5 Signs Your Colorado Home Needs Electrical Upgrades

As a homeowner in Colorado, it’s important to ensure that your electrical system is in top-notch condition to maintain the safety, efficiency, and functionality of your home. Over time, electrical systems can become outdated or experience wear and tear, posing potential risks and inconveniences.

electrical outlet in home being re-wired by professional electricians

Frequent Circuit Breaker Tripping

If your circuit breakers trip frequently, it may indicate that your electrical system is overloaded. This could be due to outdated wiring or an insufficient electrical panel. Upgrading your electrical system will provide the necessary capacity to handle your electrical demands.

Flickering or Dimming Lights

If your lights flicker or dim unexpectedly, it may be a sign of faulty wiring, loose connections, or outdated fixtures. These issues can lead to electrical hazards or insufficient lighting. Upgrading your wiring and fixtures will ensure consistent and reliable illumination.

Outdated Electrical Panel

If your home still has an old fuse box or an inadequate electrical panel, it’s time for an upgrade. Modern electrical panels are equipped with advanced safety features and can handle increased electrical loads, ensuring better protection against electrical hazards.

Non-Grounded Outlets

Older homes often have ungrounded outlets, which can be dangerous, especially in areas where electrical devices require grounding. Upgrading to grounded outlets will enhance electrical safety and provide additional protection against electrical shocks.

Inconsistent Power Supply

If you experience frequent power surges or voltage fluctuations, it’s crucial to have your electrical system assessed. Inconsistent power supply can damage sensitive electronic devices and appliances. Upgrading your electrical system will provide stable and reliable power throughout your home.

Recognizing the signs that your Colorado home needs electrical upgrades is crucial for the safety, functionality, and convenience of your property. Whether it’s addressing outdated wiring, upgrading the electrical panel, or installing additional outlets, investing in electrical upgrades will enhance your home’s electrical system and provide peace of mind.

Contact Always On Electric, Inc. at (970) 309-2616 today or visit us online for more information on how we can help you with your electrical upgrades in your home.

 

Electrical Safety Tips for Farmers

Electrical Tips for Farmers Farmers are routinely subjected to all kinds of danger, including danger involving electricity. There are approximately 60 farm workers who are electrocuted every year. Fortunately, there are some simple safety tips you can follow to protect yourself and your farm. Learn about them below.

Look out for power lines when using heavy equipment.

Are there power lines running close to your farm? If so, it’s imperative for you to be careful when operating heavy equipment around them. There are many pieces of equipment, including dump trucks and grain augers, that can get tangled up in power lines and cause serious injuries or even death.

Avoid placing grain bins too close to power lines.

If you have power lines near your farm and you’re looking to install a grain bin somewhere on it, you should place the grain bin far from the lines. Most states require farmers to make sure power lines are about 20 feet above the tallest point of a grain bin. But if possible, you should steer clear of putting a grain bin near power lines at all.

Make sure electric fences are serviced regularly.

Many farms are equipped with electric fences that are used to keep animals contained. While these fences can come in handy, they can also pose a threat to farm workers and the animals themselves if they’re not operating properly. You should have electric fences inspected and serviced on a regular basis to make sure you don’t have an unsafe current running through them.

Work with licensed electricians whenever you do electrical work.

Whether you’re installing an electric fence or adding electrical outlets to a barn, you should always, always, always work with a licensed electrician while doing it. They will take the necessary steps to help you avoid an accident involving electricity.

Could your farm benefit from the services of an agricultural electrician? Always On Electric can send someone to do any electrical work you need done on your farm. Call us at 970-309-2616 today to schedule an appointment.

 

How an Agricultural Electrician Can Help Your Farm This Coming Spring

Agricultural ElectricianIf you own a farm, it’s not a bad idea at all for you to be on a first-name basis with an agricultural electrician. This type of electrician can take on all kinds of electrical projects for you to keep your farm safe and help it operate more efficiently. Check out some of the top ways in which an agricultural electrician can help you below.

Keep Your Farm Safer and More Secure

The safety and security of your farm should be one of your top priorities. An agricultural electrician can help you in this department by helping you install the proper lighting on your property. They can also lend a hand when it comes to installing things like alarm systems and electric wire fences.

