SeaTown Electric works mainly in the Seattle area. well versatile Seattle electrical contractors are hard to come by. Seatown Electric's goal is to become you're families go to Seattle electrical contractor. We are standing by to help assist in all of you're home electrical needs, you can visit our website at www.seatownelectric.com or you can simply call (206)-293-0037 for you're free electrical estimate. We specialize in Whole home rewiring, Standby Generators, Fused panel upgrades, Service upgrade, Electric car chargers, Seattle Remodels, Hot tub hook ups, Recessed Lighting and much more. Please visit Our Services Page for more residential electrical contractor work that we preform.
Aluminum Wiring in West Seattle Home
We received a phone call from one of our Angie's List customers, they wanted to first take advantage of our free estimate process and hopefully find a Seattle Electrical contractor to work with to remove all of the aluminum wiring in the home. Seatown Electric provided a comprehensive walk through and a prompt proposal for the work that was needed. Seatown Electric provides a quick 24 hour turn around on all estimates. The estimate came in at an affortable budget for the homeowner. The job consisted of changing out old aluminum wiring with new copper wiring. There was two options that our homeowner was left with. Option one did not end up meeting the overall budget becuase it would require rewiring all of the outlets. However there is a way to reduce the dangers of aluminum wiring by eliminating the connection points (the outlet/switch or light fixture screws) Most home fires due to aluminum wiring happen at the outlet/switch connection point. You can extent, convert or Pigtail the aluminum wire at each device down to copper wire using alumiconn connectors you can click the link for more info on Alumiconn connectors: http://www.kinginnovation.com/category-pages/electrical-landing.php The King innovation connectors are ideal for pigtailing to copper wire. And they are one of the few connectors that are Approved by the Consumer Products Safety Commission The homeowner decided this was the way to go. All and all it took 3 total days to complete. New pigtails where installed and new Tamper Resistant outlets too. Since we had to replace all of the outlets AFCI protection was required to all of the circuits that we tampred with. The project went smooth from start to finish. Another satified Seatown Electric customer, and another Seattle electrical project completed! for more information please visit our website www.seatownelectric.com
Wednesday, June 1, 2016
Standby Generator hookup Seattle electrical contractors
There are two types of generator systems that SeaTown Electric installs. The first is a standby home generator. This will keep your power on during an outage. It’s installed outside your house (like an AC unit) and comes on automatically whether you’re home or away. All within seconds of a power outage. Plus home generators run on propane or natural gas so there’s no refueling.
So how does it work? Its simple. Your automatic transfer switch (ATS) monitors the electricity coming from the utility. It's working 24/7 to protect your home. This device can be located exterior or interior. When the power fails or incoming voltage drops to brown out levels the ATS recognizes the power failure and prompts the generator to turn on. This system is designed for the consumer who does not want the hassle of wheeling out a portable generator, refueling it and maintaining it throughout the seasons. The Kohler generator is preferred by SeaTown Electric for various reasons, warrantee, consumer reports, and quality. It also has capability of remote monitoring through a very simple to use app. This generator runs automatic and flawless.
The second option for power restoration is the portable option. This system is 100% manual. When the power goes out you would wheel out your portable generator, plug it in, activate your interlock kit, start the generator and choose the circuits you want to turn on. When choosing the size of a generator, we recommend a 5,000-10,000 watt (or 5kw-10kw) for portable generators. If it is a standby automatic system we recommend 14,000-20,000 watt (or 14kw-20kw). You can purchase both option directly through SeaTown Electric www.seatownelectric.com SeaTown electric is your go to Seattle Electrical Contractor
So how does it work? Its simple. Your automatic transfer switch (ATS) monitors the electricity coming from the utility. It's working 24/7 to protect your home. This device can be located exterior or interior. When the power fails or incoming voltage drops to brown out levels the ATS recognizes the power failure and prompts the generator to turn on. This system is designed for the consumer who does not want the hassle of wheeling out a portable generator, refueling it and maintaining it throughout the seasons. The Kohler generator is preferred by SeaTown Electric for various reasons, warrantee, consumer reports, and quality. It also has capability of remote monitoring through a very simple to use app. This generator runs automatic and flawless.
