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Written by Administrator

Created: 17 March 2018

You find yourself with an electrical issue. And like most folks these days, your likely to get some good information by googling the problem. It’s always good to stay informed. Included amongst search results, you’ll likely find some “quick and easy” DIY tips and guides– and maybe some helpful YouTube videos. Or, so it seems. Like almost all things always DIY, even electrical work looks easy until you get into the thick of it.

You may have some solid experience with other DIY projects– maybe fixing or rebuilding a deck, painting the living room, or replacing wall tiles in the kitchen. Electrical work isn’t like that. It demands specialized knowledge about electrical systems and their potential hazards. Visit a home improvement store and you’ll find shelves full of electrical products. Buy the light bulbs. Let electrical contractors buy the other products.

Do it yourself?

Surely DIY “must be safe” you say? Don’t let those words be your famous last ones. Treat electrical issues like medical ones. Let’s say you have heart problems. What’s the remedy? Please don’t say you’d immediately begin to google do-it-yourself heart surgery. But you might google a certified cardiologist, or more likely, trust your general practitioner to refer you to one. And then let them provide the proper assessment and remedy. A cardiologist has been thoroughly educated and trained to know everything about your heart. You can see where this is leading, right? Electrical issues require a professional electrician.

Canada’s celebrity home improvement guru Mike Holmes tells it straight up in a National Post article “Electrical work is not DIY.” “Hire a licensed electrical contractor,” he writes, “for any electrical work in your home, even for things like changing an outlet or installing a light fixture.”

Only a trained electrician can fully assess an issue, and understand how to repair it efficiently and safely– the first time. You might get a great overview from a YouTube video, but if you do it yourself you can expect some unpleasant surprises. Skip the hassle of a crash course and hard-knocks learning. Hire someone who has years of experience to back them up.

Safety is the number one reason to hire a licensed electrical contractor. You shouldn’t need more reasons. But before you grab a pair of wire cutters and make yourself dangerous, here are a few more reasons not to do electrical work yourself.

1. Save time and money

Mistakes will cost you both. Trust us, at AJ’s Electrical we’ve seen the aftermath of too many DIY projects gone awry. Simple household electrical projects can present multiple challenges. The more the challenges, the greater the likelihood of expensive mistakes. Why get yourself into a situation where you have to pay a professional to reverse your bad experiment? Avoid the trouble and perhaps even the embarrassment of exposing your “handiwork” by hiring experts right from the start.

2. Protect yourself legally

There’s a reason professional electricians go to school for years and spend hundreds of hours apprenticing before they’re certified. There’s also a reason for something called the Canadian Electrical Code, in addition to local and provincial codes. How well-versed and up-to-date are you in those things? How about the necessary permits you’ll need in your specific situation?

Will your work hold up to an inspection? If not, then what you’re about to embark on is illegal. Electrical codes are written not as a make-work project, but in order to prevent injuries and save lives.

Safety is always the bottom line when it comes to things electrical. But if the safety message hasn’t fully sunk in yet, consider the personal financial liability should your do-it-yourself project damage or destroy your home. Don’t expect your insurance policy to cover your illegal electrical work should your house burn down.

3. Selling your house could be a problem

Expect an inspection at selling time. Wise buyers will want a home inspection and their financer will likely require it. The modest amount of money you may save at the time of an electrical repair or renovation may turn into a big expense when you want to sell your home.

If your electrical work isn’t done to code, your home likely won’t pass an inspection. Then you’re back to the same old problem that plagued you years ago, that took more time and money than you expect, and now it’s going to cost you more. But thankfully, your house hasn’t burned down in the meantime.

Save yourself physical injury, financial pain and time. Fix the issue right with a professional electrician. At AJ’s Electrical, we have the knowledge and experience to do it right and do it safely. Call us at 604-359-1915, email us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or complete our online contact form here to learn more.

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Written by Administrator

Created: 17 March 2018

It’s beyond our professional scope to tell you how to vent your personal frustrations. But when it comes to venting your home, we’ve been providing exhaust fan installation and repair for many years. That could even eliminate a personal frustration or two for you in areas of your home that are prone to excess humidity, gasses, dust or smoke.

In the kitchen, exhaust fans provide remove unpleasant smells and smoke from a stir-fry gone awry. In the bathroom, they remove not only odors (we have no desire to be too descriptive here) but also excess moisture. Not surprisingly, the kitchen and the bathroom are the two most common places where extra ventilation is needed– but they’re also often necessary in laundry areas, workshops, and basements.
Here are 5 benefits of having properly installed and maintained exhaust fans in your home:

1. Humidity Control

The humidity of a hot shower or steam bath feels good on your skin, but what’s it doing to the walls and ceilings of your bathroom? If you find yourself using mold and mildew remover too often, consider getting to the root of the problem. Mould and mildew love steam every bit as much as you do — it’s what makes them grow. Mould isn’t just a home maintenance and potential repair issue. It’s a health concern.

