2020 Surge Protection Package

If you're a customer of ours, you've probably heard us shouting from the mountaintops about how important surge protection is. For a general rundown on surge protection, check out our earlier blog post HERE. Essentially, surge protectors installed in your electrical panel help protect your system from electrical surges often caused by lightning storms. These surges can fry your electrical appliances--everything from your refrigerator to your television--as well as damage your wires and system itself. We often visit homes to repair damage caused by an electrical surge that could have been prevented by a surge protector.

So how does our surge protection package stand out from other electrical companies' offerings in the Mt. Pleasant area?

One very important test:

One crucial part of a surge protector is A GOOD GROUNDING SYSTEM. A surge protector is ONLY as good as the ground it is going to. What does that mean in layman's terms? A grounding rod (think Benjamin Franklin) directs electricity back into the ground. If your ground rod or grounding system is inefficient or damaged, that electricity will have nowhere to go. So where does it go? Right back into your house and through the easiest path. Why doesn't a surge protector work if you don't have a good grounding system? How a surge protector works is by redirecting electricity. Instead of the electrical surge making its way from breaker to breaker in your electrical panel, it sends the charge back to your ground. If your grounding system is broken, that electrical charge will go back into your house--yikes!

Most electrical companies do not test your grounding system before installing surge protection!

Not only are our surge protectors high quality (some companies install low-grade surge protectors that don't protect against high voltage electrical surges), but we also INCLUDE the ground rod testing system specifically with this package! It's a state of the art testing system that determines an integral piece of your home's electrical safety system.

How do we do test your grounding system?

We’ve got a top of the line impedance (the effective resistance of an electric circuit or component to alternating current) tester that induces a current on your grounding system. Our test also reads the impedance at the same time to determine not only if your system works, but how well it works. We're essentially verifying that electricity has a nice solid place to go in case of a surge strike.

Interested in our surge protection package? If you want to get right on it before the worst of the storm season hits, book a Level 1 job and we'll email you back with the cost of the package. If you have questions first, email us at info@thegloudemanelectric.com, or call/text at 909-801-4009.

Thank you and stay safe out there!

Andrew & the Gloudeman Electric team

*We also offer this ground testing as a separate service.

Spring 2020 Services

Hey, y’all! Andrew here. I'm wishing you all well during these times of uncertainty and hoping that this time has brought some rest and extra time with family (I've had a little more time to organize my van, spend extra time with my wife around the house, and study new electrical innovations!).

Just wanted to hop on here to talk about some new and existing services we’ve been doing. Here we go!

1. Fireplace Smart Switch System

The first new service I offer is putting your electric fireplace on a smart switching system. This makes it so you can operate your fireplace hands free, both turning the fireplace on (no more getting off the couch) and turning it off (peace of mind). This is a major convenience option. If you’re in another part of the house and forgot to turn your fireplace off, doing so is as simple as a click on your phone! Smart switches, of course, aren't just used for fireplaces. They can be installed for all sorts of lighting systems, garage door systems, etc.

2. Landscape Lighting System

My next service feature is landscape lighting. These systems can include: staircase lighting, tree lighting, pathway lighting, and so much more. If you're spending more time at home, you may have noticed how dark it gets around your home when the sun sets. Landscape lighting can also add a level of security to your home. Maybe you've been spending more time gardening and want to highlight your hard work with some uplights--I can make that happen!

3. Surge Protection

As always, I offer whole-house surge protection as my most recommended precautionary measure. I recommend it to every client I work for, because it can save you both a headache and a lot of money in the long run. Surge protection helps prevent your home from becoming a victim of harmful electrical strikes. As of 2020, having surge protection for your home's electrical system is part of the National Electrical Code for mandatory devices in homes. READ MORE ABOUT SURGE PROTECTION HERE.

If you're interested in any of the above, I'm happy to chat with you on the phone or over text (909-801-4009), over email (info@thegloudemanelectric.com) , or you can simply book a Consultation here on my website (BOOK HERE) for me to come out to your property and discuss things in person. As we are still in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, I'll be asking that you let me know if you or anyone you've been in contact with has been diagnosed with the novel coronavirus. I will stay 6' apart whenever possible when speaking in person, am refraining from shaking hands, and can wear a mask while I am at your home--and don't worry, I still have hand sanitizer to help protect you and myself.

Thanks for reading and I hope you have a wonderful day!

- Andrew Gloudeman

Electrical Safety & The Danger of Heat

Hi, readers! Last week Andrew was at a job where he found this nasty problem:

The client called Andrew because their lights would be on, and then would stay off for a few days, and then they would come back on. The client was also smelling a burning smell, which as a homeowner is never something that you want to smell!

The cause of the smell and electrical issue was this melted piece of loose wire. Since it didn't have a good connection, the wire was trying to make contact which in turn caused the wire to heat up and melt. If this issue hadn't been resolved, or if for example this wire was somewhere in an attic, or somewhere else where there were flammable objects, the family could have had a house fire on their hands.

This is all to impress the importance of a sound electrical system, and to praise the awareness of this customer! If you think something's "off" about your electrical system, it never hurts to get a quick diagnosis and have Andrew come by to take a look. We also offer a Home Safety Package (read about that in our previous post) where Andrew will take a deep dive into your whole system with specialized equipment that sniffs out potential fire hazards like these.