Electrical Services
New circuits for refrigerators or freezers
Don't lose your meat!
For many families, one refrigerator is just not enough. We are often asked to add an outlet in the garage to power a supplemental refrigerator. A common mistake is that people will plug into an existing GFCI outlet in the garage. What they do not realize is the outlet in the garage very often feeds the outlets outside and sometimes the outlets in the bathrooms. Refrigerators and freezers have compressor motors on them and generally draw quite a few amps. If a blown dryer turns on while the compressor motor is on, the circuit breaker is almost sure to trip from over amperage. Sometimes the GFCI will trip. Both are bad situations because now your refrigerator or freezer loses power, and you may lose your bulk items that you are trying to keep cool or frozen.
Your best solution is to add a dedicated circuit for the refrigerator or the freezer. If you have both a refrigerator and a freezer, you need a dedicated circuit for each one. You need to have another space in your electrical panel available to add a breaker. If none of these conditions are met, there still are other options.
Can my new oven be connected to this old plug?
A common problem we are asked to help with is the wiring of new ovens, cook tops, and dryers. The problem is that almost all new appliances have four wires i.e. 2-hot wires; one ground wire (usually bare, sometimes green and insulated) and one white wire (neutral). Older houses were wired, most of the time, with only 3 wires, i.e. 2 hot wires and 1 wire (usually bare) that does the job of the ground and the neutral wire.
Unless your local codes or the manufacturer says otherwise, this is what the National Electrical Code (NEC) 2011 edition says in the Exception Area:
"For Existing Branch-circuit installations only where an equipment grounding conductor is not present in the outlet of junction box, the frames of electric ranges, wall-mounted ovens, counter-mounted cooking units, clothes dryers, and outlet or junction boxes that are part of the circuit for these appliances shall be permitted to be connected to the grounded circuit conductor if all the following conditions are met.
(1) The supply circuit is 120/240-volt single-phase, 3-wire; or 208Y/120-volt derived from a 3-phase, 4-wire, wye-connected system.
(2) The grounded conductor is not smaller than 10 AWG copper or 8 AWG aluminum.
(3) The grounded conductor [white wire] is insulated, or the grounded conductor is uninsulated and part of a Type SE service-entrance cable and the branch circuit originates at the service equipment.
(4) Grounding contacts of receptacles furnished as part of the equipment are bonded to the equipment."
My interpretation: It is ok to hook up to the existing three wire system if the above conditions are met, and it goes without saying that the amperage requirement of the new appliance would have to be not greater than what is existing. If you are remodeling your whole kitchen and things are moving around, yes, you will probably want to change out the three wire system and go to a 4 wire system. We can help you do whatever you need or want to do. Give us a call and we can advise what is best in your situation.
Electric Water Heaters
If you are changing out you gas heater for an electric one, remember, you have one more expense that you might not have thought about. A standard electric water heater in the United States is fed from a 2 pole 30 amp circuit breaker. You need to have space in your existing outside panel (In San Antonio TX), to put another breaker, and adequate ampacity to add the additional load. If you are adding a tankless water heater you really need to be concerned with the additional load! I recently had to rebuild the entire service on a home just to take care of the new tankless water heater that was added. It was feed by two 125 amp, 2 pole breakers. The local utility had to change out the transformer that was feeding the homes in their cul-de-sac.
Ceiling Fans
So you bought a new ceiling fan and now you need to install it. You get a price from the electrician and you say, "What?! How much?!" If you want to take it on yourself, here are some questions that you need ask before you start.
• Do I have a ladder this tall and am I going to be able to handle hanging this bulky unit on the ceiling?
• Is my accident insurance paid up?
• Is the box I am mounting this new fan on "ceiling fan rated" to handle the weight and vibration? (I've personally seen one hanging from one screw in a child's room)
• Do I know exactly which wires to hook up to? Without question? Do I know how to connect the wires properly?
• Do I want to buy this fan twice?
• What's the difference in a dimmer and a Fan Speed control?
We have a contract with a major box store and have hung hundreds maybe thousands of ceiling fans. If you want a professional, licensed individual to hang your ceiling fan, please give us a call.
Deck Lighting
There are many lighting enhancements you can make to your deck that will add to your overall satisfaction and make the deck area a more safe and entertaining environment.
• Well lights. Low voltage, cut into the deck usually around the perimeter, shining upwards.
• Small lights that you can mount on the post down low that direct the light downwards.
• Step lights
• In some cases, rope lighting.
Please call us and if we cannot help you personally, we know professionals at the lighting stores that can help you get what you want and make you deck look stunning.
Do I need to change out my Electrical Panel/Fuse Box?
If you have a Zinsco, or an FPE electrical panel, you should definitely consider changing the panel out. These particular panels were very popular in their day and are installed all over San Antonio. I have personally witnessed the following with these two brands:
• I once saw an electrical panel that when the Zinsco breaker was in the off or the tripped position, one of the Phases/Legs, wire leaving the breaker was still energized!
• And, a Zinsco breaker, single pole, when it was switched to the off position, still was feeding power to the circuit. If this circuit would have shorted, it would have probably caught fire.
• I have shorted the hot and the neutral wire together on a circuit fed by an FPE breaker, I held it together for at least 3 seconds and it never tripped. Yes, they'll not all do this but there are a lot of defective ones out there that will)
My opinion about fuse panels is that they are safer than the two panels mentioned above if someone hasn't installed too large of a fuse. But for convenience sake, you might want to change it out also.
If you are planning to add any plugs or outlets in San Antonio TX, you should be adding them from a 4 wire panel and if you have one of the panels above, or a fuse panel, it is probably a 3 wire system. New circuits that are added in most areas of the home will need to be ARC fault protected. This is a new type of breaker that has a circuit board in it that can detect parallel and series arcs and keep fires from ever happening.
Even if your panel is not a Zinsco or FPE, if you walk by your panel and it is sizzling or crackling, or one of the breakers is hot. Please call an electrician and have it looked at as soon as possible.
Spas and Hot tubs
If you are getting a spa or hot tub please get a qualified electrician to hook it up. Too many times, folks will try to go cheap on these and it almost never turns out good. I once saw a spa which should have had a 50 amp GFCI breaker with a #6 copper wire, hooked up with a 50 amp regular breaker to a #12 piece of regular Romex, direct buried, about 120 feet away. This is completely wrong and very dangerous. Be sure your electrician has done a spa/hot tub before and is Licensed and Insured.
Hot tubs need to be on a GFCI protected circuit. This is the same technology that you see on the outlets in your kitchen or bathroom but it is usually two pole i.e. 220 volts rather than 120 volts. There are some 120 volt models, also GFCI protected, but they are not as common. A disconnecting means must be within sight of the spa and a minimum of 5 feet away from the water's edge.