Electrical Industry Articles and Stories

If you’re an electrical contractor, you’ve likely developed a series of workarounds to help you handle business. Maybe you’ve got financial software to help you manage your checking account and invoicing. And maybe you’ve got apps to help track mileage and keep track of upcoming jobs and materials orders. These options might be fine in the short run, but they also could hold your business back as it grows. A better approach could be a construction management package that brings all these functions together and is accessible when you need it, whether you’re using a laptop, smartphone or tablet.

During a big remodeling project this spring, I became more familiar with the options available for electrical receptacles these days. These include new features, like adding USB charging ports that do away with the need to track down the right adapter for every phone, smart watch and earbud charger. And now there are smart outlets you can control remotely (so, if you’re afraid you left the iron on, you can double check from your phone).

Floor boxes are a great way to bring power and communications/data connections away from the walls and into the middle of a room. This could be to provide AV access for a presenter at a podium or needed kilowatts to a convention center floor.

"And for you, Frodo Baggins, I give you the light of Earendil, our most beloved star. May it be a light to you in dark places when all other lights go out." Lady Galadriel to Frodo in the movie adaptation of Tolkien's Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.

If you or someone you know has been looking to buy or sell a house lately, you likely know today’s real estate market is smoking hot. This is even more the case in areas were second-home ownership is high. Real estate transactions are continuing to reach record numbers even as many employers are beginning to call their workers back to the office following the COVID pandemic’s lockdowns.

From a packaging standpoint, residential circuit breakers can all look pretty similar – and even interchangeable. But there are options contractors need to consider, based on where the breakers are being used and, today, how much intelligence homeowners might demand from their electrical system.