Industry News & Friendly Advice
Penny Electric Blog
My Old House has Fused Wiring. Do I Need to Update and Replace?
Many older homes across the nation still operate electrically from the old screw-in or cartridge-type fuses. You know, the ones that either look like a small glass eye with a screw-in base or one of your grandfather's shotgun shells? We have come a long way since...
Four Signs You Need a Full House Rewire
Electrical wiring is often designed to last long, so many people don't think about it until something bad happens. Over time, electrical wires and insulation degrade, reducing their effectiveness and endangering your life and property. The U.S. Fire...
Why You Need An Electric On-Demand Tankless Water Heater
If you're like most Las Vegas homeowners, you may not give much thought regarding the type of hot water heater you should have, but this is important. Are you growing weary from running out of hot water? Do you need to upgrade your water heater? Here are some of the...
Space Heaters: Some Things to Consider
Space heaters are a way to heat a house or an apartment that offers no central heating system. They're also used to supplement the heat provided by a heating system or fireplace that can't keep up with winter's lower temperatures. However, there are several things you...
Is my Knob and Tube Wiring Safe?
Living in an older Nevada home can be an adventure, but the old electrical wiring can come with challenges. Do you live in a home built in the early to mid-20th century? If you do, you probably have what's known as knob and tube (K & T) wiring. Here are some of...
Is My Aluminum Home Wiring Safe?
Prior to 1972, it was common to use aluminum wiring. Many older houses still have aluminum wiring, but because the practice has gone out of use, you might be questioning whether it is safe and whether you should replace it. In some cases, you may not even know your...
Energy Star Appliances: What’s the Story?
If you're looking for a new large appliance, then you have likely come across the term "ENERGY STAR®" and you may be wondering what it actually means. Although it's seen as a label on many appliances, it isn't often actually explained. What is ENERGY STAR? ENERGY...
Teaching Your Children About the Dangers of Electricity
Electricity is definitely something that demands respect! ...and since we are all aware of the potential dangers that can occur from its misuse, it is very important to begin teaching this respect of electricity to the very youngest members of our family as well. If...
Is Direct Current The Wave of the Future
The flow of electricity happens in two main ways: in a direct current (DC) and an alternating current (AC). Both are indispensable in our day-to-day life, but what differentiates them? Which is standard in home electrical systems in the US and why? Keep reading to...
Proper E-Waste Disposal: Why it Matters
At some point, we all have to deal with e-waste...and the fact that it can't be put in normal household trash. Why is proper disposal of e-waste so important, and how can you do it right? What is E-Waste? E-waste stands for electronic waste, and refers to electronic...
How to Choose the Right Garage Lighting for Your Needs
Updating lighting is one of the simplest and most effective ways to transform any space. When it comes to your garage, there is a range of lighting options from which you can choose. However, the lighting needs in this space are different from those in the kitchen or...
New TV Buying Tips
TV has become a great deal in this day and era, and it could be your family's best friend for years. Businesses also need TVs to help keep their customers, employees, and guests entertained and informed while on your business premises. There are essential features...
You’ve Failed an Electrical Inspection. Now What?
If you have had significant electrical work done, then you will almost certainly need an electrical inspection. These inspections are required by state and federal law and are designed to ensure your own safety. What Kind of Work Needs an Inspection? Generally, an...
8 Reasons Why You May Need an Electrical Inspection
Most likely, if you're like most Nevada homeowners, you may not think much about your electrical system until a problem arises. Put simply, a residential electrical inspection is a comprehensive examination of everything in an electrical system, which includes wires,...
Be Prepared For Any Electrical Emergency
Electrical fires at home account for about 51,000 fires each year, more than 500 deaths, nearly 1,400 injuries, and $1.3 billion in property damage. Not preparing for an electrical fire can cost you your property, business, valuables, or life. It behooves you to be...
Understanding Coal Power
Coal gets a bad rap. It seems like when someone talks about coal, visions of mining accidents, dirty air, and blackened miners comes to mind. Coal is bad, dirty, and out-dated. But is it? And how does it fit in with other energy sources available today? What is Coal?...
6 Ways to Protect Your Pets From Electrical Hazards
Electricity is among the biggest hazards in your home, particularly if you have pets. Just like the kids, pets don't understand the threat posed by outlets, cables and electrical gadgets around the house. As pets are naturally curious, they may start to play or chew...
Edison Vs. Tesla: The War of Currents
Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla were two innovators who became entangled in a war of currents in the late 1800s. Their race to develop an electrical system that would power the world centered around direct-current (DC) and alternating-current (AC). Described as "The...
Geothermal Energy: Power from Underground
We have used geothermal energy for over 10,000 years, dating back to when ancient humans cooked and bathed in hot springs. It was not until 1960 when the first geothermal power plant in the United States was established for electricity generation. Many decades down...