Protect and Preserve the Animals on Your Farm

Do you have animals on your farm? Protecting and preserving them will be another thing that you’ll need to worry about at almost all times. An agricultural electrician can help you in this department by installing lighting that will allow your livestock to move around. Lighting can also be installed to keep your livestock warm during the colder times of year.

Keep Your Farming Equipment Working Properly

There’s a good chance that you have quite a bit of farming equipment and systems on your farm that call for the use of electricity. If, for example, you have an irrigation system, it’s not going to run without electricity. An agricultural electrician can make sure all your various equipment works at all times. They can also run power to different parts of your farm as necessary so that you can add new equipment to your property.

Do you need to obtain the services of an agricultural electrician? Let Always on Electric provide you with the agricultural electrical services that you need. Call us at 970-309-2616 today to schedule an appointment with an electrician on your farm.

Cutting Back on Your Electric Bills

As homeowners, sometimes we forget to watch how much electricity we use throughout the day. As more people are working from home, there is much more electricity being used throughout the day. You may have seen some of your electricity bills increase, especially during winter and the early spring months, but you should not be worried. There are always ways to decrease those bills with a simple plan.

Electrical bill for home

Residential Electrical Services with Always On Electric

At Always On Electric, we have the ability to help with your residential electrical services from remodeling to new construction. We can install upgrades to any lighting or electric equipment if you’re looking to add on to your home. We understand the struggles with maintaining inexpensive electrical bills, which is why we’re dedicated to making sure your home is installed with the proper equipment.

How We Can Help:

  • Lighting Design/Lighting Control Systems
  • Electrical Service Work
  • Lighting Retrofits
  • Safe Electrical Evaluations
  • And much more!

Tips on Bringing Down Electric Bills

If you’re worried about electrical bills increasing during particular seasons, you may want to adjust the way your run certain equipment in your home. For one, if you stay home working during the day, try and let the natural light in through the windows and leave all the lights off. Never leave the TV running if you’re not using it, and make sure all your electronics from laptops to phones are unplugged when you’re not occupied with them. These things can really help cut down on the amount of energy you use in your home. Some equipment may need an upgrade, and you could consider energy efficient equipment for lightbulbs, and other amenities.

If you’re looking to remodel, add on, or build a new home, don’t hesitate to reach out to Always On Electric. Our electrical team has many years of experience working with homeowners to ensure safe electrical equipment and systems are installed. Contact us at 970-309-2616 today or visit us online for more information!

Too Many Things Plugged Into Power Boards and Outlets

In today’s day and age, we tend to be always powered to our devices. When living in a home, we forget that even when our devices are plugged in and not being used, they still can cause issues to the circuits. This is what we call a circuit overload. There can be many problems when you plug in too many things in your home. Your home can’t handle too much all at once, so it’s important to be smart when using electronics and other appliances.

Electrical plug with many plugs in it

Overloading of Power Boards

What happens frequently in homes is the overloading of power boards, which then causes circuit tripping. If you have several electrical outlets in use doing quite a bit of work supplying power to entertainment units, power strips with many things plugged in, and other big items, this can easily cause circuit tripping in your home.

How do you avoid this problem?

  • Remove all devices that aren’t in use (charging chords still draw power when not connected)
  • Don’t over burden a single circuit. Spread out your devices
  • Pay attention to the necessities. Unplug things after you use them

If you’re experiencing frequent circuit tripping even after you’ve taken the steps to unplug the unnecessary items, contact a professional electrician like Always On Electric Inc. We have the capabilities to help even with new home builds. When homeowners buy all new appliances, we come in to help with the setup of electrical needs including light fixtures, ceiling fans, electrical upgrades, and more!

We can help get to the bottom of your electrical problems in a flash. Please don’t hesitate to reach out when you’re experiencing circuit tripping or any other electrical problem. Contact Always On Electrical Inc. at 970-309-2616 today or visit us online for more information!

What Can I Do to Fix My Circuit Breaker?

Fixing a Circuit BreakerThe circuit breakers in your home are among the most important things in your entire house. They’re designed to prevent the electrical wiring in your home from overheating. If they ever sense that too much electricity might be passing through your electrical wiring and putting it at risk, they’ll “trip” and shut off the electricity in the part of your home that is experiencing the problem. Here is how to fix a circuit breaker that has tripped.

