Electrician FAQ: Texas Electrical Questions Answered

Stop using it. One tiny spark as a plug goes in can be normal, but repeated sparking, crackling, heat or scorch marks mean a failing connection. If you can reach the panel safely, turn off the breaker for that circuit and leave it off. If you see flames or smoke, get out and call 911. Then call an emergency electrician to replace the outlet and check the wiring behind it.

Yes. A burning, hot plastic or fishy smell usually means insulation or a device is overheating, and that can turn into a fire inside the wall. Turn off the breaker for the affected circuit, or the main breaker if the smell comes from the panel and you can reach it safely. Do not open the panel. Call 911 if you see smoke, and contact our emergency electrician line right away.

Check for a tripped breaker and reset it once, then press reset on any GFCI outlets. If roughly half the house is dead, 240 volt appliances will not run, or lights are dim or overly bright, one of the two incoming power lines or a main connection may have failed. Turn off large appliances, call your electric utility, and schedule electrical repair to check the panel and service connections.

A slight, split-second dim when the compressor starts is common, since the motor draws a burst of current. Heavy dimming, flicker that lasts, or lights that get brighter point to a loose connection, an overloaded service or a struggling AC unit. Have it checked through our HVAC and appliance electrical repair service. If flickering comes with a burning smell or a buzzing panel, treat it as an emergency.

Yes, once. Unplug what was running on the circuit, push the breaker fully to off, then back to on. If it trips again right away, leave it off. Repeated resetting sends current into a fault and can overheat the wiring. Never install a larger breaker or remove the panel cover. A breaker that will not stay on needs diagnosis, and sometimes circuit breaker replacement.

Common signs are breakers that trip when several appliances run, lights that dim when the AC starts, a panel with no open spaces, rust or scorch marks, a fuse box, or plans to add an EV charger, a second AC unit or an addition. An electrician confirms it with a load calculation, which compares your home's demand to the service size. See our electrical panel upgrade page for what the work includes.

It can be for a smaller home with gas heating, gas water heating and a gas range. It is often too small for an all-electric home, or for one adding a Level 2 EV charger, a tankless electric water heater, a pool or a second air conditioner. The only reliable answer is a load calculation. If the numbers come up short, an electrical panel upgrade to 200 amps is the usual fix.

Yes. Breakers are mechanical devices, and heat, age, moisture and repeated tripping wear them out. A failing breaker may trip under normal load, refuse to reset, feel loose or hot, or show scorch marks. Less often it fails to trip at all, which is more dangerous. An electrician should confirm the circuit itself is sound before doing a circuit breaker replacement with a breaker that matches the panel.

Single-strand aluminum branch wiring, used in many homes from the mid 1960s to the mid 1970s, has a higher risk of loose, overheating connections at outlets, switches and splices. It can be made safer by repairing every connection with connectors rated for aluminum to copper, or by replacing circuits with copper. Start with an electrical inspection. Our house rewiring page explains the options.

Look for two-prong outlets, frequent tripped breakers or blown fuses, flickering lights, warm or discolored outlets, a burning smell, or mild shocks from appliances. Homes with knob and tube wiring, cloth-covered cable or aluminum branch wiring deserve a professional evaluation even without symptoms. Not every older home needs a full house rewiring. Sometimes replacing the oldest circuits and the panel is enough.

Often, yes. It depends on your service size and existing loads, which an electrician checks with a load calculation. Many 200 amp homes have room for a 40 to 60 amp charging circuit. If capacity is tight, the charger can be set to a lower rate or paired with a load management device, or the panel can be upgraded. Our EV charger installation service starts with that evaluation.

For most permanent setups, yes. The Wall Connector is hardwired, can charge at up to 48 amps on a 60 amp circuit, and has fewer connection points to wear. A NEMA 14-50 outlet with a mobile connector charges more slowly and needs a heavy-duty receptacle with GFCI protection, but it is flexible if you move. We handle both through our EV charger installation service.

