better Electrical Performance – do your lights flicker when you turn on certain appliances? Does your breaker trip frequently for no apparent reason? A heavy up will take care of these problems, providing a more consistent energy supply throughout your home.

Improved Electrical System Safety – while most new electrical panels are designed with safety in mind, the same can’t always be said for panels built 30 years ago. Overloading the electrical panel can lead to major fire hazards, many of which could cost you your home. An electrical panel upgrade can resolve these dangerous issues and improve the safety of your home.

Future Expansion — if you ever need to add circuits to your home, you’ll need a larger service panel. A heavy up gives you options, whether you need to really expand your electrical system (say by adding a new addition or central air conditioner) or you just need to add a few more outlets.

What does a heavy up entail?

Depending on your specific goals, you have a range of upgrades available for a heavy up. Some service upgrades are as simple as adding a few additional circuit breakers to the existing box, or expanding the box with a subpanel. More complex upgrades may include things like replacing a fuse box or an aging panel with one that allows for higher energy capacity. A Kolb Electrician can evaluate the condition of your current panel with any problems you are experiencing to determine how extensive your upgrades will be.

How long does an electrical panel upgrade take?

The time depends on the job. Adding additional breakers to an existing panel is usually pretty quick, often taking less than an hour. Installing a subpanel is not too complicated either, often taking no more than a few hours.

Where it starts to take a long time is when you need to make serious upgrades. If you need to replace a fuse box or circuit main, you could be looking at a job that takes all day.

Still asking yourself “Should I upgrade my electrical panel?” Let us help you decide! Already know you need a heavy up? Don’t let your favorite electronics put your home at risk—for electrical panel upgrades in Maryland, Virginia, or Washington, DC, call Kolb Electric at 877-385-0818 today!

The holiday season is shifting into gear, and first up is our sometimes spooky favorite, Halloween! But as many homeowners know, while some costumes might spark a fright, the true terror comes from looking at those holiday electric bills. Planning on doing some decorating but worried about those inflated energy costs? The experts at Hoffman Electrical have some solutions for you!

Performing safe commercial electrical work is always our electricians number one priority.  You need to know all work is performed to code and performed in the safest manner possible.  Our commercial electricians will make sure your employees and your customers are safe.  In the event the commercial electrical work cannot be performed safely with non certified people near by they will rope off the section and make sure no one is in any danger of injury.  Our commercial electricians follow all company safety rules as well as OSHA rules and regulations.  Our electricians receive OSHA certification from a 3rd party such as ABC of Iowa as well as in house safety briefings.  You can see in the photo of our commercial electricians performing electrical work, the lift is properly set up and placed in a safe manner.  The commercial electricians have on a hard hats as well as the properly fitted and rated fall safety equipment, the section around them is also zoned off in the event that something were to fall from the lift or work zone.

Need some commercial electrical work done at your store or business but need to remain open?  No problem at all!  Our commercial electricians can safely work around your employees and customers while you keep operating your business.  Today the crew was able to perform some work at your local big box home improvement store Lowes.  Special equipment was needed to perform the work needed.  The crew was able to get all equipment in place as needed as well as perform the electrical repair and installation in a safe manner.  

Custom Electrical Services can help your home as well as your business 24 hours per day!  We have trained commercial electricians that are able to get your business up and running in no time.  Our commercial electricians arrive in what we like to call a warehouse on wheels.  Their state of the art service vans come fully stocked will all the major parts and if for some reason they don’t have the part needed on their service van we have a fully stocked warehouse in Clive.  We also have access to all the major supply houses in the Des Moines Metro 24 hours per day.  If our commercial electricians need to go get a part there is never an additional charge to you!

Custom Electrical Services is a proud member of the Urbandale Chamber of Commerce, West Des Moines Chamber of Commerce, and Norwalk Chamber of Commerce.  Custom Electrical Services can be contacted 24 hours per day for commercial and residential electrical work at 515-669-3418 or via their contact page for non emergency items here.

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