Find out which circuit breaker has tripped.

If you ever lose power in a portion of your home, the first thing you should do is run down to your breaker box and take a look at your circuit breakers. If one of them has tripped, you’ll notice the lever for it will be located in between the “on” and “off” positions. You can push it back into the “on” position so it restores electricity to the portion of your home where the power went off. When you do this, see how the circuit breaker responds and then check to see whether or not the power has been restored.

See if a circuit breaker might be loose.

While you’re in the process of resetting a circuit breaker, jiggle it around a little bit to see if it feels loose to you at all. If it moves around more than you think it should, it could indicate that your circuit breaker is faulty and that it needs to be replaced. You should consider leaving the circuit breaker in the “off” position until you’ve had a chance to replace it with help from a residential electrician.

Call an electrician if a circuit breaker continues to trip.

You’ll want to reach out to an electrician right away if you ever notice a loose circuit breaker in your breaker box. You’ll also want to get in contact with one if a circuit breaker continues to trip over and over again once you’ve returned it to the “on” position. It’s not out of the ordinary for a circuit breaker to trip every now and then. It’ll sometimes happen when you plug in a vacuum cleaner or a blender in a part of your home where you already have a bunch of other things plugged in. But if you have a circuit breaker that’s tripping all the time, it could be an indication of a larger issue that will need to get looked at right away.

There are some circuit breaker problems that you can fix on your own. Nevertheless, there are also plenty that’ll require the services of a professional electrician. Always on Electric will provide you with the electrical services you need in your home. Call us at 970-309-2616 to schedule an appointment with an electrician.

Myths About Saving Electrical Energy at Home

Energy Saving MythsWould you like to cut down on how much energy you use in your home on a daily basis? If so, there are many ways for you to do it. However, there are also a lot of energy-saving myths out there that can lead you astray when it comes to scaling back on your home’s energy usage. Avoid these myths at all costs since they won’t save you much energy at all.

Myth: Turning a light off and then back on uses more energy than just leaving a light on.

For years, some people have been under the impression that it makes more sense to leave lights on in their houses as opposed to turning them on and off all day long. But this is, of course, not true. Turning a light on doesn’t use up any more energy than letting a light sit on. It’s why you should get into the habit of turning lights off when you’re not using them to conserve energy.

Myth: Running an AC all day to keep a house cool uses less energy than turning an AC on at the end of the day when a house is hot and stuffy.

Many homeowners leave their AC systems running all day long to keep a house that no one is in cool. They do it because they think it’ll help them steer clear of having to waste energy later by attempting to cool off a stuffy house with an overmatched AC system. It will take your AC system some time to cool off a stuffy house, but it’ll still require far less energy to take that approach than it will to keep your AC running throughout the day. If you’re concerned about coming home to a warm house, consider installing a smart thermostat that you can turn on about an hour before you get home.

Myth: Appliances don’t use any electricity when they’re plugged in but not turned on.

Many older appliances used to shut down when you had them turned off and not waste energy. But these days, many appliances and other gadgets continue to use up energy unnecessarily when they’re not being used. It’s a great idea to unplug appliances that don’t need to be plugged in all the time if you want to save energy.

If you’re serious about wanting to save energy, don’t buy into any of these myths. Instead, let Always on Electric show you some ways to bring your energy costs way down. Call us at 970-309-2616 to schedule our residential electrical services.

Signs You Need a Residential Electrician

Residential ElectricianDo you have electrical circuit breakers in your home that are tripping on you all the time? This could potentially indicate a big problem with your home’s electrical system. It’s important for you to call a residential electrician right away so that they can take a closer look at the issue.

There are also other signs that you need to touch base with an electrician sooner than later. Check them out below.

Flickering lights

If the lights in your home flicker every once in a blue moon, it might not be the end of the world. Nevertheless, if you notice that your lights are flickering or even turning off completely on an almost daily basis, you shouldn’t ignore it. This is more than likely a sign that you should have a residential electrician come to evaluate your electrical system.

