CALL BEFORE YOU DIG (or lose your cable TV)

Call-before-dig-image2If you are planning any projects around the house that involve digging or driving objects into the ground, do yourself a huge favor and “call before you dig”!

A short time ago, I was having my gravel driveway finished with concrete.  The crew came out and installed the wooden form that would make up the edges of my new driveway by laying out long boards and pounding wooden stakes into the ground to keep the form in place while the concrete was being poured.   Read more

HOW TO PROTECT YOUR HOME FROM LIGHTNING DAMAGE REVISITED

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Lightning Density Map

As spring approaches here in Atlanta, now is a good time to assess your surge protection system to help guard against lightning damage to the electronic devices in your home.  Of course, nothing can guard against a direct lightning strike, but there are steps you can take to minimize lightning and surge damage. Read more

HDTV for Free – UPDATE

FCC-blog480If you are still getting TV programming from a cable TV provider, you may have noticed that some of your TV’s are no longer receiving channels.  Comcast has started encrypting its “Limited Basic” services.  In the past, if you had a digital TV, you could just hook the coax cable to the back of your TV and watch your local channels.  This was convenient for houses with multiple TVs and for people who are trying to save money by just getting the bare minimum TV channels over cable TV.  Once the encryption is in place the only way Comcast customers will be able to view their cable channels is by using a Comcast “set top box” or a CableCARD enabled device on each TV.  This means that you will have to contact Comcast and order additional equipment for all TVs that are not currently connected to a Comcast tuner.

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Household Mold Problems

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Mold Growth

Recently my family purchased a 25 year old house in Atlanta, Georgia.  During the home inspection due diligence period we found that there was extensive mold growth in the unfinished basement.  I thought it might be helpful to others to pass along some things we learned from the experience.  Though I am not a mold remediation expert, I did gain quite a bit of knowledge from a homeowner’s perspective, and learned that the problem can be resolved and future growth prevented.

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Is an Underground Pet Fence Safe?

Invisible Fence

Invisible Fence

I recently read a well-written newsletter from a power company about the electrical dangers of underground or “invisible” pet fences.  It really got me thinking.

As a Master Electrician with over 20 years’ experience, I feel qualified to discuss the electrical concerns associated with these devices.  I could even tell you about my Setter that just didn’t get the concept, but that’s another story.

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Trustworthy Contractors Are Hard To Find

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Contractor Redferrals

Where can you go to find an honest, quality contractor if you don’t have a referral from someone you trust?  This is a question that most people will face sooner or later.  We all have need of a service company or contractor at some point.  Whether it be a Plumber, Heating & Air, Electrician, Roofer, Painter, or any one of dozens of other trades that we rely on to keep our homes & businesses in top working order, sooner or later we will all need to call on the expertise of these craftsmen.Trying to pick one out from the endless list of companies that clog the pages of the phone directories and internet can be maddening!  How do you know if this company is insured, or that company has a license, or if any of them care about their customers and will give you a pleasant experience along with good, quality work?

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Arc-fault Circuit Interrupters (AFCI), Electrical Safety Every Home Needs

AFCI Outlet

AFCI Outlet

There is a relatively new electrical safety device on the market and it can save your life! What is this wonderful device you ask?  It is the Arc-Fault Circuit Interrupter, commonly referred to as an AFCI.  It was introduced in 1999 and has been slowly incorporated into the National Electrical Code over the years.   Read more

HDTV for Free – Part 2

In my last blog I talked about installing an over the air antenna to get HDTV for free so I could drop my satellite TV provider.  The problem with this is only locally broadcast television stations are available over the air, which means I am limited to about 40 channels or so in my area.  That is much less than the 200 channels I use to get from my satellite provider.  The solution is described in step 2 below.

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Flickering Lights, is this normal?

Flickering Lights Atlanta Storm Damage

Flickering Lights Atlanta Storm Damage

Our electrical systems are busy 24 hours a day, 7 days a week providing comfort, security and convenience in our day to day lives.  This is also a system that we rarely think about.  It’s not something you can hear, see, or smell under normal circumstances, so it’s easy to forget that it’s working for us all of the time.  There are a few signals however, that can alert us that something may be wrong with the normal operation of our electrical system. One of the most common of these signals, and the easiest to observe, is flickering lights.

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HOW TO PROTECT YOUR HOME FROM LIGHTNING DAMAGE

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Lightning Density Map

Spring is one of the most active seasons for lightning strikes and the damage that comes with them.  Here in the Southeast United States, we live in the most active region for lightning strikes in North America and one of the top places in the world for frequency of lightning strikes.  Lightning is one of the most powerful forces in nature, delivering over 30 million volts of electricity in a single bolt.

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