As an electrical service contractor we see a lot of burnt up stuff.  Far and away the most common thing to find crispy and smoking are those trusty plug adapters and outlet strips.  You know the story… you only meant for it to be a temporary solution when you put the microwave on top of the fridge.  Or maybe its the one you installed behind your home theater with the ground pin broke off and a few too many things plugged in.  Or perhaps maybe (I know, not you right) its the 3 or 4 you have strung together in your man cave or garage.  Put in so you could run the beer fridge, the radio, charger for your cordless tools, run the space heater in the winter, and still crank up the tunes loud enough to hear when your washing your motorcycle, charging your boat battery, and working on the ATV.

Then… then THAT smell lingers in.  Dang it, well at least you were home to catch it, right?

So all joking aside all outlets strips, plug adapters, and surge protectors are not created equal. They all have two negative things in common the minute you put them in use:

FIRST – they increase the chance you can overload a circuit or outlet

SECOND – they are adding additional connection  points (many that are of poor quality and design) that can fail or cause heating at the point of use

Let me explain a little electric 101 and how this sets up to be the perfect storm.  So most 120 volt circuits in a newer home are protected on 20 amp breakers.  Strike one is that your standard 3 prong outlet is only rated at 15 amps to begin with (unless the larger blade terminal on the face is a “T”).  Strike two is that many of the outlet strips, adapters, plug makers, and such are rated at 10 or 15 amps, SOME ARE RATED MUCH LOWER THEN THAT.  Strike three comes next… add to that a couple of  light duty cords (like the smaller green and orange ones that only have 16 or 18 gauge conductors rated at 10 amps or less) and you have set the stage.  Each one of those additional “plug in” connections causes more resistance and more heat. What can happen is that all of those things, when stung together and loaded up, can melt and ignite before the 20 amp breaker protecting the circuit will shut down.  Depending on how poor the connections are, the age of the circuit, outlet, and breaker; combined with the type and ratings of the adapted being used it may only take a few amps of load to cause this to occur.

So what is the solution you ask.  It is three fold and simple:

1) BUY 20 AMP RATED CORDS AND ADAPTERS

2) BUY AND USE ONLY TOP QUALITY 20 AMP RATED OUTLET STRIPS and SURGE PROTECTORS

3) CORRECTLY WIRE IN MORE 20 AMP RATED OUTLES WHERE THEY ARE NEEDED (and consider adding some additional circuits).

In my world we run into a lot of unscrupulousness competitors.  One simple way to weed out those that should from those that should not is by checking up on their insurance coverage. For contractors that are properly insured the common practice when asked is to provide a CERTIFICATE OF INSURANCE.  Simply put, it is a quick glance document made out to you by the insurance company.  It wound be sent direct form the agent supplying the coverage to dismiss any chance of document tampering, and typically it shows the clients name on it to prove that coverage is in place for that specific project.

Here is a current example of our certificate of insurance:

So the key things to look for on these is that both General Liability and Workman Compensation insurance is in place.  The minimum standard for General Liability is 1 million combined (you will see on our certificate we carry 2 million as required by some of our commercial clients) and the minimum standard for workman compensation is 300,000 (again we are required to carry 500,000 for some of our large scale projects).

Second – make sure that vehicular coverage is in place. In the case of many “trunk slammers” they may not have coverage at all (may just have their standard minimum coverage insurance).  Once you start using a vehicle for business and service work there are very different coverages required – and standard insurance will not protect the contractor or the client in the event of an accident on site.  In fact – many carriers will cancel a policy and deny any claim on a vehicle involved in an accident that was not properly insured for business use.  In our case we carry that insurance with State Farm and a have a separate certificate for that.  That tends to be the case for most contractors.  It is a similar document and will read the same way.

Finally, double check that dates on all the certificates are current – make sure the coverage is in force for the period of time that your specific project will be taking place in.

We buy A LOT of materials, and any many cases are at the mercy of our vendors for warranty and pro product solutions.  Kirby Risk Supply is our primary vendor and an industry leader in the electrical supply field.  What a lot of people don’t know is that they are a locally owned family  company based right here in Lafayette Indiana.  They have many divisions and cover a lot of ground from residential, to heavy industrial, as well as motors and full repair / rebuild services for electrical components. If you have never been to there web page and like tech stuff go check it out.

If you are a lighting and ceiling fan freak a trip by the local lighting showroom is a must – they have the kinds of things there you just can see at the big box home stores.

Enjoy!

Here in the Lafayette area it is summer storm season, and it has been a very bad year for high yield lightning strikes.  We have a number of jobs going on right now where we are working with clients to get damaged wiring in homes replaced.

The question that always comes up is:  “How do I know if there has been damage, is there a way to test the wires in the walls?”.  Thankfully, the answer is YES.  We do in fact have a way to test for this.  Its called an insulation resistance test, also know as a MegOhm test or sometimes referred to in the trades as “Megging”.