The second option for power restoration is the portable option. This system is 100% manual. When the power goes out you would wheel out your portable generator, plug it in, activate your interlock kit, start the generator and choose the circuits you want to turn on. When choosing the size of a generator, we recommend a 5,000-10,000 watt (or 5kw-10kw) for portable generators. If it is a standby automatic system we recommend 14,000-20,000 watt (or 14kw-20kw). You can purchase both option directly through SeaTown Electric www.seatownelectric.com SeaTown electric is your go to Seattle Electrical Contractor
Saturday, May 28, 2016
Seattle Electrician adding outlets.
At Seatown Electric we handle all aspects of home wiring. We specialize in Whole Home Rewiring, The Seattle area is filled with Knob and Tube wiring. Our goal is to eliminate as much as possible. Seattle Electricians must be well trained in Knob and Tube wiring since there is so much of it in Seattle. A small job like adding aditional outlets might require Knob and Tube rewiring.
Our electrical codes have changed drastically in 2008-2016. If we add outlets, or even replace outlets we are required to install some sort of AFCI protection. AFCI protection stands for Arc Fault Circuit Interupter. This device is designed to protect the home from low current arcing. You can either install AFCI protection at the panel box, or replace the device (outlet) with an AFCI protected outlet, they look similar to GFCI outlets.
Since AFCI protection is required and they are designed to find faults they tend to find faults when they are hooked up to Knob and Tube. This is why it sometimes makes sense to just get rid of the Knob and Tube.
Knob and Tube wiring is rumored to be "safe" if it has not been tampered with. I find this statement to be false. Knob and tube is designed for eary 1900 era equiptment. Take a step back into time and imagine what that looked like, a small table lamp or two, 1-2 outlets per room for small radios. This wiring was not designed for compact wall heaters, curling irons, 3-4 wall TV's per home, toaster, surround sound, computers etc... Not to mention all of that new age equiptment has no ground protection with Knob and Tube wiring.
If you have Knob and Tube it should be replaced, SeaTown Electric, you're Seattle Electricians can help replace this old wiring. (206)-293-0037
www.seatownelectric.com
Our electrical codes have changed drastically in 2008-2016. If we add outlets, or even replace outlets we are required to install some sort of AFCI protection. AFCI protection stands for Arc Fault Circuit Interupter. This device is designed to protect the home from low current arcing. You can either install AFCI protection at the panel box, or replace the device (outlet) with an AFCI protected outlet, they look similar to GFCI outlets.
Since AFCI protection is required and they are designed to find faults they tend to find faults when they are hooked up to Knob and Tube. This is why it sometimes makes sense to just get rid of the Knob and Tube.
Knob and Tube wiring is rumored to be "safe" if it has not been tampered with. I find this statement to be false. Knob and tube is designed for eary 1900 era equiptment. Take a step back into time and imagine what that looked like, a small table lamp or two, 1-2 outlets per room for small radios. This wiring was not designed for compact wall heaters, curling irons, 3-4 wall TV's per home, toaster, surround sound, computers etc... Not to mention all of that new age equiptment has no ground protection with Knob and Tube wiring.
If you have Knob and Tube it should be replaced, SeaTown Electric, you're Seattle Electricians can help replace this old wiring. (206)-293-0037
www.seatownelectric.com
Thursday, March 19, 2015
Electrical Panels Change Out Seattle Washington
Electrical panels are one of the more frequent jobs for Seatown Electric Home owners all across Washington State are in need of a new electrical panel, and don't even know it. We are going to try and cover all of the problematic panels and the process for removing them in this post.