Warm outlets or switches

Feel the outlets and switches in your home every now and then to see if they’re warm. If they are, there is a decent chance that you have some kind of electrical issue on your hands. If the problem starts to spiral out of control, it’s not uncommon for the wall surrounding an outlet or switch to get warm, too.

Old electrical wiring

The electrical wiring that you have in your home is not supposed to last for decades and decades on end. Most electrical wiring is only designed to last for about 25 years before it needs to be replaced. It’s a good idea to have a residential electrician inspect and possibly replace old electrical wiring before it causes issues for you.

The next time you notice one of these signs of trouble, let Always on Electric come out to your home and provide you with residential electrical services. Call us at 970-309-2616 today to set up an appointment.

Short Circuits and What Your Response Should Be

Short Circuits It’s not all that uncommon for homeowners to be forced to deal with short circuits in their electrical systems. However, short circuits should not be taken lightly. If you ever experience a short circuit in your home, it’s a good idea to have an electrician come out to make the necessary repairs. Here is a brief overview of what short circuits are, what they’re caused by, and how they can affect you.

What exactly is a short circuit?

A short circuit in your electrical system takes place when a wire that’s carrying an electrical current comes into contact with another wire or portion of a circuit, thus giving the electrical current a less resistant path than before. It brings the distance between two conductive points down and results in more heat being produced by the electricity.

What causes a short circuit?

Short circuits in your electrical system can be caused by any number of things. If your electrical wires aren’t insulated properly, it could cause a short circuit. Short circuits can also be caused by loose connections in your system and pests that have chewed through wires. Older appliances can also cause short circuits to occur.

Why is a short circuit dangerous?

Short circuits in your electrical system are dangerous because they allow for larger amounts of electricity to run throughout your home. That electricity can generate a lot of heat and lead to a fire if you don’t have short circuits fixed. Short circuits can also force you to make costly repairs to appliances and damage other electrical equipment.

Don’t ignore the signs of a short circuit in your home. Always on Electric can make short circuits a thing of the past by inspecting your electrical system and repairing it. Call us at 970-309-2616 to schedule an appointment if you suspect short circuits could be present in your electrical system.

The Advantages of Having a Standby Generator for Your Business

Backup Generators for BusinessesLooking for a Standby Generator for Your Business?

Always on Electric provides electrical services for local businesses and homes throughout the western Colorado region. With the Fall and Winter seasons closely approaching, a standby generator have major benefits on your business. Snowstorms, colder temperatures, and other elemental weather can cause power outages. Knowing your business won’t shut down due to having a standby generator will leave you with a sigh of relief.

Benefits of Having a Standby Generator for Your Business

When faced with a natural disaster or power outages in your area, the last thing you want to worry about is not being able to service your customers, which will result in loss of business and money. There are several reasons why a backup power source will help you stay in business through unexpected power loss.

  • Safety– To ensure your safety and the safety of your employees, invest in a quality generator that will keep your lights and security systems operating and protect important electronic data.
  • Security– In the event of a power outage, sensitive data you store electronically can be lost. With the use of a standby generator, you can ensure that your personal business information and customer information is not lost when the power goes out.
  • Building Trust with Customers– When an outage occurs in your area, customers will look for businesses that are able to continue to provide services despite the current outage. If your business is able to operate in these conditions customers will remember this in the future for other needs they may have for your services.

Choosing the Right Generator for Your Business

While searching for a generator, there are different factors that must be considered before choosing the right generator for you. These factors can depend on your personal business practices, the size of your business and ability to provide maintenance on the generator.

The four main types of power generators are:

  • EMD Generators– Electro-Motive Diesel is a low maintenance and low risk generator that has flexible functionality.
  • Diesel Generators– A diesel generator operates with the use of a diesel engine and electrical generator. Diesel generator are best used for emergency power.
  • Portable Generators.- Portable generators typically operate using gasoline as fuel and are portable which makes it ideal for commercial or industrial use.
  • Natural Gas Generators– Natural gas generators operate using natural gas for fuel. Natural gas generators help reduce the amount of pollutants released into the environment because it is the cleanest of all the fossil fuels.

From floods, tornadoes, blizzards and earthquakes , Colorado has experienced it. Allow Always On Electric to ensure that your business can withstand whatever nature brings our way! Contact Always On Electric at (970) 309-2616 today or visit us online for more information!