The theory is simple really – the electrical resistance of the insulation on a conductor or in a piece of equipment can be tested and measured by isolating the conductor from ground, applying a high voltage over time, then measuring the results.  In most residential situations we use a 300 to 500 volt DC test over 10 minutes.  When done with care and by knowledgeable electricians it is a very reliable test.

So – here is the process for preforming a megohm test in a home:

1) ALL electrical current to the dwelling must be shut off

2) All appliances, light fixtures, heating and cooling equipment, dimmers, GFCI’s, AFCI’s, low voltage systems and any “plugged in” or “hard wired” equipment must be disconnected from the circuit(s) to be tested

3) The best practice at this point is to then isolate each individual wire – taking apart every splice, junction, and connection in the circuit to be tested

4) Next, the testing of the insulation can be preformed – this part actually goes pretty quick

5) After testing any conductor that fails to meet the testing standards should be considered damaged and marked for replacement

So, now a word of caution is in order.  If you have had a major strike and the  electrician, general contractor (or restoration company) helping you out with the repairs has not told you about this process, then GET ANOTHER COMPANY.  MegOhm testing is really the only way to know if damage has occurred. You can’t be sure by visible inspection alone, and you can’t visibly inspect most of the wires in a home.  Lightning is crazy stuff, it has a super high voltage and travels very fast.  If your home has been hit tell your insurance agent you want it tested!

Here are some pictures of lighting damage from a few projects we have going on now

In this day and age of cutbacks, start up companies, “magic jacks”, new technology from TV, internet, and telephone providers; and the mentality of many of these companies to make the fast buck it can be hard to know were to turn to manage issues related to these services.  Specifically the cable infrastructure and trouble shooting.

Artisan Electric is qualified  to do all forms of networking cabling – including:

• Category cabling for home data networks and structured wiring
• Coaxial video cabling for Internet /HDTV /satellite / home automation/ audio projects
• Telephone cabling for voice and DSL
• Audio and whole house sound
• All forms of low voltage wiring for home automation and lighting control
• Home and office fiber optic cabling  installation /terminations
• Certified testing for structured wiring networks

If you are having trouble with service providers getting you the results you want (or expect) let us know – we can help.  In most cases we can do a better job for less money and avoid the “staple it to you house and drill a hole in the wall” install method!

Here is another good (FREE) resource for testing Internet speeds, the  SPEAK EASY SPEED TEST .  Truthfully many providers have a bad habit of selling you upload / download speeds that they are not actually providing.  If you can test it and you are not getting what you are paying for then there is a good argument to be made with your service provider for improved service or a discounted rate.

Hi Friends – this post may be a little off the normal path for us, but then what is normal right?  My wife and I have got the itch to move to the country.  We have spent a good part of the last 10 years restoring this home.  While there are some things left to do, most of the major work has been done.  Please take a look and share this post with anyone you know that might be in the market and shares our passion for historic homes.

FOR SALE BY OWNER – $98,000 – 2307 North 20^th Street, Lafayette IN

• 1934 Bungalow with full basement
• Secluded city lot with many trees and landscape – VERY private setting
• Fully fenced in back yard
• Lot dimensions (50 x 152)
• Total square feet = 1133 (including 4 season sun porch and full basement)
• 2 bedrooms / 1 full bathroom upstairs
• Bonus bedroom / second full bath downstairs
• House has restored original siding – western red cedar
• Other features / improvements
  • New reproduction windows
  • Newer AC / Furnace (furnace is gas forced air)
  • New water heater (gas)
  • Newer roof
  • New electrical service / home has been re-wired
  • All new light fixtures / ceiling fans / commercial grade outlets and switches
  • New gutters
  • New sidewalk / driveway approach
  • Newer gas range / refrigerator -  included in sale
  • Original hardwood floors / woodwork / doors
  • Exterior brick has been restored / tuck pointed
  • Large wood burning fireplace with fully restored chimney – proper caps and liners
  • 1.5 car detached garage with new roof / new garage door / independent furnace / 60 amp electrical service
  • Large clean attic space – with stairs
  • Original limestone retaining wall restored
  • 4 season private sun porch / large back yard / private patio
  • Large area rugs to stay in home (bedrooms / dining room / front porch)

NOTE:  Home is for sale by owner at this time – Seller will agree to pay 3% to a Realtor who brings a buyer.  To schedule a walk thru please contact Chris Voglund @ 765-414-3913 or info@artisanelectric.net

This is a great article we thought we would pass along – re-posted with permission from our friends at Change of Address.Org

10 Ways to Save Money On Electricity Bills

It’s that time of year again and as our central air conditioning units work overtime to cool our houses this Summer, our electricity bills start to skyrocket.  It’s not uncommon for a power bill to double through the Summer months and given the heat there is only so much we can do about it.  In a few States with deregulated electricity like Texas you can shop around for lower electricity rates (priced in kilowatts/hour).  If that’s not an option for you (or even if it is) you can still save a bundle on your electricity bills by following these 10 Ways To Save Money On Electricity Bills.