Lets start by explaining what the Electrical Panel is, The "Grey box" usually located in a garage space or basement. Some call it the Fuse box, Switch box, or Breaker box. This "Grey box" is the source, or heart of the homes electrical service. Typically one of these panels controls the whole house, But in some cases there is an auxiliary panel or "sub panel".
So how do you know if your electrical panel is outdated? The best way, is to get a free estimate from SeaTown Electric . But if you just want to have a look for yourself here are the Electrical code requirements for Seattle Washington:
Grounding and bonding must be installed, Two eight foot grounding electrodes are required and must be connected with copper wire (wire size depends on the service size). One main water pipe bond must be install within 5 feet of where it enters the house, all metal waste pipes, plumbing and gas pipes must be bonded. Electrical panels must have a main breaker either at the electrical panel, or you might find it at the meter. There is also Height, and space requirements per NEC code.
Some of the problematic panels are Zinsco, Federal Pacific, and old screw in type fuses.
Federal Pacific Panels , Zinsco Panels and fuse panels should be replaced if they are still in your home. The breakers fail to trip when under heavy load causing fires. Seatown Electric can take out the old electrical panel and replace it with a new panel in a days worth of work. our electricians specialize in Electrical panel replacement and Knob and Tube replacement in the greater Seattle Area.
to scheddule a free estimate please call (206)-293-0037 or visit Our Website
Lets start by explaining what the Electrical Panel is, The "Grey box" usually located in a garage space or basement. Some call it the Fuse box, Switch box, or Breaker box. This "Grey box" is the source, or heart of the homes electrical service. Typically one of these panels controls the whole house, But in some cases there is an auxiliary panel or "sub panel".
So how do you know if your electrical panel is outdated? The best way, is to get a free estimate from SeaTown Electric . But if you just want to have a look for yourself here are the Electrical code requirements for Seattle Washington:
Grounding and bonding must be installed, Two eight foot grounding electrodes are required and must be connected with copper wire (wire size depends on the service size). One main water pipe bond must be install within 5 feet of where it enters the house, all metal waste pipes, plumbing and gas pipes must be bonded. Electrical panels must have a main breaker either at the electrical panel, or you might find it at the meter. There is also Height, and space requirements per NEC code.
Some of the problematic panels are Zinsco, Federal Pacific, and old screw in type fuses.
Federal Pacific Panels , Zinsco Panels and fuse panels should be replaced if they are still in your home. The breakers fail to trip when under heavy load causing fires. Seatown Electric can take out the old electrical panel and replace it with a new panel in a days worth of work. our electricians specialize in Electrical panel replacement and Knob and Tube replacement in the greater Seattle Area.
to scheddule a free estimate please call (206)-293-0037 or visit Our Website
Wednesday, March 18, 2015
Redmond Washington Electrical Troubleshooting
Another service call for Seatown Electric, this customer had one of there upstairs circuits that was not working. We started at the electrical panel and checked every circuit to make sure the breakers were in the on position. The customer said they checked every single breaker, But just to be safe we like to run our fingers down the Breakers and put slight tension on them to see if one is tripped in the on position. There is a lot of service calls that electrical contractor go on in the Seattle area that are similar to this, and most of the time it is an easy fix. We look for the obvious, a bad breaker, tripped GFCI or loose wiring first.
In this case it was a tripped breaker, stuck in the on position. A good tip for home owners to look at to save a trip fee is to turn every breaker off hard then back on. This will reset the breaker if it is in fact tripped, but in the on position. The video above can help everyday homeowners troubleshoot a simple fix.
After setting the breaker back on, power was restored. Job complete. Another satisfied Angies List customer
For questions or to schedule a free estimate please call (206)-293-0037 or visit Our Website
In this case it was a tripped breaker, stuck in the on position. A good tip for home owners to look at to save a trip fee is to turn every breaker off hard then back on. This will reset the breaker if it is in fact tripped, but in the on position. The video above can help everyday homeowners troubleshoot a simple fix.
