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Monthly Archives: July 2012
There are many issues that you face when you are contemplating having electrical work done in your home; most of them may be questions that you’ve never thought about. I believe that having well-informed customers, both before and during the process, is the best way to ensure that the solutions we design together will meet or exceed your expectations 100% of the time.
For example, if you are thinking of upgrading your service, whether it be for convenience or an increase in amperage to distribute power throughout your house, you should take into consideration not only your current electrical needs, but what you may want or need in the future. The National Electrical Code requires a minimum of 100 amp service per single family residence. In reality, most houses today need 200 amps. Some of today’s larger homes even require 400 amps. One of the worst things that I’ve seen customers do is to pay to have their service upgraded and then find out in the future that it is not large enough and end up having to pay for another upgrade. I can’t tell you the number of times when a customer has decided to save money by upgrading from say 60 amps to 100 amps, to bring their house up to code, and then, a few years later decide to put on an addition that requires even more amperage. At that point, I have no choice but to rip out the up-grade and start over. It happens all the time.
Work with me and I’ll make sure you get the amperage you need now and in the future.
I recently gutted my kitchen and hired E. R. Teehan Jr. Electrical to do the electrical portion of the renovation. Ed and his crew did an unbelievable job. His prices were fair and the work was completed right on schedule. His crew was polite and professional and left the job sight spotless. I would hire them again without reservation.
Kelly O’Keefe — Billerica, MA
Many towns in Massachusetts adhere to the Massachusetts Building “Stretch Code”, an optional appendix to the Massachusetts Building Energy Code that allows cities and towns to choose to increase the energy efficiency requirements for all new homes, additions and renovations. This means that for these types of jobs, a certain percentage of the lighting needs to be either compact florescent or LED (light emitting diode). One thing that I always take into consideration in these situations is whether you want fixtures that are dimmable. If so, I’ll make sure the fixtures I recommend to you have dimming capable ballasts that are designed for compact florescent bulbs.
Before I begin a job, I work closely with my customers to determine the colors and styles of the plates and fixtures they want to use. When I started in the eighties, a high percentage of décor was ivory. Soon after, white became more popular. Now people use multiple colors and styles. As the electrician, I need to know this information up front so I can give you a true estimate of the total expense, and you don’t get hit with any hidden costs.