Nuclear Energy: Good or Bad?
There are many forms of energy that power our world: solar, wind, hydro-electric, fossil fuels, and so on. These are all viable, but there's no fuel quite like nuclear energy. Although if you live in Nevada, you may not know much about that. While there are about 59...
Wind Power Basics
Most of us want to go green these days, and if there was a way to use clean, renewable, and affordable sources of energy for all our daily needs that's what most of us would do. And while a lot of us know how hydroelectric dams and even solar power works, wind power...
What is the Best Type of Air Conditioning Unit for You?
Air conditioning units are essential to keeping our homes and businesses livable despite Nevada's high temperatures. But which type of unit is the best option for your home or business? There are several considerations when selecting an air conditioning...
Are Outdated Appliances Breaking your Budget?
Sky High Electric Bills?While the wise and frugal mindset generally strives to get the most use out of an item before purchasing a new one, hanging on to an old appliance can often be far from frugal. Older models of appliances such as refrigerators,...
The Effects of Power Outages on Computers & Electronics
Power outages or blackouts can cause major problems at a home and business. Data loss, productivity, security and even profits can all be consequences. But in addition to the related inconvenience, the cause of power interruptions can also put sensitive electrical...
What Happens When Your House Gets Struck by Lighting?
About 1 in 200 houses are struck by lightning every year. Various factors can affect your level of risk, including whether there are higher structures nearby (metal light poles can have a protective effect), the local climate, etc. In areas such as Las...
Are You Prepared For A Power Outage?
NOW is the Time Electrical power outages can happen any time of the year due to storms, accidents, construction, or grid blackouts. In most parts of the country, winter is by far one of the most dangerous times to be caught unprepared in an outage. Even a relatively...
What Causes a Burnt or Melted Outlet?
Recognizing a ProblemAt some point in your experience as a home or business owner, you may be going about your day as usual, only to find that one of your electrical outlets has been blackened and melted by heat (right where you were wanting to plug in a...
How to Determine A Home’s Average Energy Consumption in Las Vegas
It is more important in some places than others to know what typical energy consumption is before buying or renting a home - and Las Vegas is one of them. The main issue is the Las Vegas' climate - with typical summer highs of over 100 and winter lows that...
Home Electrical Storage Batteries: Changing the Way We Power Our Homes
Your smartphone, watch, clocks, radios, and flashlights operate on batteries and soon, your house might too. Home electrical storage batteries have already hit the market as consumers seek renewable energy options and lower electrical bills. From powering...
Electricity in a Rental Property: What Landlords and Tenants Need to Know
When renting an apartment, tenants can reasonably expect to have decent electrical service. In Nevada, as in all states except Arkansas, landlords have a basic duty to keep the place livable under the "implied warranty of habitability." This includes...
Smart Home Technology: What Can it do For You?
Smart home technology allows for controlling certain aspects of your home. Simply defined, it is the integration of appliances and smart devices through the control of a central panel via the internet. The growing use of smart home technology is predicted...
Powerline Networking: What You Should Know
Thanks to interference from nearby Wi-Fi networks and the complications of running Ethernet cables through a home or office, powerline networking has become a more viable option for many in Las Vegas and Henderson. Still, for various reasons, powerline...
Do Single-Story Homes Really Save Energy?
The debate about energy efficiency as it relates to the number of stories (floors) in a home is not a new one. The crux of the debate has to do with heating and cooling, since that accounts for nearly half of the typical homeowner's energy expense. The...
Smart Meter Controversy in Las Vegas: What You Need to Know
Between 2010 and 2012, the Nevada Energy replaced over 1 million electric meters with smart meters. The digital devices collect usage data and unlike their analog predecessors, receive and transmit data too. Customers can easily view their billing...
Dimmer Switches: Are They More Efficient?
Dimmer switches are most commonly known for their ability to create a variety of lighting atmospheres with the same bulbs; whether you're hosting a low-lit dinner party for business associates, or need maximal brightness to clean the house, a simple...
Wrestling with Wires? How to Organize Your Home’s Electrical Components
Today's homes are bursting at the seams with electrical doodads. There are flat screen TVs, stereo systems, desktop computers, printers, e-readers and devices charging all over the place, not to mention a slew of major appliances! It's no wonder that the...
When to Consider Power Generators at Home
For home owners and businesses alike, power is one thing you simply cannot afford to take for granted. While the instances that we might have to go without power in Las Vegas & Henderson seem few and far between, there's no need to take chances. Having a power...
Common Electrical Problems Found During Home Inspections
Whenever a home is being sold, it's a common (and smart) practice for a prospective buyer to hire a qualified home inspector. Home inspectors can not only help assess a home or buildings condition but identify potential problems that may be factored into...
