Los Angeles Electrician

Electrical Tips

We have compiled a list of tips, hints and recommendations to help you keep your residental, commerical or industrial electrical systems working safely and correctly.

• The sibgle biggest tip I can give you is that you should plan for plenty of circuits. The cost of a 40 circuit panel over. a 30 circuit panel is extremly small. Two hundred and fifty foot of 12 guage cable, with ground, is also extremly inexpensive. Think about what load the circuit may need and if there is any question, just add another circuit or even two. The additional cost at this stage is very low and can save time, hassle and money in the future.
• Us 12 guage wire that is rated for 20 amps (2400 watts) as this will allow usage of high power requirement appliances withg having to worry about power loss. This is especially true if you are a DIY person who will be using power tools. The difference in cost of 14 guage wire is negligable while the benefits are high.
• Again, for the DIY person who is planning on using high power requirement tools - have an individual circuit for each of the tools you plan to use in your workspace. Power tools must get the required power or they will not work as you need them to.
• Use the correct tools for the job. For electrical work have, at the ready linesman's pliers for cutting cable and twisting wires together, a razor knife to strip cable insulation, a wire stripping tool for wire insulation and needle nose pliers to bend wires around outlets and to switch terminal screws.
• Always Install wiring after the plumbing and heating is completed but before the low-voltage wiring is run. Make sure you never have wiring in the way of you plumber or any contractor that may need to perform soldering.
• In older homes you should look for existing pathways between floors or to the roof to run your new wiring. Drop a string with a small nail down along the pipe to find the best route.
• Decide how high above ground the wall outlets should be. Typical hights are in the 12 inch to 16 inch range. Do a little pre-planning of where furniture and appliances will be so you can position your outlets correctly with the need for applience cables encroaching on inappropriate spaces.
• We all love holiday lights - both indoor and outdoors. For outdoor lighting, install plenty of outlets with switches inside in convenient locations so your can control them.