Doesn’t it seem like electricity costs are always on the rise? Monthly bills are especially expensive during Florida’s hot and humid summers, when you need air conditioning to stay comfortable. Fortunately, you can lower your electric bill—and do your part for the environment—by following these five tips.

When you’re looking for an electrician, look for someone with whom you can form a long-term relationship. It’s going to save you a lot of time and money if you can find someone whom you trust to get the job right the first time and give you the right price.

Find Recommended Companies

You can get recommendations for electricians from friends and neighbors. You can also search on-line for electrician Beverly Hills CA, and so on. If you add the word reviews to your search, you can look through company reviews.

Another approach is to search websites that feature reviews. Reviews appear on many websites including Google Places, Yelp.com, AngiesList.com, and CitySearch.com. AngiesList.com is an excellent source of recommendations for contractors but requires a small annual membership fee. On Angie’s List, you can see how customers rated their contractors, including electricians, and details of how their jobs went.

When looking at customer reviews, take a look at the big picture. Is there one bad review among the many good ones? Is it just a grumpy customer? Is there a company reply that clears things up or says that it has corrected its employee?

Once you have three or so recommended electricians, take a look at their websites.

Check the Electrical Company Website

* Is it presentable and well-maintained?

* Easy to find what you’re looking for?

* Friendly, helpful, and not cluttered with hard-sell advertising?

* How many good testimonials?

If the website checks out, it’s time to interview the electrician.

Interview

When you talk with the Beverly Hills electrician, pay attention to how comfortable you are, including your trust level. I’ve listed questions that you can ask. If you’ve already gotten glowing recommendations or it’s a small repair job like fixing a broken light switch, you probably wouldn’t want to ask them all. But if you aren’t talking with a recommended electrician and you’re planning a remodel, ask away.

Experience with your type of work

Years in business. Most companies which have stayed in business a long time have managed to keep their customers satisfied. They’ve also gathered a lot of useful experience and competence.

* Contractor’s License Number

* Liability Insurance and Workers Comp Insurance. It’s desirable that the company carry at least $1 million in liability insurance to protect your home should their work create property damage. Workers Comp provides for medical care for the electricians should they be injured on your job. Again, this protects you from liability.

* Guarantees. Some companies offer a lifetime guarantee on their work. This wouldn’t generally include the electrical parts that they install – that’s covered by the manufacturer’s guarantee. However, the electrician should give you at least a several-year guarantee on labor. A guarantee up to the life of your home is best.

* Better Business Bureau (BBB) rating. Ask for the exact company name that you should look and in which city. Sometimes, the BBB will use a slightly different name, possibly the formal legal name of the company.

* Pricing

* Website address if you don’t already have it

* Names and contact info for five clients

Take notes on all this, particularly the License Number. If you decide to go ahead, you may wish to check some of what the electrician has said. If you decide not to go ahead, no need to proceed any further with this electrician in Beverly Hills CA. But save the notes so that you can remind yourself later of which companies you’ve already ruled out. The Electric Connection, a licensed Beverly Hills electrician, is a top choice for a dependable electrical contracting company.

Visit our company profile.

Are you looking forward to backyard barbecues and evenings outside on the patio this spring? Although southern California doesn’t have to worry about some of the issues that winter normally causes the rest of the country, this winter did bring a pounding of rain that likely affected your outdoor equipment. Your landscape lighting may not have fared so well and before you can really enjoy those warm spring and ultimately summer evenings in the backyard, you need to have your lighting fixed. This is something you can have a Los Angeles electrician do for you. The team at The Electric Connection is here to help you get your yard and the landscaping back in shape for another beautiful spring season.

Overtime, the wiring in the electric lights erodes and you may notice some lights are not working or they flicker. This is something you will want to have taken care of before the entire string of lights shorts out. Depending on the problem, it may be able to be repaired by an electrician. Los Angeles homeowners can opt to have newer, more energy-efficient lights installed in their landscaping or stick with the older ones and just have them repaired. Updating the outside lights is like giving your landscaping a facelift. You can add more dramatic lights to showcase a blooming flower garden or highlight a new water feature.

If you have been considering getting new landscape lights or want to expand the scope of your existing lights by adding new ones or possibly brighter ones, now is the time to do it. Spring will be here before you know it and the hustle and bustle of the summer will quickly follow. Get your outdoor lighting taken care of today so you are ready for that first barbecue. Give The Electric Connection a call today and schedule your lighting appointment.

We all want our families to be safe at home, and there are many products to help us feel safe. While some homeowners still use traditional deterrence methods like fences, bars, and “Beware of dog” signs, there are proactive and responsive electronic security systems being used today that can be much more effective. However, as with every electronic system, improper installation or malfunctions could make them a nuisance or even inoperable, leaving your home and family vulnerable.

Motion sensors seem to be especially problematic. When they are working improperly, they can add unnecessary costs to your electric bill and disrupt your sleep and peace of mind. But there is a lot that you can do before you call an electrician.

First, make sure you read the instructions carefully. Even if you’ve installed motion sensors before, you will need to take into account the specific specifications of the one you’re installing or troubleshooting. In addition, here are some tips that may solve the issue: