Artisan Electric | Midwest Indiana Electrical Consultants

We are very excited about implementing our full recycling program in the 4th quarter of 2011, 6 months ahead of our projected goal date!  Working with our partners at Resolve Earth Solutions we have implemented a cross the line certified program for our company.

Artisan Electric is dedicated to the idea that we can each make a difference, that we all come up together, and that how we choose to conductor our business is a reflection on all of us.  Thanks for your support, we look forward to recycling with you and trying our best to hold ourselves to a higher standard!

Spring is upon us at last.  I don’t know about you, but with each passing year I grow more intolerant of winter and yearn more for the relaxation that comes with long summer days and those perfect summer nights.  There are few things more pleasant in this world then a quality outdoor living space to make the most of spring / summer / fall.

So what does your dream of the perfect outdoor living space include?  Maybe an outdoor kitchen, a pergola, or a hot tub?  Have you dreamed of the day of having a fire pit and a TV (or gasp, maybe even a full home theater) outside?  How about the perfect lighting and some fans?

Some of our favorite projects have been outdoor living spaces – here are some of the things we can help you with >>>

• Landscape lighting and architecture feature lighting – we use the Kichler line of professional landscape lighting products
• Supplemental outdoor heating and cooling (fans and patio heaters).  We really like the wet location series fans by Fanimation!
• Outdoor audio and video system – ever watched movies on a big screen with friends and family outside?  Outdoor home theater is a reality and affordable now
• Active lighting systems – want your lighting to reflect your mood?   How about being able to control the color and make it dimable and / or change with this seasons
• Spa and hot tub installs (you said you wanted to watch the game outside in the jacuzzi right)
• Or maybe you are looking into a full outdoor kitchen – we work with the folks at Outdoor Roomscapes to make the dream come alive

No matter what your outdoor dream is we can help it come alive!

This came to me in part of an email from a contractors blog I read.  It is a re-post of someone else’s comments, I did not write it.  That said, I could not agree more!

Low bid Syndrome – why cheap usually can’t also be good in construction

• There have been countless news stories by leading national and local news magazines about unscrupulous contractors that disappear with homeowner deposits, operate without a license or never complete the work.
• Some contractors will simply throw out a low bid as a negotiating strategy. Contractors with integrity give their best price the first time and include specific details of all materials to be used in the proposed project.
• Every contractor is in business to make money. If you receive a bid that is 15% or more below another bid – it simply isn’t the same job. It can’t be because there isn’t that much profit margin in a project. The contractor either isn’t using the same materials or will cut corners on installation in order to make a profit. There are many places to cut corners of which the unsuspecting homeowner/client is unaware.
• As noted in the quote from the Wall Street Journal, it is easy to be fooled by the low quote and a “nice person”. If a bid seems to be too good to be true, it is. Call at least 5 references and ask about the total job cost at completion versus the proposal pricing.  Did it go like it should?  Did they get what they paid for?
• Many times, the low bidder isn’t licensed to perform the work proposed. An unlicensed contractor either does not have the experience or competency to secure a contractor’s license or has cut a corner to save money by avoiding the cost associated with being licensed, bonded and insured.
• Unfortunately for homeowners, if they hire someone who is not licensed, they have no recourse through the ROC complaint process or the Residential Contractors’ Recovery Fund.

If you are seriously considering hiring any contractor with a very low bid ask all the important questions and get the answers in writing to every question before you sign any paperwork. You will be glad you did.

www.angieslist.com

Artisan Electric Earns Coveted Angie’s List Super Service Award

Award reflects company’s consistently high level of customer service

ARTISAN ELECTRIC has been awarded the prestigious 2010 Angie’s List Super Service Award, an honor bestowed annually on approximately 5 percent of all the companies rated on the nation’s leading provider of consumer reviews on local service companies.

“Our Super Service Award winners are the cream of the crop when it comes to providing consistently high quality customer service, as judged by the customers who hired them,” said Angie Hicks, founder of Angie’s List.

Artisan Electric is a comprehensive quality driven electrical contractor, priding ourselves on doing the right thing for each and every client.  We provide residential, commercial, light industrial electrical contracting as well as voice, data, and audio services.  Our motto is “For Solutions and Results”.  Find out more about us on our web site and blog.

Angie’s List Super Service Award winners have met strict eligibility requirements including earning a minimum number of reports, an exemplary rating from their customers and abiding by Angie’s List operational guidelines.

Service company ratings are updated daily on Angie’s List, but members can find the 2010 Super Service Award logo next to company names in search results on AngiesList.com.

Angie’s List collects consumer reviews on local contractors and doctors in more than 500 service categories. Currently, more than 1 million consumers across the U.S. rely on Angie’s List to help them make the best hiring decisions. Members get unlimited access to local ratings via Internet or phone, exclusive discounts, the Angie’s List magazine and help from the Angie’s List complaint resolution service. Take a quick tour of Angie’s List and view the latest Angie’s List news.

