ELECTRICAL OUTLETS
Electrical Outlet Repairs and Upgrades
Whether you realize it or not, you use electrical outlets everyday. From powering your coffee machine in the morning to running your computer at work to charging your smart phone at night- outlets serve as a means to easily access electricity.
Here at Knight Electrical Inc, there isn’t much we haven’t seen when it comes to outlet failures. As you may already know, it is pretty common for outlets to get loose overtime or start to malfunction causing them to need replacement.
Sometimes it is not a faulty outlet that creates the need for a replacement but rather wanting to upgrade an outlet to change its functionality.
Changing a standard outlet to a GFCI or AFCI is becoming more common as electrical code become increasingly strict to improve safety. Or maybe you want to upgrade an outlet to a USB outlet to provide another option for your devices.
Regardless of your situation, you can count on us to help you decide what options are right for you!
Outlets that are available
Whether your property is newer or older, it may be in need already of a few upgrades to its outlets. There are now many different options available on the market which is exciting. Continue reading to learn more about the possibilities for upgrading your outlets!
20A Outlets
Some appliances such as microwaves and space heaters typically require more power than is supplied by the average 15A outlet.
If you find your breakers tripping more often than you like and have to unplug appliances to keep from overloading your circuits, we can upgrade your outlets and circuits to 20A to handle the extra demand.
Switched Outlets
These outlets are most commonly used in living rooms. They have one half of the device always energized but the other half of the device is control by a switch. That way you can have constant power in the outlets as well as having a switched portions for lamps etc.
GFCI Outlets
GFCI (Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter) outlets stop the flow of electricity upon the detection of a short circuit or ground fault. GFCI outlets protect people against electrocution, especially in rooms where water is present, such as bathrooms and kitchens. You can tell an outlet is a GFCI model by the two buttons that enable you to reset it after it’s been tripped. GFCI outlets are required in bathrooms, outside outlets, unfinished areas and more.
AFCI Outlets
Arc Fault Circuit Interrupter might not be installed in a lot of homes since it has only become standard in 1999. AFCI outlets are installed at a breaker box in order to prevent electricity jumping since that frequently causes fires. You can hire a professional electrician to add GFCI outlets to your older home, installing them at the electrical panel or at the beginning of each circuit.
USB Outlets
There are now many modern devices that employ the use of USB cords. Fortunately, some types of outlets have USB ports on themselves so you don’t have to worry about not having an adapter when you need to power your device. A USB outlet can have 2 regular ports and 2 USB or 4 USB ports and no regular ports. Knight Electrical can easily install USB outlets wherever you like in your home or business!
Smart Outlets
Instead of flipping a switch to turn an outlet on and off, you can use a smart outlet and control whatever is plugged into it using an app on your phone or other devices. This can make it easier to turn devices on and off wirelessly and even allows you to set schedules for their daily use.
Don’t delay calling Knight Electrical if you have outlets that don’t work or are looking to upgrade to something better. People who are unfamiliar with their electrical system can cause more harm than good. Please call us for any help regarding your electrical outlets.
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