Pros & Cons of Rechargeable Batteries
In the age of the mobile device, we use more batteries than ever before. From our TV remotes and handheld GPS units, to mobile games, we depend on our batteries. While a lot of our devices now incorporate internal, rechargeable batteries, there are still a...
The Benefits of Recessed Electrical Components
Like everything else these days, electrical components are evolving to make life easier and more aesthetically pleasing. One of the best ways to modernize a home that's not brand-new is by installing recessed electrical components in place of older...
Year Round Energy Saving Tips
There are several ways to save energy. Many apply to winter or summer and most are obvious, such as turning lights off when you leave a room. However, we want to share some additional energy saving tips that can have a substantial impact on your power bill...
The High Cost of Low Bids
The High Cost of Low Bids on Electrical Work It can be tempting to go with the lowest bidder when you're contracting for electrical work. After all, why pay more when somebody's offering to do the job for less? But choosing an electrical contractor based...
How To Identify Electrical Hazards in a Flood Zone
The recent devastating flooding in Houston following Hurricane Harvey has brought awareness of the dangers of flooding to the forefront of public consciousness. If you live in a flood zone, you should be aware of the electrical hazards that arise when your...
Solar Thermal Power – How The Ivanpah Solar Power Facility Works
One of the most important things to know about solar thermal (heat) power is that it's carbon-free, which means that it emits no carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides or sulfur oxides -- which are all gases that scientists believe contribute to...
Hydroelectric Power – How The Hoover Dam Works
Most people who visit Las Vegas make it a point to make the 30 mile drive on Highway 93 East to get a firsthand look at one of the true engineering marvels in the U.S. -- the Hoover Dam at Lake Mead. Even though the Hoover Dam is a major...
The Most Common Electrical Hazards in Las Vegas
We residents of Las Vegas and Southern Nevada may not have to worry about snow or ice storms cutting power to our homes, but that doesn't mean we're immune to electrical problems that can be dangerous, and even life-threatening! Some of these are aggravated by our...
The Cost of Solar in Nevada: Things to Consider
2016 was a stellar year for the U.S. solar power industry. The market doubled from the previous year and solar added more electric generating capacity than any other type of energy. This was a first and a sign of what is to come. Experts predict the U.S. solar...
Are Power Generators a Good Investment? What to Consider.
In Southern Nevada, the incidence of power outages are less common than they are in the tornado-prone Mid-West or the hurricane-vulnerable East and West coasts. That said, if you own a business that caters to the public, the last thing you need is a power outage,...
Tips for Stopping Rodents from Chewing on Electrical Wires
The thought of having rodents running wild in your home while you sleep is abhorrent to nearly everyone. They multiply quickly and spread disease through the droppings they leave everywhere they go. As is that weren't reason enough to want to eradicate them, they also...
Basic Safety Guidelines for Using Power Strips
If you’re like most people, you need to power more than one electrical device at a time, so you use a power strip. Also known as power taps, power strips are lengths of electrical sockets that are designed for powering multiple appliances. Unfortunately, many people...
21st Century Electrical Upgrades: USB Charging Ports
These days everybody in the family has a "device" -- whether it's a smart phone, a tablet or a laptop -- and regularly charging our devices has become as much a part of life as brushing our teeth or cooking dinner. As a result, USB charging ports are becoming as...
Ways To Reduce Your Summer Power Bill
According to the National Weather Service, the average high temperature last summer in Las Vegas was 99 degrees in June, 104 degrees in July, 102 in August and 94 in September—but that’s only half the story. There’s also the number of days which reached at least 100...
Electric Vehicles (EV’s) – Are They Worth It?
In 2015, sales of electric vehicles (EVs) passed a major milestone, with the number of such vehicles surpassing the 1 million mark worldwide. Almost half of those new vehicles (477,000) were manufactured in the previous year. Three countries—the United States, the...
Common Electrical Problems in Older Las Vegas Homes
When it comes to keeping your house up to date, most features in need of repair or renovation are visible, and therefore you know when the work is necessary; shingles may be missing from the roof, paint may be scuffed or chipping on the walls, watermarks may be...
How a Commercial Electrician Can Save Your Business Money
With energy savings, efficiency, maintenance and back up / power redundancy, many businesses actually have the opportunity to save money with the help of a licensed electrician. Below are six ways a commercial electrician like Penny Electric can help achieve this...
Electrical Outlet Upgrades: Modernize Your Home
These days it seems everyone in the family has a smart phone. Then there are the laptops, ipads, and smart TVs. Sound familiar? They're some of the many reasons it pays to upgrade your home's electrical outlets so that they're in sync with today's electronics-crazy...
