D'Spain Sales and Service Blog : Archive for the ‘Electrical’ Category

Call Us for Wind Mill Repair and You’ll Get…. Oil?

Monday, July 20th, 2015

In our area of Texas, we have to be willing to think outside the box to bring fresh water to ranch and farm properties. Our livestock needs this water, as well as our vegetation. One way a lot of our customers access water is by using a wind mill. Using the power of the wind, a pump action is triggered that sucks the water up from below the ground. But we got a lot more than we bargained for recently when we had a repair call for one of our customers.

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Types of Carbon Monoxide Detectors for Your Home in Bandera

Monday, June 22nd, 2015

Combustion may be the last thing anyone in our area is thinking about with the summer heat, but if you use any type of gas or propane appliance in your home, such as a stove, clothes dryer or hot water heater, you have combustion happening. One of the dangers of any kind of indoor combustion is the development and leaking of carbon monoxide (CO). CO can be a killer, and one of the main reasons for this is that CO gas is undetectable to human senses. It is odorless, tasteless and invisible, which is why it’s called “the silent killer.” One of the best ways to protect yourself from CO poisoning in Bandera, TX, is to install a carbon monoxide detector in your home.

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What Is a GFCI Outlet and Do I Need One?

Monday, June 8th, 2015

Many homeowners assume that today’s electrical outlets are safe to use, and most are – but not all. Outlets can be unsafe for a number of reasons, and one of these reasons is a lack of proper grounding. When an outlet is grounded, it means that errant electricity is re-directed to a safe place where it can dissipate; outlets that aren’t grounded will direct an errant current of electricity to the closest thing that will ground it, including someone touching it. The good news is that there are outlets available to eliminate this from happening: the GFCI outlet.

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Do I Need to Upgrade My Fuse Box?

Monday, May 18th, 2015

As surrounded by technology as most of us are, it can be hard to believe that there are still homes that operate with a fuse box rather than an electrical panel. If you are a homeowner with an older home that still has a fuse box instead of circuit breakers, it is definitely worth your while to consider upgrading to an updated electrical panel for a few reasons. The main question we get is, is it necessary? Technically, no, it isn’t, but there are several factors that will make clear it’s in the best interest of you and your home to do so.

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Reasons to Hire a Professional for Ceiling Fan Installation

Monday, May 11th, 2015

You can see some pretty dramatic disasters on DIY shows, but one of the basic ones our D’Spain Sales & Service, Inc., technicians see more than you would think are poor ceiling fan installations. It may seem like these fixtures aren’t much more than light fixtures but they are, and not only that, they’re heavy. Ceiling fans can lower your indoor temperature by 2-3 degrees during the summer and help circulate your warm and cool air, so it behooves you to have your ceiling fan installed correctly. Our electrical experts can help with your ceiling fan installation – all you have to do is give us call.

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Should I Get a Surge Protector?

Monday, May 11th, 2015

When most people think of surge protectors, they think of the big strip of outlets you can find at a retail store. While these kinds of surge protecting strips can offset some damage caused by electrical surges, they can’t handle a major surge. You’ve likely invested a lot of money over the years in your home’s electronics, including computers, phones and televisions; the problem is, a single large surge can destroy these items in a matter of seconds – but not when you have whole-house surge protection installed by the electrical experts at D’Spain Sales & Service, Inc.

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The Benefits of Attic Fans

Monday, April 6th, 2015

It gets hot in our area, and one part of your home that you can always count on being warm during the summer months is your attic space. It isn’t unusual for attic spaces to be poorly insulated and/or poorly ventilated, but not many homeowners realize just how much this excess heat can affect your home’s structure and indoor temperature. But there’s a simple way to add great ventilation to your attic space without breaking your wallet: hire a trained electrician from D’Spain Sales & Service, Inc., to install an attic fan in your Boerne, TX, home.

What Does an Attic Fan Do?

Attic fans can be installed into your roof or a gable, and are equipped with a thermostat that cues the fan to turn on when the heat inside your attic reaches a certain temperature. The fan expels the excess heat, creating circulation in the attic that allows fresh air to be drawn in from soffits and other ventilation points.

Why Is Ventilation Important?

It only takes an outside temperature in the 80s to push the temperature of your attic as high as 150 degrees. An attic fan can cool your attic as much as 50 degrees while also improving the ventilation.

What Are the Benefits of Attic Fans?

  • Helps reduce the workload on your AC – heat doesn’t stand still, it moves, and one of the natural laws of heat is that it will always seek cool air. This means that the hot air that accumulates in your attic space will seek the cooler air in your home’s living spaces. Your AC will have to combat this excess heat by working harder. However, with an attic fan helping to push the heat along, you can reduce the workload on your AC and save some energy.
  • Extends the life of your roof – excess heat in your attic will heat the roofing materials from underneath, causing them to dry and become brittle. Removing the excess heat with an attic fan helps to significantly reduce and/or eliminate this problem.

Attic fans are typically connected directly to your home’s electrical system, which is one of the reasons why it’s important to hire an expert for installation.

Does your home need an attic fan, or does an older one need replacement? Call us today!

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What Is an AFCI Outlet?

Wednesday, March 11th, 2015

Electrical outlets in homes and businesses have advanced a long way from the old style of two-prong outlets without grounding. Some homes still have these outdated types of outlet, and if your home is one of them, you should contact a professional electrician to put in updated outlets, such as GFCI and AFCI outlets. Both these outlets help provide safety in a home, but from two different types of electrical dangers. A GFCI outlet prevents sending high voltage electrical shocks into a person. We’ll explain below what the AFCI outlet does.

