Being a homeowner is a big responsibility. However, just because you’re responsible for your home doesn’t mean you have to perform every maintenance and home improvement job yourself. If fact, there are many instances in which it’s more responsible to let a professional do the job. For example, converting your home’s wiring is best performed by an electrician serving San Jose .

Wiring is dangerous work. Fortunately, professional electricians have thousands of hours of training, and know precisely how to complete wiring conversions without injury to themselves or damage to your property. Why put yourself at risk when you can leave the job to a team of seasoned professionals? Hiring trained, licensed, and insured experts to convert your aluminum wiring to copper is the only way to ensure that the job is done absolutely right. Also, your homeowner’s insurance company will likely insist that the job is done professionally—your home’s wiring is too important to be left to anyone who doesn’t have the requisite training and experience.

As a homeowner, you want to make your home as safe as possible for yourself and your family. As you look around your home, you might assume that you’ve already achieved maximum safety. However, one of the greatest potential risks is out of sight: the electrical system behind your walls. Fortunately, maximizing the safety of your electrical system is as easy as calling an electrician in San Jose . If you haven’t already, you should have a professional install arc fault circuit interrupters (AFCI) throughout your electrical system.

Arc Fault Basics

Under normal circumstances, electricity should travel safely throughout your home via electrical wires, or conductors. An arc fault occurs when electricity travels outside of safe conductors. A big enough arc could ignite insulation or another flammable part of your home, contributing to a disastrous electrical fire; in fact, arc faults are among the leading causes of electrical fires in this country. The older the wiring, the higher the risk of arc faults.

How AFCI Breakers Work

An arc fault circuit interrupter is designed to detect a dangerous electrical arc and promptly interrupt the circuit before a fire can ignite. When an arc fault occurs, it creates a sharp spike and drop that is easily detectible by an AFCI breaker. However, an AFCI breaker is sophisticated enough to tell the difference between a safe, normal arc and a potentially harmful arc fault.

Why They’re Important

Traditional circuit breakers are also important for electrical safety, but they alone cannot protect from electrical fires. A circuit breaker will only interrupt a circuit in the event of a short circuit or overload, and cannot detect an arc fault. AFCI breakers are so important that the U.S. electrical code now requires them in most newly constructed dwelling units. If your home has old wiring and does not yet have AFCI breakers, consider speaking with an electrician in San Jose. AFCI breakers are generally inexpensive and easy to install.

When it comes to home wiring, copper is the gold standard—or more appropriately, the “copper standard.” However, the price of copper has fluctuated over the years, whereas aluminum has remained rather low. For this reason, there are many buildings that have aluminum instead of copper for their wiring. Aluminum was thought to be an acceptable alternative in the 1960s and 70s, but has since been discovered to be subpar. If you have aluminum wiring in your home, consider having an electrician in San Jose to replace it for you.

Less Effective Conductor

Though aluminum is less expensive than copper, its composition makes it a less effective conductor. For this reason, you need to use more aluminum in order to achieve the same amperage. Aluminum is also less ductile than copper, which means it is more likely to break down when drawn into thin wires and bent. Aluminum is more malleable than copper, and thus more sensitive to compression. The areas that get compressed have more electrical resistance, which is not what you want from a wire that’s supposed to conduct electricity.

Faster Deterioration

Copper is more resistant to corrosion than aluminum. If aluminum is exposed to moisture and certain kinds of metals, it will undergo something called “galvanic corrosion,” which is bad news for an electrical wire. Also, aluminum wire is more easily oxidized than its copper counterpart, and oxidization can seriously compromise important connections, which can in turn cause a fire hazard.

Potential for Loose Connections

Tight, secure connections are important for electrical functionality and safety. Unfortunately, aluminum wire behaves in such a way that sometimes makes it difficult to hold a connection. As mentioned above, oxidation is part of the problem. Another problem is that aluminum expands and contracts with temperature changes, and vibrates more than copper when an electrical current passes through it. Over time, these changes in size can cause aluminum to be separated from its connections, rendering it ineffective and unsafe.

As a homeowner, you likely take great pride in tackling home improvement projects yourself. However, there are some things that are worth calling a professional for: electrical wiring , for example. If your home was built before World War II, there’s a chance that it was wired with the knob-and-tube method. This wiring method is now obsolete, and should be replaced wherever it exists.

As the name suggests, knob-and-tube wiring is comprised of ceramic knobs and tubes. Unfortunately for the owners of older homes, knob-and-tube wiring is difficult to improve or retrofit, and is considered a fire hazard—especially when the wires are surrounded by building insulation. This is because the fiber materials in knob-and-tube wiring can become brittle over time. If your home has this type of wiring, it’s possible that your insurance company will not approve fire insurance. For the sake of your own safety, it’s important to have an electrician identify and remove knob-and-tube wiring and replace it with a safer method of wiring as soon as possible.

Since most of a typical home’s electrical system is out of sight, most homeowners do not understand how complex or sophisticated it truly is. For example, one big aspect of the modern home electrical system is the arc fault breaker, also known as an arc fault circuit interrupter. This piece of technology is vital for protecting your home from electrical fires.