2010 has been a banner year for us marked by some signification changes in how we do business and interact with our clients.  Despite the soft economy and all the doom and gloom coming out of Washington we have had a considerable amount of growth this year.

Looking forward into 2011 we are pleased to roll out the next phase of our targeted web development plan - MonticelloElectric.Com. This web site will be a mini version of our standard site with a focus on the unique skills we can bring to the Monticello market.

Here are just a few of the things we can do for our Monticello Clients:

• Historic re-wires
• Service upgrades
• Boat Dock electrical systems
• Boat lift motor service
• Pump motor service
• Home theater and audio distribution
• Computer networks
• TV Cable / HD antenna systems
• Deck and Landscape lighting
• Custom kitchen and bathroom projects
• Those “unique” and “difficult” projects
• Commercial business service and fit-outs

Artisan Electric – “doing the right things, the right way, period”

Days are short right now, it’s dark A LOT.  Its dark during the morning commute to work, and for most people dark on their way home.  Combine that with the crazy number of commercial business spaces that are closed up and sitting empty these days and you have a golden opportunity to make your place of business really stand out.

So what does your current lighting say about your business?  Does it say “take a look at us, we are in it to win it”?  or are you projecting another image, one that makes people ask “is that place even still open”?

So here are a few points to consider:

1. Signage – do you have lighted signs that are clearly visible at night and working properly.  Nothing says “we don’t care” quicker then a place of business that does not keep their own company singe in good repair (or working at all)
2. Parking lot lights – do you have pole mounted parking lot lights that are sufficient and functional?  Do they flicker or come off and on at random intervals?  Maybe they hum really bad…
3. Building Lights – does your building or space have wall pack lighting, soffit lighting, or specialty feature lighting – is it working?  Are there lamps out all over the place and a general state of disrepair, or are things squared away?
4. Lighting Controls - how do your lights come on?  Is the photo eye or automated controller working correctly and set to the correct time?  The seasonal time on / time off settings change by as much as 4 hours over the course of the year.
5. Store front lights - do you have adequate store front lighting that is showing off the features of your building as well as your products and / or services.  The need(s) and type(s) of store front lighting can be a petty wide range, you don’t light an industrial building the same way as an art gallery – but in either case you are sending a message.  What does your message say?
6. Display Window Lighting – this is typically that first impression you give at night… even more important if you have a destination business that is open late or located in an areas with high visibility and high foot traffic.  Are you making your potential clients take a glance or a long hard look?
7. Safety – are you providing adequate lighting for your clients and staff to safely get to and from your place of business on those dark winter days?  This can tell your team a lot about how you are dong business.  Are  you telling them you “really care” or “good luck in the dark”?
8. Fun and Unique – what does your lighting tell people.  Are you in a type of business that fun, unique, and interesting lighting might make a significant impact on your image and the overall “feeling”?   Do you need to project an industrial or “squared away” no frills image – is that what you are getting from your lightning plan?

Signs and lighting say a lot about you and your business.  If your not happy about that image let us help!

Artisan Electric is excited to announce the addition of VIDEO TESTIMONIALS to our main web site.  CLICK HERE to check out some real world comments from our clients (they make me blush).

Special thanks out to all of those who continue to extend the hand of support and faith as we continue down the path to be the best company we can be.  We could not do this without you!

Best Regards,

-CV

Electricity by nature is very hard to define.  In our day to day we often use the word “electricity” incorrectly to describe a lot of different conditions and states, all of which have specific definitions.  When you get down to it, it can all be rather confusing – even for those of us in the business.  Secondly – all of this electrical stuff is very closely related to (and effected by) the principals of magnetism and wave frequency.  There is a lot more to it then meets the eye, and general electrical theory is still an evolving filed of study.  Thankfully, I am but an electrician and can leave that heavy hitting to the the electrical engineers of the world.

Here is one basic electrical engineering text book definition we use to describe the electricity in motion we use as end line consumers:

Electric charge, also called “electricity,” is a fundamental component of everyday matter. Objects are made of molecules and atoms, atoms are made of protons, neutrons, and electrons, and the protons and electrons are made in part out of electric charge. Electric charge is substance-like. If you have a quantity of charge, you cannot destroy it, you can only move it from place to place. A flow of electric charge is called “electric current.”

So, stepping off from there… the practical electrician definition of electricity then becomes (more or less) “the flow of electrical current thru a conductor”.  Not so bad, is it now? So where am I going with all of this… good of you to ask.  One quick way to help determine if the electricians you are dealing with know their stuff is to ask them “what is electricity”.  More often then not I think you will be surprised by the answers you get.

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.