Basic Electrical Tips and Requirements For Wiring Offices
Setting up a business office can be complicated and overwhelming, particularly if someone has never done it before. One of the main tasks is proper electrical wiring. If you’re considering opening an office, here are some basic electrical tips and considerations,...
Ways to Reduce Your Winter Power Bill
Spring and fall in Las Vegas are the best times for your power bill. You can leave the windows open to catch a fresh breeze, and there's nothing that can't be solved with a blanket across your lap, or by carefully choosing which shirt to wear that day. When the...
What Landlords Need to Know About Electrical Safety
Electrical fires are among the most deadly fires faced by U.S. residents. According to the Electrical Safety Foundation International (ESFI), they account for more than 51,000 fires each year and nearly 500 deaths, not to mention well over a thousand injuries. And in...
Electrical For Detached Buildings, Sheds and Garages
Does your Las Vegas home include a detached garage, a shed, or perhaps a separate building that you use as a studio or a workshop? If so, how are you providing electrical power to your detached building? If you're getting by with extension cords run from the house to...
Dramatic Lighting Upgrades To Improve Home Value and Function
Unfortunately, many Las Vegas homeowners don’t realize just how much they can improve their home’s appearance and functionality by upgrading their lighting fixtures. By just adding a few simple lighting upgrades, you can significantly increase the value of your home,...
The Benefits Of Ceiling Fans in Las Vegas Homes
Today's Las Vegas homes combine the ingenuity of materials and techniques originally conceived by Native Americans, with modern technology such as air conditioning and ceiling fans. It's this wise combination of old and new that make desert homes comfortable even in...
Electrical Home Safety Inspections: A Must When Purchasing an Older Home
Home renovation television shows are inspiring many people to invest in older homes. Older homes tend to have a charm and character about them that newer homes lack. But just how safe is an older home? In this high-tech age of computers, smartphones, large screen TVS...
Knowing When it’s Time to Call an Electrician
No matter how handy you are around the house, dealing with electricity is rarely a DIY job. Sure, you may have single-handedly installed a new toilet or sink in the bathroom, not to mention doing a pretty professional-looking job tiling the floor and the shower, but...
5 Steps to Childproof Your Home against Electrical Hazards
As a parent, your major concern is to keep your children safe from harm, both inside and outside of the home. Children face a variety of dangers indoors, from choking hazards to poisonous substances stored under the sink or in medicine cabinets to injuries sustained...
What Causes Circuit Breakers to Keep Tripping
If you’re like most people, you probably don’t give much thought to your circuit breakers until you lose electrical power. However, it’s the circuit breakers that protect a house or building from having an electrical overload, which can not only damage appliances but...
Home Security Outdoor Lighting Tips
Outdoor lighting is your first line of defense against prowlers or intruders. Security lighting discourages prowlers and unwanted guests from entering your property (Dark clothing and dark skies are a burglar's best friends!). In addition to warding off intruders,...
Smoke Detector Installation and Maintenance
You can significantly reduce chances of injury or death with the proper installation and maintenance of smoke detectors in your home. In fact, since smoke alarms were introduced and have become required in most states, fire fatalities in the U.S. have significantly...
Appliance Hacks For Power Savings
Whether a person is interested in saving money or saving the planet, one step in their mission is minimizing power usage at home. There's much more to be done than adjusting thermostats and turning off the lights. Here are some power saving tips that go a long way to...
Hiring An Electrician: The Checklist
When you decide to hire an electrician for work around your home, it's important to choose one that's going to meet all of your needs. You should always use a licensed and experienced electrician and this means having a checklist to ensure you're able to vet them...
DIY Vs Handyman Vs Licensed Electrician: What You Need To Know
When you need electrical work done within your home, your business, or anywhere else, you have options available to you. Understanding DIY versus handyman versus licensed electrician will help you to determine how to get the work done, and ensure that the work is done...
Holiday Lighting Safety Tips
DIY holiday lighting installation is common. You want your property to look great, and this might include hanging lights off of your gutters or shingles, adding lighted decorations on the lawn, and more. There are quite a few lighting and electrical tips to follow in...
What Light Bulb Saves the Most Money?
When figuring out your household budget and looking for ways to cut costs, lowering energy consumption is a great place to start. We make it a point to turn the lights off when we leave the room, we may upgrade to Energy Star appliances and then hope to see a drop in...
Programmable Thermostats
We decided to research this topic at Penny Electric because there seems to be disagreement as to whether or how programmable thermostats result in a cost savings. We also wanted to see how the dynamic and exceptionally hot summers in Las Vegas / Southern NV could...
Avoid Unlicensed Electricians
Your home or business is often one of the largest investments you make. Never place that investment in the hands of unlicensed contractors who are not properly trained and certified in their respective fields. Despite the economic impact on those making an honest...