After setting the breaker back on, power was restored. Job complete. Another satisfied Angies List customer
For questions or to schedule a free estimate please call (206)-293-0037 or visit Our Website
Tuesday, March 17, 2015
AFCI Breakers And GFCI Protection Seattle Washington
What Does an AFCI or Arc-Fault Circuit Interrupter do? Arc-Faults are designed to help prevent fires by detecting an unintended electrical arc and disconnecting the power before the arc starts a fire. Unlike GFCI devices that prevent electrical shock, AFCI breakers only detect Arc-Faults. Same goes with a standard breaker, A standard breaker only detects circuit overloads and short circuits. And the AFCI again, only detects Arc-Faults.
Arc-Faults have created a whole new challenge for Electrical Contractors and home owners in Washington State. An example, is a typical circuit extension will now require Arc-Fault protection. If the electrical panel cannot fit the required space of an Arc-Fault protection, the homeowner might be faced with having to get a sub panel, or a full panel change out, just to bring one circuit up to code.
In dwelling units, all 15-20 Amp 120 volt circuits supplying outlets or devices are required in kitchens, family rooms, dining rooms, living rooms, closets, hallways, laundry areas, or any other areas described in article 210.12 (A)(1) through 6. of the NEC code.
A quick rule of thumb for AFCI protection requirements, and GFCI requirements is: if you are adding or altering a circuit in a residential dwelling you are most likely going to have to GFCI protect it: bathrooms, exterior, exposed basements, garage, kitchens, wet bars, and any wet locations. Or AFCI protect it: Kitchens, family rooms, dining rooms, living rooms, closets, hallways, laundry areas. GFCI outlets protect from electrical shock, AFCI breakers protect from Arc-Faults.
For a whole home safety check please visit: SeaTown Electric or call: (206)-293-0037
Arc-Faults have created a whole new challenge for Electrical Contractors and home owners in Washington State. An example, is a typical circuit extension will now require Arc-Fault protection. If the electrical panel cannot fit the required space of an Arc-Fault protection, the homeowner might be faced with having to get a sub panel, or a full panel change out, just to bring one circuit up to code.
In dwelling units, all 15-20 Amp 120 volt circuits supplying outlets or devices are required in kitchens, family rooms, dining rooms, living rooms, closets, hallways, laundry areas, or any other areas described in article 210.12 (A)(1) through 6. of the NEC code.
A quick rule of thumb for AFCI protection requirements, and GFCI requirements is: if you are adding or altering a circuit in a residential dwelling you are most likely going to have to GFCI protect it: bathrooms, exterior, exposed basements, garage, kitchens, wet bars, and any wet locations. Or AFCI protect it: Kitchens, family rooms, dining rooms, living rooms, closets, hallways, laundry areas. GFCI outlets protect from electrical shock, AFCI breakers protect from Arc-Faults.
For a whole home safety check please visit: SeaTown Electric or call: (206)-293-0037
West Seattle Knob and Tube Rewire
This particular rewire stemmed from another Angies List Customer calling in to get his 1920's Knob and Tube wiring looked at. The home is located in West Seattle. The process for the home inspection begins with taking off all of the wall plates. Most Electrical contractors will only use a plug checker to determine the extent of the knob and tube, not Seatown Electric. Our process is very thorough and accurate, leaving all of our customers with a detailed report of how much of the home is knob and tube, and what condition it is in. We have a 24hr turnaround process for all of our estimates, so the bid process does not drag out.
After a few back and forth e-mails confirming scope of work and misc. additional items, the homeowner let us know that we where the middle bid. Our price for the rewire was not too high and not too low. We scheduled the work for 5 total working days.
The house was vacant during the rewire (this is not required) but does help. There are many different Wiring Methods, but after many rewires, we believe we have found the best most efficient way to do them. On day one, we focus on pulling out all of the old switches and outlets. We aren't concerned with keeping the old outlets since they aren't Tamper Resistant which is required in the 2014 NEC Code. Not every single outlet is required to be Tamper Resistant, but enough for Seatown Electric to make it a company policy that all outlets will be Tamper Resistant.
