All posts by guilligordon

Desperately Needing to Find an Electrician from McLean VA

My name’s Sam. I hack things, it’s what I do. I have a nice house in McLean, VA that I run my security consulting business from, but lately it’s been having some. issues. Electrical issues to be precise. Thus begins my tale. I woke up two weeks ago to the lights in my bathroom flashing on and off. I realized then that I needed an electrician McLean, STAT. I started in the yellow pages, looking up every electrician in McLean, VA I could find. I called a couple of them, but they didn’t seem too keen on the idea of “just a couple-a lights flash in'” being worth their time. I did have one company, Certified Electrical Technologies, that was extremely courteous and offered to come out and take a look at it, and while one of their qualified electrician McLean was troubleshooting the issue, he would also be able to give me a free home electrical safety assessment. It sounded pretty good, but I wasn’t sure just yet.
The flashing bathroom lights stopped but then other things started to go wrong. I was using my coffee grinder the next morning (have you ever met a computer geek that doesn’t need caffeine? I haven’t) and it blew a fuse in the kitchen. Later that afternoon my server room started having brownouts. It looked like I was going to need some electrical outlets replaced. I knew it was getting serious, so I thought about calling around the electrician McLean circuit again.
“Wait a minute, I’m a computer guy, why don’t I put those skills to work on this issue,” I thought. So I decided to put my skills to work and fired off a quick web search for electrician McLean. Well what do you know, look who was at the top of the search list: Certified Electrical Technologies. I decided to dig a little deeper and see what sort of reviews they had. Several patterns popped out at me with the reviews I was reading:
“.CET stands by their work. Their lifetime guarantee assures me that they know what they’re doing.”
“Certified Electrical Technologies are the only McLean VA electricians I would trust to work on my custom 5,000 sq ft house’s wiring. They did some custom lighting and outdoor lighting for my a whole back. They know their stuff.”
“.CET’s electricians are all certified and hand-selected after a rigorous, and thorough, background screening on each of their McLean electricians.”
These guys were starting to sound better and better, so I called them back. I explained my situation to the knowledgeable young lady on the phone and she said they could send someone out almost immediately. I liked the sound of that; quick service from a McLean electrician is definitely a big plus in my book. As I was scheduling the appointment a thought occurred to me. I have several friends who have horror stories about hiring a great company, only to find out they subcontracted some of their work out and the contractors weren’t nearly as professional, causing all kinds of problems. I mentioned this to the scheduler and she assured me that all the electricians from McLean that CET sends out are actual employees who are licensed and insured, no subcontractors here. That’s great! I scheduled my appointment for the next morning.
When the CET electrician showed up, I was very impressed. He was well-mannered, respectful, clean (nothing annoys me more than to have a worker track dirt and grease all over my house), and extremely knowledgeable. He followed me through the house, asking questions, taking notes the whole time, while I showed him the problems I was having. He was impressed with my server room and asked questions about what kind of equipment I was running and if I’d been having any issues with the power in that room. I told him about the brownouts and he made some more notes and then had me take him to the main power box outside.
After a few minutes examining the panel and adjusting some of his calculations, this knowledgeable CET McLean electrician explained to me what had been causing the problems and what steps would have to be taken to fix it. I would need some aluminum wiring replacement, a whole house surge protector, GFI electrical outlets in the bathroom, and some electrical rewiring. The best part? He explained everything in terms I could understand. That was fantastic, and showed that this certified McLean electrician knew his business. It takes a special skill set to explain highly technical concepts to someone not versed in the lingo; believe me, I know. It took me a few years in the computer industry before I was able to talk to non-computer geeks in ways they could understand me and not glaze over. The CET electrician did just that. I have a rudimentary knowledge of electronics, but by the time he was done explaining what needed to be done I knew I had chosen the right electricians for the job.
Four days later and they were done; it turned out that all of my equipment had been drawing too much power for too long and had finally deteriorated things enough to where I was having cascading failures. With upgraded wiring and a brand-new panel upgrade I was back in business. And let me tell you, each of those electricians from Certified Electrical Technologies was professional, knowledgeable, and best of all – they cleaned up their mess each day when they were done. I will definitely recommend CET to anyone that needs an electrician in McLean, VA.

If you need any electrical work in McLean, please don’t hesitate to contact us at:

Certified Electrical Technologies
1390 Chain Bridge Rd., McLean,VA 22101
703-547-8186
visit our website here

Installing Whole House Surge Protectors – Search for: Electrician McLean

Nearly everyone has a surge protector or two these days. We use them to protect our valuable electronics such as computers, stereos, TVs and more. Although they are less common because they’re less publicized, whole house surge protectors can give you a whole-house solution without having to have a bulky surge protector for each outlet. Having surge protectors installed by a Electrician in the McLean Area could simplify and protect your home.

There are two different types of power surges that you should know about. The first, and most dramatic, is the power surge caused by lightning. Although this type of power surge can be incredibly devastating, it is not very common. A quick chat with an electrician in McLean VA, and you will be assured that lightning would have to strike a power pole within one mile of your home for it to have an effect on you. This is not very likely. The most common types of power surges are caused by changes in electricity use, downed power lines, or even by the fluctuations in the power usage of the larger appliances in your home. This type of surge may not be noticed at first, but it will take a toll on your electronics, eventually wearing them out much earlier than their expected lifespan. This type of surge will eventually lead to broken GFI electrical outlets, interior lighting failure, and other residential electrical problems that electrical contracting companies like Certified Electrical Technologies deal with every day.

Benefits of Whole House Surge Protectors

What, then, is the best way to protect your home against these two types of power surges? If you talk to an electrician in McLean, they will most likely recommend using both a whole house surge protection system, as well as your standard plug-in surge protectors. The whole house suppression system will act as your first line of defense against any higher-than-normal electricity levels. It is also important, however, to continue to plug in your valuable electronics such as home theater systems, computers etc. into their own surge protectors as a second line of defense. For the most part, both systems operate the same. During normal voltage conditions, they just allow the current to flow through normally. Under high voltage, they will act to throttle and even stop the flow of dangerous
voltage if necessary.

Surge Protector Installation – Find a Knowledgeable McLean Electrician

Having these surge protectors installed is a fairly simple installation. Most whole house protectors are installed directly into your service panel. You should ask your electrician in McLean about things such as how high the protector is rated, and whether it has thermal fuses, lights and alarms that will let you know when a surge has hit. In addition to the protection unit on your service panel, it is also recommended to install protectors on phone and cable lines. Because dangerous levels of electricity can also enter through these lines, it is important to make sure that you are protected. Typical installation of a whole-house surge protection system by whichever electrician from McLean VA you choose, will take around 2-3 hours depending on the unit you choose.

By making the relatively small investment on a whole-house surge suppression system, you are very likely saving your self from extensive and costly repairs and replacements in the future. Whether you end up facing a catastrophic power surge, or more frequent microwave, television and refrigerator replacement, the costs of dangerously high voltage can begin to add up quickly. In the same way that you have your smoke detectors installed, outlets installed and other important electrical repairs and maintenance performed, you should also consider protecting your whole house from power spokes.

Call a local professional electrical contractor today, such as Certified Electrical Technologies, a dependable and fully licensed McLean Electrician to talk about the pros, cons and options.

If you need any electrical work in McLean, please don’t hesitate to contact us at:

Certified Electrical Technologies
1390 Chain Bridge Rd., McLean,VA 22101
703-547-8186
visit our website
www.certifiedelectricaltechnologies.com/electrician-mclean-va/