If you need to have upgrades for the outlets in your home, call the excellent electrical team at D’Spain Sales & Service, Inc. We offer comprehensive residential electrical services in Fair Oaks Ranch, TX, from installing new outlets and circuit breaker panels to full safety inspections.

AFCI outlets: arc fault protection

When an appliance is plugged into an outlet, it can cause the heat to rise inside the outlet, a phenomenon known as arcing, when electricity is conducted through the air and converted into heat. An AFCI (“arc fault circuit interrupter”) outlet is designed to detect when arcing occurs and then immediately cut off the circuit inside the outlet and stop the flow of electricity and the arcing. Arc fault protection is not limited to outlets; it is often part of the electrical panel, so your home may already have arc fault protection even if it does not have specific AFCI outlets for it.

Currently, the National Electric Code (NEC) requires AFCI protection for wiring that serves bedrooms and other sleeping areas in a house, since these are locations where a fire could start in the outlet and catch someone by surprise. However, the NEC is not a federal law, only a set of guidelines, and all local jurisdictions select their own version of the code to enforce. A professional electrician will know what the local code requirements are for your area.

If you have doubts about the electrical safety of your home, or if you’re unsure if you have arc protection or not, please call D’Spain Sales & Service, Inc. We can provide an electrical inspection to determine what safety measures you may need. Afterwards, we can install GFCI and AFCI outlets, or place arc fault protection into your electrical panel. We will help see that your home has the best level of electrical safety to protect your family. Rely on us for any job you need that’s electrical in Fair Oaks Ranch, TX.

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Some Benefits of Improving Your Outdoor Lighting

Wednesday, March 4th, 2015

Does the outside of your home seem drab, gloomy, dim? Perhaps you should call for professional electricians to improve the outdoor lighting around your home. There are a number of excellent reasons to call the electricians at D’Spain Sales & Service, Inc. to work on your outdoor lighting in Bandera, TX. Here are a few of them:

Increased use of recreational areas

In a place with warm weather like Texas, you should be able to enjoy outdoor patios, verandas, balconies, and pools during most of the year. But unless you have excellent outdoor lighting, you will get significantly less enjoyment out of these areas, especially during periods of with short days. The fun shouldn’t stop when the sun goes down.

Safety

The walkways and stairs around the outside of your property can present potential hazards for residents and guests, who can suffer from injuries. If you have children and elderly people who require assistance living in your home, it is ever more important to see that your house’s exterior has quality lighting for its walkways.

Security

Studies have shown that criminals are far less likely to target a well-lit home than one with dim lighting. A well-designed lighting scheme from professionals that avoids harsh areas of darkness between lighted areas will also remove places where unwanted intruders can hide, helping to keep your home and family protected.

Increase Property Value

If you think that you may sell your home at some point in the future (possibly the far off future), improved outdoor lighting will do a tremendous amount to increase the home’s “curb appeal” and raise its market value. Better outdoor lighting is a less expensive way of giving your home a fresh outdoor appeal than a large scale remodeling.

Your home will simply look better

Finally, with an excellent outdoor lighting scheme, you will have a home that you will enjoy looking at and feel proud of. It’s a more subjective benefit, but it may be the most important one of all.

If you would like better outdoor lighting in Bandera, TX, you only have to let us know. D’Spain Sales & Service, Inc. has the electrical services that you need for the best home lighting possible, and we can help you save energy as well with LED light installation. Call today to set up an appointment.

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Why You Should Have Carbon Monoxide Detectors Installed

Wednesday, January 21st, 2015

Carbon monoxide is a deadly gas that kills thousands of people a year worldwide. It is invisible, tasteless, and odorless, making it virtually undetectable to human senses. This is part of what makes it so dangerous. Unfortunately, it also happens to be far more common than you would think. The largest producers of carbon monoxide are natural gas burning furnaces, which also happen to be among the most common types of heating systems. Let’s take a look at how furnaces actually produce carbon monoxide, and why installing carbon monoxide detectors is the best way to keep you and your family safe.

Incomplete Combustion

Carbon monoxide is one of several kinds of toxic gases that are all produced as byproducts of what is called “incomplete combustion.” Incomplete combustion simply means that not all of the fuel burned is converted into heat. Regardless of the kind of fuel you’re burning, if you’re using a combustion system there will always be byproducts left over. Obviously, furnaces would not be viable heating systems if they vented deadly gas into the home every time they were turned on. Therefore, it became necessary to construct a part that could heat the air while venting combustion byproducts out of the house. This part is called the “heat exchanger.”

The Heat Exchanger

The heat exchanger is a tube that connects the furnace burner assembly to the exhaust flue. As the burner assembly creates heat, it also creates combustion byproducts like carbon monoxide, which rise up the heat exchanger. The heat radiates through the heat exchanger and into the air being circulated throughout the home. The combustion byproducts continue to the exhaust flue to be safely disposed of.

The problem is that, over time, the heat exchanger can develop cracks from the stress of being exposed to high temperatures. In some cases, the combustion gases can then travel through these cracks and enter the air in your home. There is no reliable way to test whether or not you have been exposed unless you begin to feel the symptoms, which include headaches, nausea, blurred vision, seizures, and unconsciousness. You don’t want to wait until you experience these symptoms before acting, which is why carbon monoxide detectors are your best bet.

If you’d like to know more or schedule a service, call D’Spain Sales & Service, Inc. today. Our professional electricians in Helotes, TX are standing by to help you answer all of your questions.

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