Once the outlets and switches are removed, the next step is to remove all of the old metal boxes. This home had lath and plaster, so we had to be very careful not to knock out pieces of the wall. Using a flat head screw driver we disassemble and pry out the old boxes. Then cut out the opening for the new Plastic Cut In Box. After all the new boxes are cut out, we vacuum up all of the lath and plaster pieces and shake off the drop clothes in the trash, to get ready for the next steps.
Getting all of the boxes out and removing the knob and tube will take up most of day one. On day two, home run wires are pulled. Home runs are the start of the new circuit. Basically, they come from
the electrical panel to the start of the circuit. Once they are all pulled in, we start fishing wires in to all of the new electrical box locations. NMB Wiring is used for all of the new electrical installed. The next few days we are fishing in the new circuits.
Seattle Electrical Code only requires you to rewire the dwelling "as is" meaning you only need to rewire to the existing locations. Labor and Industries will sometimes make you rewire "up to NEC Code" meaning you have to add outlets and switches. This adds a minimum of 3-5 days. Since the home was in Seattle territory, we only added outlets that the homeowner requested.
On the last day of the rewire the circuits are all attached to the Electrical panel. This homeowner chose to purchase the best Electrical Panel we offer. It comes with a copper bussing, whole home surge protection, updated grounding and bonding, panel labeling, and limited lifetime warranty on all parts.
A thorough testing of all the circuits is done after power is restored to the home. Everything worked perfect the first time. Inspection was scheduled the next day, and passed off the first time. This whole home rewire went about as smooth as it could have. Another satisfied Angies List customer.
After a few back and forth e-mails confirming scope of work and misc. additional items, the homeowner let us know that we where the middle bid. Our price for the rewire was not too high and not too low. We scheduled the work for 5 total working days.
The house was vacant during the rewire (this is not required) but does help. There are many different Wiring Methods, but after many rewires, we believe we have found the best most efficient way to do them. On day one, we focus on pulling out all of the old switches and outlets. We aren't concerned with keeping the old outlets since they aren't Tamper Resistant which is required in the 2014 NEC Code. Not every single outlet is required to be Tamper Resistant, but enough for Seatown Electric to make it a company policy that all outlets will be Tamper Resistant.
Once the outlets and switches are removed, the next step is to remove all of the old metal boxes. This home had lath and plaster, so we had to be very careful not to knock out pieces of the wall. Using a flat head screw driver we disassemble and pry out the old boxes. Then cut out the opening for the new Plastic Cut In Box. After all the new boxes are cut out, we vacuum up all of the lath and plaster pieces and shake off the drop clothes in the trash, to get ready for the next steps.
Getting all of the boxes out and removing the knob and tube will take up most of day one. On day two, home run wires are pulled. Home runs are the start of the new circuit. Basically, they come from
the electrical panel to the start of the circuit. Once they are all pulled in, we start fishing wires in to all of the new electrical box locations. NMB Wiring is used for all of the new electrical installed. The next few days we are fishing in the new circuits.
Seattle Electrical Code only requires you to rewire the dwelling "as is" meaning you only need to rewire to the existing locations. Labor and Industries will sometimes make you rewire "up to NEC Code" meaning you have to add outlets and switches. This adds a minimum of 3-5 days. Since the home was in Seattle territory, we only added outlets that the homeowner requested.
On the last day of the rewire the circuits are all attached to the Electrical panel. This homeowner chose to purchase the best Electrical Panel we offer. It comes with a copper bussing, whole home surge protection, updated grounding and bonding, panel labeling, and limited lifetime warranty on all parts.
A thorough testing of all the circuits is done after power is restored to the home. Everything worked perfect the first time. Inspection was scheduled the next day, and passed off the first time. This whole home rewire went about as smooth as it could have. Another satisfied Angies List customer.
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