It depends on what you want to power, not on square footage alone. Central air conditioning, electric heat, electric water heaters and ranges drive the size. An electrician does a load calculation, then matches a standby unit to the whole home or to selected essentials with load management. Fuel supply matters as well. Our generator installation page explains the sizing process.

Not into a wall outlet or dryer receptacle. That backfeeds the utility lines and can injure line workers, damage the generator and start a fire. The safe method is a power inlet box with an interlock kit or a manual transfer switch, installed by an electrician, so the generator and the utility can never be connected at the same time. We install these as part of generator installation.

Each has strengths. A battery is silent, switches over almost instantly, needs no fuel and can recharge from solar panels. Its run time is limited by battery capacity, so it suits short outages and essential loads. A standby generator can run a whole house, including air conditioning, for days on natural gas or propane. Some homes use both. Compare them on our solar battery backup and generator installation pages.

Usually, but the electrical box has to be changed first. A standard light fixture box is not built to hold the weight and movement of a fan. The electrician installs a fan-rated box or brace secured to the framing, and checks whether the existing wiring allows separate control of the fan and its light. Our ceiling fan installation service covers the box, wiring, assembly and balancing.

Current electrical code generally calls for GFCI protection in bathrooms, kitchens, garages, laundry areas, crawl spaces, unfinished basements, outdoors, and near sinks, tubs and showers. Older homes are not always required to retrofit until work is done, but adding GFCI protection is one of the simplest safety upgrades available. Our outlet installation service includes GFCI outlets and weather-resistant outdoor receptacles.

A common starting point is to space lights about half the ceiling height apart, so roughly 4 feet apart with an 8 foot ceiling, and 2 to 3 feet from walls. The final count depends on fixture brightness, ceiling height, room use and wall colors. Kitchens and work areas need more light than bedrooms. We lay out each room as part of lighting installation.

Many appliances do. Refrigerators, microwaves, dishwashers, disposals, washers, dryers, ranges, water heaters, air conditioners, hot tubs and EV chargers typically need their own circuit sized to the manufacturer's requirements. Sharing a circuit leads to tripped breakers and overheated wiring. An electrician can check your panel's capacity and add the circuit as part of our electrical installation service.

For most Texas homes, yes. Thunderstorms, utility switching and large motors cycling all send surges through a home's wiring, and nearly every modern appliance has electronics that surges can damage. A panel-mounted device protects hardwired equipment that a power strip cannot, such as the air conditioner and oven. It will not stop a direct lightning strike. Details are on our surge protection page.

A yearly professional electrical inspection suits most offices and retail spaces. Restaurants, warehouses, manufacturing sites and buildings with older equipment or long operating hours often need more frequent checks. Schedule one also after a remodel, a change of tenant, new equipment, or storm or flood damage. Between visits, staff should watch for warm panels, tripping breakers, flickering lights and burning smells.

Restaurants need more power than most spaces their size. Typical work includes a service and panel sized for the kitchen equipment, dedicated circuits for cooking and refrigeration, hood and fire suppression connections, GFCI protection in wet areas, dining and exterior lighting, signage and point-of-sale wiring, all under permit and fire code review. Our commercial electrician service works from your equipment list and plans.

Three-phase power uses three alternating currents offset from one another, which runs large motors and heavy equipment more efficiently than the single-phase power used in homes. Businesses with large HVAC units, commercial kitchen equipment, compressors, machinery or elevators often need it. Availability depends on the utility lines serving the building. Our industrial electrician and commercial electrician pages cover three-phase services and equipment connections.

The usual causes are circuits overloaded by added equipment, a failing motor or compressor, loose connections heating up in a panel, or a worn breaker. Space heaters and chained power strips are frequent culprits in offices. Repeated trips should not be ignored or solved with a larger breaker. A commercial electrician can measure the load, find the cause and add circuits where needed.

In most buildings, yes. LED fixtures use much less electricity than fluorescent, metal halide and halogen lighting, give off less heat for the air conditioning to remove, and need far fewer lamp changes, which matters for high ceilings and parking lots. Controls such as occupancy sensors and dimming add further savings. Our commercial lighting installation service covers retrofits and new fixtures.