The residential electrical contractor is very different from a commercial electrician. This is due to the vast differences between the two working environments. The construction methods and electrical service installation used to build homes are vastly different than those used to build office buildings, warehouses, and factories. Commercial buildings require additional insulation for wiring, such as armor coating and pipe conduits.
These things are not necessary in a person’s house. Residential electrical contractors use romex wire and low voltage wire, and they deal with different structural challenges than their commercial counterparts. With residential environments, projects are normally a blend of simple and complex challenges, with homes of more than 5,000 square feet representing the most complex of scenarios. Residential wiring experts must have a clear understanding of construction methods and techniques and know certain things about each house in order to effectively work in that environment.
Every house is unique and presents its own unique set of challenges relative to age, wiring design, appliances, lighting systems and electrical service panels. The hub of a home’s electrical power operation is the electrical service panel. It controls the distribution of power to all areas of the home and feeds energy to specific systems and special appliances through dedicated circuits. Few of the older homes have dedicated circuits, so the first thing that any skilled residential electrical contractor will want to know is the age of the house. This will provide an understanding of what service panel upgrades will probably be needed in order to create a safer and more efficient home environment.
All of the residential electrical contractors on staff with Illuminations Lighting and Design have been cross-trained in new home wiring, architectural theory and understand the many different evolutions that home electrical services have undergone in the past few years. This enables our team to come out to your home and understand how things were originally done when the home was built and how improvements can be made for greater efficiency and safety. Things like retrofitting new recessed wiring and adding dedicated circuits can be done much more effectively and non-invasively with this type of knowledge and experience.
Today’s newer homes are made for energy efficiency and are very accommodating to the electrical specialists. They have crawl spaces built into the attic to accommodate service calls, and they have better insulation. Hot water is now generated with tankless methods to conserve on power costs. And, today’s new home is also built to accommodate new wiring so as to minimize damage to walls and ceilings. The new trend in building homes with trusses instead of rafters is an example of this. Wires can be run from one side of the room to the other without having to cut out sheetrock to do this. Residential electrical remodeling contractors who are trained in these new architectural designs know how to spot the opportunities for new wiring runs that will involve a minimum of wall and ceiling penetration. Often, there are enough existing penetrations through conduits such as recessed lighting fixtures, speakers, etc.
Of course, not every home is this brand new. Your home is probably a few years old and was built with some of this ultra-efficiency in mind. However, it still lacks many of the power saving attributes of the newest homes. This is particularly true about Houston’s most beautiful homes in River Oaks, Memorial, West University, and Bellaire. These homes are stately masterpieces of architecture and built with the highest level of convenience and taste in mind. However, some are over 40 years old and still rely upon outdated wiring systems to power their interiors. The good news is, however, that our residential electrical contractors know exactly how to upgrade electrical services and install low voltage recessed lighting in these homes without making a mess.
One of the first things they will do is to contract a plumber to work in conjunction with their wiring work and coordinate a tankless solution for your hot water. If you have a home theater, or you are thinking about getting one, we can run a dedicated circuit to the AV equipment that will more efficiently distribute power to its components. In fact, every major appliance and sensitive piece of electronics in your home should have a dedicated circuit to ensure maximum, safe operability. We also recommend you allow our residential electrical contractors to install commercial grade surge suppressors (not power strips like you may stereotypically envision) in order to protect your home systems from transient power surge. Last but not least, we also urge Houstonians to not forget the problems we recently had with hurricane Ike and to proactively protect their lifestyle with a permanently installed natural gas home generator.
Other optional services we can provide are indoor lighting maintenance house ceiling lights and landscape lighting that beautify your home and property. These systems can be built of primarily low voltage light fixtures that do not cost that much to run. Security lighting can be interwoven with these systems to provide you with an extra layer of home defense against potential intruders. Security lights can be regulated with timers and motion sensors that only turn them on at certain times or when an unknown presence is detected.
While it may be necessary for the residential electrical contractor to perform an upgrade of your service panel at the time of these repairs, you can rest assured that your investment is well worth the money when you consider you will be saving money on a monthly basis starting immediately, and when you realize that you are living in a safer dwelling whose wiring is more technically sound and up to date.
Illuminations Lighting Design is the only “One Stop” destination for lighting design, engineering, landscape lighting services and installation in the state of Texas, and remains unrivaled by any lighting firm in the United States for lighting that is art. As homes grow larger and needs become more complex, having a single resource provides home owners with peace of mind. This translates into a smoother process, reduced costs and a better product.
If you are interested in houston home repairs, we invite you to contact us to request a design consultation. We can be reached toll free at 800-863-1184 or locally at 713-863-1133.
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