What is a smart panel? Who should consider investing in one? Do they really help? Read on: We’re walking you through one of the most exciting home upgrades of the century. What is a smart panel? A smart panel is a digital electrical panel that can supplement or replace a traditional panel. It does everything […]
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Heading into summer in the Pacific Northwest means preparing for more than higher temperatures. It means getting ready for inconsistent weather patterns, smoke season, and possible heat domes. It’s good to prepare for generally worse air quality, too. Indoor air quality can deteriorate in the summer due to pollution, fires, and extreme heat that can […]
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If you’re considering purchasing an electric vehicle (EV), you’re likely thinking hard about the long-term costs of making the switch from a fuel-powered or hybrid vehicle to an electric one. Insurance, taxes, and maintenance costs matter but the cost of powering a car using electricity versus powering it with petroleum fuel is what people consider […]
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When you have your plumbing inspected, a licensed plumber will perform a top-to-bottom review of your entire plumbing system. What kind of home plumbing inspections does a plumber provide? Home services businesses perform certain types of inspections, but not others: Plumbing inspections for real estate transactions? No. Home services companies like ours typically do not […]
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Running a gas line to your natural gas grill makes outdoor cooking and entertaining much simpler: No need to swap out tanks anymore or worry that you’ll run out of fuel mid-burger. If your home isn’t already plumbed with a natural gas line to an area where you can hook up your gas grill, you’ll […]
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Every home has an electrical panel, also known as a circuit breaker panel or breaker box. A single-family home will typically have one electrical panel through which all of the electricity of the house runs and that shuts off automatically if too much electricity is running through a particular circuit. A home might also have […]
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The average toilet lasts about 30 years. If yours is that old and you’re ready to replace it, you’ll notice that the toilet landscape has changed a lot over the decades. Today, you can buy a low-flow gravity toilet, a dual-flush toilet, or a power-flush toilet. Though they all whisk waste away, they’re not all […]
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Nothing really turns off anymore. Almost all home appliances, from the TV to the toaster, are using power even when they’re not in use. This is known by many names, including vampire power, phantom load, idling current, and standby power. But it all means the same thing: when a device appears to be off, it’s […]
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We’ve all seen those electrical transformer boxes. But what’s inside? Why do we need them? And what does an electrical transformer do? What Is An Electrical Transformer? Let’s start at the beginning. According to Wikipedia, “a transformer is a passive component that transfers electrical energy from one electrical circuit to another circuit, or multiple circuits.” […]
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Lightning and thunderstorms are rare in the Pacific Northwest. On the one hand, this means we can be less worried about it. On the other, it means we’re less prepared when a storm does roll in. Here’s what you need to know for the next time a freak lightning storm pops up, including home electrical […]
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