electrician Archives - Trustworthy Electric

How to Tell If Your Local Electrician Is the Right Fit for You

How to Choose the Best “Electrician Near Me”

In recent years, technology has rendered old ways of marketing obsolete. Not so long ago a consumer would turn to yellow pages to find tradesmen. Now, to find help for any job, it’s simply a matter of a quick internet search. While this is convenient and a vast improvement over flipping through the phone book hoping to find a reputable contractor, it will not guarantee customer satisfaction.

A good marketing budget is no substitute for an educated consumer. Fortunately, there are signs to look for to find that ideal electrician that is both nearby, reliable, and will NEVER leave you with an electrical fire.

Do They Have the Proper Safety Tools?

Safety should be at the forefront of everyone’s mind, especially electrical safety. Electricians have a variety of tools at their disposal to keep them and your equipment safe from harm as they service your home. A good electricians uniform should include:

Non-conductive “steel” toed boots
Safety glasses
Cotton or flame-resistant pants and shirt, or coveralls
Insulated gloves with protectors, when working near high voltage
Hard hat with face shield, when working near high voltage

Electricians also have special tools that help them perform their job safely. These tools should include:

Voltmeter
Insulated tools
Non-conductive fiberglass ladders

These items will help keep them safe as they work on your electrical system and they are often required for their insurance purposes. Therefore, if your contractor is working without them he is cutting corners with his own safety and maybe with the quality of his job on your home.

Lastly, a safety-conscious electrician should work on your equipment in a de-energized state. Although it may be inconvenient for you to have the power turned off to parts of your home while they are working, it is safer for them and for your property to turn the electricity off during service.

Do They Treat Customers Right?

A good electrical contractor should be customer service oriented, these results can be seen on their online reviews. As a customer, contractors should pay special attention to your questions and concerns and strive to provide service on a schedule that is convenient for you. Disreputable contractors may be skilled and safe electricians but not customer-oriented.

An electrician that is not committed to customer service may not show up in a timely manner or may leave your job in the middle of a project to service another customer. A good contractor will work with you to establish an appropriate time to meet, explain the diagnosis and repair plan and stay until the job is complete and your service is restored. If a company can not provide this service it is best to find one who can.

Avoid Electricians That Reschedule

If you call an electrical company and establish a time to meet but they reschedule, it is a bad sign. Rescheduling service calls is an indication of disorganization and poor customer service. It means they are over-committing and under-delivering to you and their other customers.

This can lead to major inconveniences while you are waiting on service, for hours or even days. If you have already hired a contractor and they constantly reschedule you, it can mean that they are unprepared and have a disorganized supply chain.

These delays will cost you in time as you wait for them to get supplies to perform your job. Your time is important to you and should be important to your electrician. As a consumer, watch for these signs as you choose a contractor. Companies turning up in an internet search may look reputable but with this knowledge, you can have the confidence of knowing you are making a wise choice.

About Trustworthy Electric

Trustworthy Electric has been serving the Montgomery area since 1994. They are licensed, bonded and insured and have a strong commitment to customer service. Troubleshooting, rewiring and LED retrofits are just a few of the services they offer. They value your time and will work to exceed your expectations.

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How to Think Like an Electrician: Essential Electrical Outlet Services

What Electrical Outlet Services Do You Need?

Every homeowner encounters electrical problems from time to time. It’s essential to be as knowledgeable as you can so when the time comes, you’ll be able to know how to respond depending on the problem you encounter.

As the new year begins, make it a priority to familiarize yourself with the following knowledge so you’ll not only be an informed homeowner, but you’ll know when it’s crucial to call an electrician to come to your aide. You might be surprised by some of the seemingly simple electrical problems that can turn into a nightmare.

Why Is There No Power in The Outlet?

If you plug in an appliance one day and it won’t turn on, you might be wondering why you suddenly lost power to that outlet. There are a variety of reasons why an outlet loses power. Old wiring is most often to blame for this occurrence.

When wiring is old and worn out, it can become brittle and break off, leaving your outlet without contact and power. If mice happen to eat through wires, this will also cause your outlet to stop working. Another common but far more dangerous reason outlets will stop working is when the outlet itself burns out.

This creates a small fire, sparks, and blackens the edges of the outlet. If this ever happens, the power to that outlet should be shut off immediately at the breaker. For any of these issues, professional electricians need to be called in to diagnose and fix the problem.

