Welcome to Kolb Electric’s blog! At Kolb Electric, we want to be your number one source for residential and commercial electrical services in the Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, DC area, whether we’re on the job or not. To that end, we’ve created this blog to answer any questions you might have about your electrical system and electrical service in general!

Over the next few weeks, we’ll be filling this blog with the latest tips, tricks, and trends to keep your home or building’s electrical system running smoothly, so bookmark this page and be sure to check back often!

At Kolb Electric, we’ve built our business around providing the best possible customer service to each and every commercial or residential electrical customer in the Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, DC area. If you need electrical service and want to go with the most professional company in the area, call Kolb Electric today!

Microwave ovens revolutionized kitchens across America when they came on the market in the 1970’s. Since then these technological marvels have come a long way, with more features, compact sizing, and greater cooking power than ever before. With greater power comes greater power usage, but if your microwave is tripping the breaker in your home, it’s a sign that the appliance is overloading the electrical circuit. The questions is, why, and what can be done to solve the problem?

Ever considered utilizing solar energy in your Maryland home? If not, you might give it a glance. Not only is solar energy tech really quite cool, it boasts some unique benefits as well. But, of course, like any decision you make about the home, it all really boils down to its effectiveness, and possibly more importantly, the cost.

At Kolb Electric, we want to bring you all of the latest information and tech! Our team is excited about the advent of solar energy, and sharing what we know is just part of the superior service we provide.

When being used? Practically nothing, aside from maintenance. For solar energy, it’s all about the installation. While solar power isn’t exactly a new thing, implementing it in a larger capacity in United States homes kind of is. In a mainstream sense, at least. Preppers, ingenuitive farmers, and tech nerds have been using it for years.

So, as a reasonably newer need, solar tech installation, such as panels and solar-supported equipment are understandably rather expensive. Assume your home uses the US average amount of electricity (between 600 and 800 kWh) per month. With this estimate, assume you’re wanting you fully solar your home.

You’d be looking at anywhere between $20,000 to $40,000. Do understand that this is a very broad estimate, as individual factors about your home can lower or raise that drastically. There is an endless number of variables involved here, including how much power you want, how large your home is, your solar energy needs, etc.

You would also have to take into account maintenance, as solar equipment will require very specialised training and tools to keep working at maximum potential. Bottom line, how much does solar energy cost? Next to nothing, if anything at all. The equipment, on the other hand, we…it’s an investment.

But Is Solar Energy Worth It in Washington, DC?

Above is a map of average energy savings in the US, courtesy of Energysage.

Depending on exactly how you’re going to utilize the solar power, probably yes. Especially (and almost exclusively) if you intend to make your current home permanent. As in you plan on staying there for fifteen, twenty years. To find more exact answers and suss out whether solar power might be something you’re interested, we would highly recommend consulting an energy specialist.

Need superior electrical services in Maryland, DC, or Virginia? Contact Kolb today!

Wouldn’t you like to keep your hard earned money in your pocket rather than pay it out on excessive electric bills? Californians get used to mild weather, but when those cold temps blow in, they are a real shock to the system. Your first reaction is to reach for the thermostat and crank it up. Unfortunately, if your home isn’t ready to ride out a cold snap, you could be paying double or triple what you really need to be to keep your home warm. These are some tips from your local electrician in Los Angeles to help retain the heat from your furnace in the home and save you money on your electric bill. The team at The Electric Connection is here to help.

• Spend some time adding weather stripping around your doors or windows. It is sold in a roll with self-sticking tape on one side. Simply peel and stick. This one little thing can block cold drafts from coming in as well as prevent your hot air from seeping out. During the summer, you can keep your air conditioned air in and the hot air out.

• If you have sliding glass doors or French doors, consider investing in heavy curtains. Again, these are great for the summer and winter months. You can block the cold by covering large windows with heavy curtains.

• Have your furnace or heat pump maintained. Keeping filters clean and the unit in good working order can save you a lot of money in repair costs as well as keep the unit operating in prime condition.

You don’t have to pay a lot for your Los Angeles electrical bill when you do these three simple things. You can reduce your heating and cooling bills by taking care of the little things around the house. If you have any more questions, give The Electric Connection a call today.

It’s cold throughout MD, VA, and DC now, but the weather will soon start to change. Before you know it, it’ll become warmer, which means you should begin thinking about attic fan installation. An attic fan is a ventilation fan that regulates the heat level of a building’s attic by exhausting hot air. It is similar to a kitchen fan but located in the attic of a home. An attic fan is usually connected to a switch or string that you can access from the top floor of your home. You may be surprised to learn about all the benefits of installing an attic fan in your home.

Attic fans are key to maintaining an energy-efficient home. Your air conditioning unit will have to work overtime if you allow rising heat to stay in your home instead of routing it up and out. This ultimately reduces the unit’s efficiency. An attic fan is an excellent home cooling option that also keeps your energy bill down in hot summer months.

An attic fan helps reduce the humidity, or overall moisture level, in a house. Daily household activities—showering and cooking, for example—create moisture that rises and can build up in the attic if the space isn’t properly ventilated. If you don’t take any action and allow this moisture to sit in the attic for an extended period, it will eventually create mold in the insulation and possibly even in the wood structure of the attic. This moisture can be especially damaging during the wintertime (now!) when cold turns it to ice or frost. The expansion of ice and frost can seriously damage your roof.

An attic fan helps combat moisture and transfers it out of the attic before it can cause serious damage to insulation, wood structure, and roofing materials. Now is the perfect time for attic fan installation—it will help prevent ice or frost from forming and damaging your roof, and you’ll need an attic fan for the warmer months anyways. Contact Kolb Electric for attic fan installation.

Here’s a question: are you currently leaving the windows of your home closed? Doing so could trap gas from your furnace or oil heater in your house. These combustion gases can be removed with the help of an attic fan.

This really is the perfect time to schedule attic fan installation. We’ve been serving Baltimore and Bethesda, MD as well as Alexandria, VA and Washington, DC since 1925. You can count on our experienced electricians to get the job done right the first time. Call us or contact us online for installation.