When it comes to mould and mildew, what you CAN’T see can be worse than what you can. Mould can grow beneath wallpaper and even throughout insulation. Get rid of excess moisture and you’ll stop mould and mildew in its tracks. A small fan mounted in a bathroom or laundry room ceiling or high on a wall will vent the moist air from the room and leave the air too dry for mould to grow.

2. Controlling Steam, Smoke and Odours

A stove hood extractor fan removes the steam, odours and smoke from cooking. These fans help limit smoke damage to walls and ceilings above your stove top.

An extra benefit of over-the-stove exhaust fans provide is that while they’re removing smoke and steam from cooking, they’re also sucking up the grease that rises with them. That means less wall-washing for you. If you’re using too much elbow grease to get rid of the grease, maybe it’s time to repair or replace your stove hood fan.

3. Gas and Dust Removal

An exhaust fan can literally be a life-saver in places in basements and wherever old gas appliances are used, as well as in living areas where smokers gather. Exhaust fans can also be useful in garages and workshops where dust producing equipment is used.

4. Heat Removal

Although exhaust fans aren’t primarily intended as hot air removers, on hot days an extractor fan in the ceiling can also provide heat-relief. Since hot air rises, a ceiling exhaust fan pulls heat into the roof space, creating a continual flow of cooler air into the room.

5. Maintaining Wall and Fabric Health in Smoking Areas

If we can’t stop you from smoking, can we at least convince you to ventilate the tobacco smoke in your home? An exhaust fan can help you lessen the effect of tar build up on walls windows and furniture. You can’t eliminate the effects of cigarette smoke entirely, but you can slow it down and keep your furniture and walls clean for much longer.

Finally, all exhaust fans need to send smoke, steam and odours somewhere. Most fans will vent into the roof space, but some will need duct hosing to the outside. The bottom line is that your home needs to vent, and well-placed, properly installed exhaust fans can help in the most vital areas. Let AJ’s Electrical assess your exhaust fan needs and install or repair as necessary. Call us at 604-359-1915 or contact us here on our website.

Details

Written by Administrator

Created: 17 March 2018

We open the curtains on this blog with light dialogue between two light bulbs from the movie, Dim and Dimmer. “Dim” exclaims, “You’re not the brightest light bulb in the house!” “Dimmer” responds with the diffusing response, “Maybe I don’t want to be.” Okay, we just made that up. But the point is, if light bulbs can communicate with each other (and technically they can), then certainly you can communicate with your home’s light bulbs.

Thanks to the usually humble-looking dimmer switch, you have the power to say, “Let there not be so much light.” Too much lighting in a given room can make it uncomfortable. Too little lighting can cause eye strain. A traditional on-off light doesn’t allow you total control over the amount of lighting in the room. One simple dimmer switch puts you fully in charge. AJ’s Electrical would like to offer 3 simple advantages dimmer switches.

1 – Dimmer Switches Save Energy and Money

Having control over how much lighting is used in a room gives you a break on your energy bill. Cutting lighting wattage itself saves money, but it also has the additional effect of reducing the wear and tear on the lighting. This makes for a longer bulb life. Yes, it’s a relatively small thing in the realm of cost savings. But little savings, over the course of a year, add up to bigger savings. Consider all the ways you could be enjoying your hard-earned money, instead of wasting it on electricity you don’t need.

You’ve trained yourself (and hopefully everyone in your household) to turn off the lights when you’re not in the room. Dimmer switches let you save energy when you are in the room.

2 – Choose from a Variety of Lighting Control Options

“Where’s the remote?” If you or other household members are frequently heard uttering that question, maybe remote controlled dimming isn’t a good idea. But it is an option, should your memory or organizational skills improve. The classic dimmer-knob on the wall is much easier to find—happily fixed to the wall. You may want to “tech it up” a bit with options like sliding switches and touch dimmers. These give you a change of lighting simply by pressing a button. You can use dimmer switches in living rooms, bedrooms, bathrooms and breakfast nooks and wherever you want to save money or create a mood.

3 – Dim the Lights, Give Your Bulbs a Longer Life

We already mentioned that light bulbs last longer when you use a dimmer, but let’s get specific about dollars and cents. If you dim your lights by at least 25%, you’ll save about 1/5 of the electricity needed. And, just as you might have suspected, the more you fade the lamp, the longer the bulb will last. Instead of replacing the bulb every 5-6 months, you can now wait 3 or 4 years to do it. Life should be about more than changing light bulbs, right?

You might be wondering if dimmers work for all bulbs. Most incandescent and halogen bulbs will work with most dimmer switches. Fluorescent lights can also be used with dimmers, but the effect on the room will be different. Instead of the warm candlelight look, a fluorescent bulb’s colour “keeps its cool,” so to speak. You can soften the effect of a fluorescent bulb with a dimmer, but you won’t get a candlelight effect. Dimming a fluorescent bulb will not make the life of it any longer but it will still bring you some energy savings.

As we dim the lights on this blog, we remind you that AJ’s Electrical has some pretty bright lights on its team when it comes to installing dimmer switches or anything electrical. Proprietors Shawn Willis and Darren Martin have 50 years of combined experience in residential and commercial electrical installation and repair. We’re here to help. Call us at 604-359-1915 or contact us here on our website.