You Have a Constantly Tripping Circuit Breaker

While a constantly tripping circuit breaker is quite annoying, it could also be dangerous. Your circuit breaker is the unit that keeps too much electricity from flowing through your house. If too many appliances are plugged in and running at once, your circuit breaker will trip to prevent an overage of energy use.

If you notice your breaker tripping even when no appliances are being used, however, you could have a bigger problem. When wires short out within the breaker unit itself, the unit could trip. This issue needs to be solved as soon as possible. Wires shorting out in your walls can lead to fires. Turn all power off immediately if you suspect this issue and call an electrician right away.

Problems With a Falling Chord

If you have a particular outlet that you enjoy using to charge your phone and over time you notice your chord falling out, it’s probably time to change your outlet, and there are many different types of outlets.

Over time, with constant use, the contacts inside your outlet will get worn down and stop gripping. Your outlet can also loosen in the wall. In either case, an electrician will replace the outlet and you’ll be back to charging your favorite device in no time.

This is a simple fix, but it is vital. If you try and use your plugs in an outlet that doesn’t correctly grip, you could short out your device or the outlet itself due to improper fit between plug and outlet contacts.

Trustworthy Electric Services Near You

Trustworthy Electric has been serving the Montgomery, Alabama, area for all their electrical needs since 1994. Offering a same day service guarantee, they’ll fix your electrical problem on-time with upfront pricing.

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Shocking Electrician Costumes For a Hilarious Halloween!

This Year's Top Electrical Costumes

Halloween is such a great time of year! When else can you dress up as your favorite celebrity or as a literal dragon? Sure, maybe when you play Dungeons & Dragons in the basement, but this is about October chills and fun! If you’re looking for some great electrician costumes this Halloween, then check out the list below.

Bark Sparks

Listen. Dogs are great. Everyone can agree on that. But you know what makes dogs even better? Putting them in a dog costume this Halloween! And though there are a lot of different options for your best friend in the whole world (who’s the best boy?) a shockingly simple costume for Fido is a ghostly sheet and a lightbulb inside a pumpkin to illuminate his spooky, yet adorable, grin.

So, don’t be afraid to dress your pooch this Halloween. Everyone will love it!

Shock Your Tyke

Now, typically kids and electricity don’t mix. So, when you have little tots roaming around the house it’s always smart to baby proof the outlets. Unless it’s Halloween!

Okay, just kidding. You don’t really want your kiddo to get an electrical shock. But making it seem like that’s what happened is a great, and easy, costume for your child this October. A scorched shirt, some hair that sticks straight up, a little makeup and you’ve got a kid who looks like they stuck a fork in an outlet.

Bonus: kids love to get messy and dirty so they’re sure to love this costume, too! And that’s a win for everyone.

A Bright Idea

Electrician costumes don’t always have to be actual electricians. It can be worthwhile to think outside the box. If you try hard enough, maybe you’ll have a eureka moment and a little lightbulb will light up above your head!

Actually, that doesn’t really happen, but it could make a really great Halloween costume! One that would probably delight and shock everyone who saw you, and for good reason! When you have a costume idea as great as this one, you have to show it off.

A Simple Solution

Costumes can take a lot of work. There’s special clothing. Makeup that takes forever to wash off. Wigs or hair that needs to be sprayed or ratted. What if you want an invite to the costume party but you don’t actually want to, like, wear a costume?

Well, a simple t-shirt, like this one here, may suffice! It’s easy, and clever, and people will enjoy how you skirted around the “costume required” bit on the invitation, which will make you look smart and fun. And having fun is what Halloween is all about.

The Classic

The cliché electrician costume is, of course, an electrician who has been violently shocked or electrocuted! Scorched clothing and hair sticking everywhere!

But, listen, it’s a cliché because it’s great! Classic even! And if you’re someone who likes a costume with a lot of details, then this one is for you. You can stuff your tool belt with electrical tools and doodads, scorch your jeans in just the right way, and use the perfect amount of makeup to really sell that “Just got shocked!” look you’re going for. And that’s what a great costume is all about.

Turn to Trustworthy Electric for Electricians You Can Trust

Trustworthy Electric serves the Montgomery, AL area with fast, same day service. Fully licensed electricians offer upfront pricing and a problem-solving guarantee. For over 20 years they’ve worked hard to earn the trust of their clientele.