1. This one is one you hear a lot yet most of us STILL do it.  You should try to not pre-rinse your dishes before putting them into the dishwasher.  Why?  Because you waste hot water and more has to be heated.  This of course applies to people with electric water heaters (you can also buy a gas model to reduce electricity consumption – but then watch your gas bill).
2. Continuing with dishwashers, you should look into purchasing a new one because the newer generation is so much more energy efficient you can usually pay for the cost of the new dishwasher within one year due to decreased power consumption.  You can also save by avoiding the use of the heat dry option on your dishwasher.
3. Surprisingly another great way to save money is to simply turn your ceiling fans off when you are not in the room.  For some odd reason people leave ceiling fans running most of the time and especially in a home with central air this should not be necessary.
4. Lights, lights, and more lights.  C’mon already shutoff the lights when you are not in the room and you don’t need to use lights as much during the daytime.  This is a major pet peeve of mine and simply wastes electricity needlessly.  You should also consider switching to CFL bulbs to both last longer and reduce the amount of electricity that your lights draw.
5. TV’s are everywhere!  If your home is like my home there is a TV in just about every room and generally the TV’s are on even if nobody is in the room.  Talk about lazy, we can even use the remotes to shutoff the TV’s when we leave the room.  This is a completely unnecessary use of power.
6. Computers should also be turned off when not being used.  Why do we leave computers on all the time?  Do we expect that they will magically tweet everything going on in the home (I certainly hope not).  They should at least be using the built-in power saving features to turn off monitors, etc. after a few minutes of being idle.
7. Washing machines can consume a lot of electricity.  Did you know that front-loading washing machines use 50% of the power and 40% less water than top loading wasters?  That’s a pretty ridiculous savings that again can quickly pay off an upfront investment in a newer washer.
8. Clothes dryers are another power hungry appliance that you simply need to do basic maintenance on.  Make sure to clean the lint filter between each use.  Building up lint doesn’t only cause the machine to be less efficient it’s also a serious fire hazard.
9. Refrigerator use needs to also be sensible.  Don’t over-cram food into your refrigerator as it makes it work harder to keep the excess cooled.  Also, don’t put hot food directly into the refrigerator (let it cool first).  You should also avoid putting the refrigerator right next to a heat source (like an oven).  Lastly, of course try to use an energy efficient refrigerator if possible.
10. Ovens can also pull a lot of juice (microwaves, toaster ovens, and electric stoves).  Did you know that food cooks faster when placed as close as possible to the edge of the rotating tray in a microwave?  The faster it cooks the quicker the microwave is shutoff and not consuming as much power.  Also, try to use a toaster oven over a traditional oven when possible to reduce the amount of electricity used.  Lastly, don’t constantly open up the oven to check on food, use the light that’s what it’s there for (so you can see without letting a bunch of heat out of the oven).

Most of these tips are common sense ways to reduce your power bill and they generally help all year long (not just in the Summer).  We  definitely recommend that you keep power consumption in mind (more frequently than every time you receive your electricity bill).

We are starting to get asked a lot of questions about the rules for residential wind energy usage and installation. Though we would start by getting them posted up here for discussion and review.

Here is a copy of the most recent amendment to the Tippecanoe County building code regarding wind power.  If you are thinking about wind gen for your residence or small business this would be a great resource to start with – it will help answer a lot of the start up questions.

Tippecanoe County Wind Energy – new amendments

Like many people and business, we have wind energy and green power on the mind.  Artisan Electric is pleased to announce our companies next step into the wind energy market.  We will be attending the 2010 WINDIANA conference, an intensive 2 day expo covering a wide range of topics; from big wind systems, to residential and ag use, all the way down to the specifics of the emerging ordinances and the manufacturing process.

Here is a quick glance at this years agenda:  WIndiana_2010_Tentative_Agenda-4-21-2010

We are lucky to live in a state that has “good wind” and is emerging as the Midwest’s leader in wind tech.  Artisan Electric has already been involved with serveral small scale residential wind turbine installs – most recently a Windspire vertical axis system installed at a rural location here in Tippecanoe County.  We are very excited about the future of wind power, and becoming the areas leading expert on the electrical systems for residential wind applications.

In this day and age, saving money and going green can go hand in hand.  I have been doing a lot of research over the last year to find information on electric usage reduction for residential applications.  To say the least, there is a lot of information out there, much of which is false or misleading.

So during this time I came across this awesome web site by Michael Blujay (AKA:  Mr. Electricity).  Do yourself a favor and cheek it out – I love this guys site.  I promise you will learn at lest one thing on the first page you did not know

SAVING ELECTRICITY – Michael Blujay