Importance

To understand the importance of arc fault breakers, it’s important to understand the concept of arc faults. Simply put, an arc fault is when an arc, or electrical discharge, flows through an unplanned path. As you can imagine, this could lead to some pretty dangerous circumstances—including an electrical fire. An arc fault breaker is designed to detect arc faults and protect the circuit, thereby reducing the risk of an electrical fire, of which there are more than 40,000 a year in the U.S.

Basic Function

The average arc fault breaker is very sophisticated, and uses advanced technology to detect various types of arcing. Normal arcing occurs all the time when electrical appliances are turned on—these require no special action from the arc fault breaker. When an arc fault occurs, however, the arc fault breaker instantly recognizes the fault and interrupts the circuit, thereby reducing the danger. By contrast, conventional circuit breakers are only equipped to respond to overloads and short circuits. Arc fault breakers are now required by law for circuits feeding into electrical outlets in most rooms.

Nuisance Tripping

Though arc fault breakers are vital for safety, there are times when they overreact. In other words, an arc fault breaker may interrupt a circuit even when an appliance is being used safely and properly. This is called “nuisance tripping.” This occurs most commonly with older electrical tools and appliances that have motors with brushes. Vacuums and power drills are two such appliances. If your breaker frequently engages in nuisance tripping, have an electrician take a look and address the problem. You should know that arc fault breakers are being improved on all the time.

Your home is probably one of your favorite places on Earth. As such, you wouldn’t trust its care and maintenance with just anybody. However, there are certain maintenance and home improvement jobs that are too dangerous and important to attempt yourself. When it comes to electrical wiring, for example, you’re best off turning to a trusted San Jose electrician . For help finding the right electrician for your needs, consider the following tips.

Determine What You Need Done

Before you start your search, you should determine exactly what you expect from your technician and jot down a few questions about the proposed project. Are you looking for a routine inspection, or do you have a more specific job in mind? Do you need an electrician to provide wiring for a new building, or do you need to rewire an existing structure? This is important because different electricians have different specialties.

Look at Qualifications

Once you’ve narrowed down your search somewhat, look at the remaining candidates’ credentials and qualifications. Make sure you choose an electrician that is fully licensed, insured, and bonded in the State of California. It’s also a good idea to check the license number of each electrical contractor, just to make sure it’s safe and legal for them to work on your project.

Check Out Past Reviews

Now’s the time to check out past reviews for the electrician you’re interested in hiring. If you see an electrician with a high rating on Yelp!, Google Reviews, and other review services, then you may have found your team. If an electrician has performed well for numerous past clients, then there’s a good chance that they’ll perform well for you, too.

Conduct a Brief Interview

Once you think you’ve found a suitable electrician, don’t be afraid to call them up. Ask whatever questions come to mind, discuss your proposed project, and get a feel for how the electrician conducts business. If you have a good feeling, and the credentials and reviews check out, odds are you’ve found your electrician.

When a circuit breaker trips in your home, it’s usually a sign that you have been using too much electricity in one specific part of your house. Hair dryers, irons, and older appliances can all cause circuit breakers in your fuse box to trip. You can reset your circuit breaker without the help of an electrician serving San Jose , who can also investigate your problem further if your circuit breakers trip on a regular basis.

In order to reset your circuit breaker, all you need to do is locate your fuse box, find the circuit breaker that tripped, and switch it back on. Before you do, you should also shut off whatever appliances you were using prior to the power shutting off. Once you reset it, wait for about 30 seconds to make sure it stays on. Then, go and turn your appliance back on to see if the circuit breaker is delivering power again. You should be able to start using the electrical outlet tied to the circuit breaker without a problem. If for whatever reason your circuit breaker continues to trip, Delta Electric can send an electrical contractor to test it further.

If you are having an electrical problem inside of your home or business, you should not attempt to fix it yourself. Even if you are handy in other areas, you should leave the electrical work to a residential or commercial electrician . Electricians in San Jose can help you do everything from installing a new outlet in your home to completely rewiring the electrical wiring in your business. Read on to learn about the qualifications you should expect to from an electrician.

Valid License and Current Insurance

Before you begin working with a residential or commercial electrician for the first time, you should ask to see a license and proof of insurance. A license will show you that your electrician has obtained the proper education to do electrical work in your home or business. An insurance card will cover you and the electrician in the event of an accident inside of your home or business during an electrical job.

Extensive Knowledge and Experience

When you bring a certified electrician into your home, you want to feel confident in his or her ability to complete whatever job you need done. In order to do this, you need to make sure that you find a professional with knowledge and experience that’s tied directly to the work that you need finished. If you need an electrician to tackle a large job like upgrading your electrical panel or rewiring a portion of your house during a home renovation, check with the electrician about the specific experience that they have with these more complex tasks.

Good References

One of the final things you should do before hiring an electrician is ask for references. Your electrician should be more than happy to connect you with some of their past clients so that you can get a better sense of what you can expect if you hire them. By speaking with references and considering all other factors, you should have no problem picking out the best residential or commercial electrician for your job.