A major home construction project is a great moment to upgrade your electrical system, especially in an old building. It is not uncommon for old wires and cables to break down and not be able to cope with all the requirements of a modern household. Not only does an old electrical system fail when modern electronic equipment is connected, but it also threatens the safety of both the residents and the devices hooked up to the sockets, and can easily cause an electric shock or even a fire.
Although city regulations do not explicitly require electrical modernization, homeowners and property managers are obliged to maintain their building’s installations in a proper technical condition.
The need to modernize the electrical network occurs when the installation is more than 30 years old, and also when the originally estimated energy demand is insufficient. For example, it turns out that the system has too few sockets or that the entire installation is working at a lower level of efficiency, and connecting more devices causes the fuses to keep blowing. The materials used to make old electrical installations, such as aluminum wiring, have aged considerably. The number of electrical appliances in a home has increased and old cables are not able to cope with the energy supply of a modern family.
Renovation is an excellent opportunity to modernize your electrical installation, because the replacement of electrical cables requires breaking the top layer of walls or floors. Hiring a professional licensed residential electrician to update your electrical installation will certainly ensure the job is done right and nobody is put in an unsafe situation. The law prohibits unauthorized persons from conducting such work. Only a professional with appropriate knowledge resulting from many training courses and professional experience is able to modernize an electrical system efficiently, guaranteeing safety and preventing future safety concerns.
Hiring premium electrical services in Chicago will be the easiest step toward making your remodeling project a success.
Modernization of Electrical Installations – Where To Start?
First of all, the modernization of the electrical installation must be properly and thoroughly planned. It’s vital to analyze the current needs of the household in terms of the amount of energy consumption and the functionality of the installation. Then you should consider whether these needs will increase (planned family expansion, house expansion, purchase of new energy-consuming devices). Before sitting down with your trusted electrician, write down:
- the number of sockets in each room
- the preferred height at which the sockets should be installed in each room
- total electricity demand of all devices
- the location and method of connecting light sources in each room (wall lamps, chandeliers etc.)
- list the intelligent systems in your house e.g. lighting, garage door or electrically operated window blinds
- the way of switching the light on and off in individual rooms as well as the location and type of switches
After analyzing and considering all of the above-mentioned information with your hired electrician, he will be able to modernize the electrical installation and select the appropriate generator, wiring system and its control devices.
Basic Required Qualifications For Updating an Electrical System
All licensed electricians in Chicago should have insurance and documents confirming their professional competency under the law, as well as a deep knowledge of local codes and how to install electrical systems in accordance with them. All professional electricians should file for an electrical permit and the necessary building permits before work starts.
The Order Of Work
First of all, the condition of the current installation should be carefully assessed and modernization works should be thoroughly planned out. In places where you do not plan to replace the entire electrical installation, repairs of the damaged parts of the installation may be required.
The next step is to plan the route of new circuits and mark the places where we want to replace the installation. It should be remembered that according to current standards devices with high energy demand should be connected to separate circuits.
The last stage of upgrading the electrical system is the installation of sockets, fuses, and, at the customer’s request, lamps, lighting fixtures and switches. The type of protection on specific elements of the installation, the size of the circuit breakers, the components minimizing the effects of electric shock, etc. are selected by the electrician who installs the system.
It is extremely important for the customer to understand that saving on materials used to install the electrical system will bring him losses due to a defective installation in the future and the lack of sufficient safety. It is better to use cables with a thicker diameter than those required by the standards, as this will guarantee high quality of use for the following decades. It is also not worth saving on the generator, because it is the heart of the entire home power system, on which the quality of the entire installation depends.
New Generator Installation
Generator replacement can be a good idea when you’re rewiring your entire electrical system. Over the previous years headways in innovation have made modern generators more intelligent, efficient, more reliable, and better looking. While equipment prices may have gone up, installation expenses might not be as high, if sufficient devices, wirings, and installations have been previously set up.
Whatever the current condition of your house generator is at the moment, you may want to consider replacing it with a new one that can provide all the electrical needs of your household.
At Wiktorowski Electrical Services we will be glad to provide you with a free, no-obligation quote for your electrical project, so give us a call today: (847) 272-8011 or (773) 860-9394.
The amount of energy consumed by electrical devices is indicated by their energy class. Ecologists and supporters of energy saving should avoid all devices with an energy class lower than A. Especially that most of the devices currently produced are, in fact, energy-efficient. This applies to refrigerators, washing machines and dishwashers, and therefore the biggest eaters of electricity. Refrigerator manufacturers usually tell you what their annual energy consumption is, so it’s easy to find the most energy-efficient appliance.
Place your fridge away from heat sources – primarily from the radiator, stove and oven – and protect it from sunlight. Air must circulate freely around the refrigerator (especially at the rear). It should also have sufficiently large ventilation grilles that cannot be covered with anything. The lack of ventilation extends the operating cycles of the aggregate, which means that the refrigerator can use up to several times more energy. Also, the condenser on the rear of the refrigerator must be regularly cleaned of dust and defrosted. Dust and ice hinder heat transfer, which means the refrigerator uses more electricity. To reduce the formation of frost, do not place warm food in your fridge. In order not to unnecessarily heat its interior, it must be opened as rarely as possible and for the shortest possible time. When you want to defrost food from the freezer, put it in the fridge, of course, in advance. Because the food is very cold, it will receive heat from the fridge’s interior and relieve the work of the aggregate, thus reducing the energy consumption of the refrigerator.