Red Seal electricians are tested to a higher standard than a journeyperson electrician designation. Red Seal is recognized inter-provincially throughout Canada.
Yes, BW Electric is fully insured. This is of the utmost importance when considering who to hire and coming into your home. Sometimes finding the cheapest quote or someone that will work for cash isn't the best option. If you hire someone that isn't insured, especially liability, and something happens in the future you may have a difficult time recovering any damages or losses.
Yes, we have to but a service-call charge is standard in this industry. Whether I spend 10 minutes or an hour, travel time and gas need to be covered. You are also paying for my extensive experience and training, as well as insurance and other overhead.
Yes, we can provide full written estimates which may require a site visit to determine the exact of the work required. If you're looking for a ballpark figure of what a certain installation price would be, this can be provided over the phone or email. If you could submit photos that would be very helpful.
Generally service areas within an hour of Halifax/Dartmouth. We can and have done work beyond those boundaries but may include a surcharge for fuel/travel time.
We can do most residential projects besides solar and whole home generators like Kohler or Generac.
We have a fairly fast turn-around time, and can usually schedule work to begin within 24-48 hours.
When we provide a quote this is normally the figure we are comfortable with for proceeding with on a project. Our prices are fair and competitive within the local electrical industry.
BW Electric is a legitimate business registered with CRA. We are required to pay taxes like everyone else so no, paying cash with the purpose of saving money is not an option.
The main breaker on your electrical panel will have a stamped number on it. This is the amperage of your panel and service.
This could be anything from replacing your electrical panel, the service mast, meter base and conductors from the weatherhead to your electrical panel. BW Electric coordinates this work with Nova Scotia Power, including arranging the permit, scheduling of the line truck and inspection with a Nova Scotia Power inspector. This is an extensive project and with power disconnected to do the upgrade, it can be off for a good part of the day. We always recommend doing this type of job in the warmer weather months where the lack of having a heating source won't be an issue.
That all depends on your current primary heating source. If you are heating solely with electric baseboards then yes, your heating bill should go down after upgrading to a heat pump.
However do your research when you hear that heat pumps are more "efficient". This is true in the sense that they disperse the heat more efficiently than baseboards. Don't purchase a heat pump with the expectation that your heating bill will be a fraction of what it used to be.
If you're adding any new circuits or equipment to your home then yes. Fuse panels are normally smaller with very little room for expansion. Switching over to breakers also makes it much easier to identify what circuit has tripped, rather than trying to check fuses one by one which has blown. When you upgrade your panel an electrician should identify and label all circuits correctly on your panel directory as a courtesy even if this wasn't done on your existing fuse panel.
Yes, it is in the Canadian electrical code that any receptacles within 1.5 meters of a sink or wash basin shall be GFCI protected. This is for your safety and if you do any type of upgrade to your service and panel, NSP will mandate they be brought up to code before signing off on their final inspection.
Older homes may not have ground wires. This can be remedied by adding a GFCI Blank by your panel. By adding this blank face plate it is now protecting everything on that circuit against ground faults.
AFCI stands for arc Fault Circuit Interrupter. The AFCI breaker senses electrical arcing in your home's branch circuits that can be caused by loose wires. Over time this can lead to an electrical fire. It is now Canadian electrical code that most 15 and 20AMP circuits in the home be AFCI protected.
To work on electrical in the province of Nova Scotia you must be a licensed electrician that is able to pull an electrical permit.
Nova Scotia Power has specific criteria for the type of work requiring permits. It's always best to consult an electrician and contact Nova Scotia Power as well. Sometimes not obtaining a permit may come back to haunt you so it is not worth taking chances. Insurance providers may also not cover you if a permit should have been obtained for new wiring.
Adding new circuits in your panel doesn't just depend on the physical space for a new breaker. You should also consider how big the load demand is for whatever you are adding. Have an electrician do a load calculation and take ampere readings in your panel to see if it is safe to add additional load.
Most newer houses now have 200 amp services and panels. Normally this is what you'd be expected to have to add for example a class 2 EV charger. If you don't have a 200 amp panel you still have options if you want to avoid a costly service and panel upgrade. You can install a load management system that would prevent any overload-type situation. While this is still costly it can save you from upgrading your entire service.
The LMS adjusts charging rates based on the available power supply and the consumption of other devices. Other benefits:
- It can shed the EV charger during peak demand to keep the home's energy distribution within limits
- It can control when to recharge an EV to prioritize power for other devices in the home
- It can help avoid expensive electrical service upgrades
- It can help reduce peak electricity demand
With the uncertainty of power outages especially during hurricane season it is a good idea to have backup power. Keeping necessary circuits on during extended outages can be crucial, fridges, freezers, well pump, septic to name a few. You have a few options to choose from, including Generlinks, a backup generator panel, or whole home generator.
A Generlink is a transfer switch that switches power from the utility power to your portable generator during an outage. Once you hook your generator up to the Generlink you can pick and choose within reason what circuits you want running. You also have the option of turning some off and turning other circuits on as you need them.
A backup generator panel is a more permanent solution as opposed to the Generlink You decide what circuits you want to have during a power outage, then you physically move the wiring and breakers for those circuits from your main electrical panel over to your backup panel.
A whole home generator can power your whole house in the event of a power outage. These systems like genera and Kohler have whats called an automatic transfer switch. When it senses the loss of utility power it will automatically start up the generator and switch power to be solely fed from the whole home generator. It will also switch back once utility power is restored and shut down the generator so you never have to leave your house to start anything up.
If the receptacle itself is GFCI protected, press the reset button to see if it will fix it. If it is not a GFCI receptacle, a lot of the time outside receptacles or additional bathroom receptacles are fed from a GFCI initially. In the case of a bathroom, find which one has the GFCI to see if it has tripped and reset it. The same applies to outside receptacles. you might have multiple plugs outside and they are fed downstream from a GFCI receptacle. Find that GFCI receptacle and make sure it has not tripped and effecting the rest.
With new led fixtures and bulbs they can be fairly sensitive. Your new LED fixture or bulbs might not work with an older dimmer switch. Always make sure that any new equipment you use is labeled for LED dimmable.
If you are on an older fuse panel it usually means that one of your main fuses has blown and you aren't receiving both phases. Instead of having 120/240 volts you are only getting 120 volts. Only half your panel has power. Have an electrician like BW Electric come check. If it isn't a fuse issue then you may need to have Nova Scotia Power come investigate further from the transformer to your house.
When your breaker has tripped and is in the middle position you can't simply just turn it to the 'on' position. You have to switch the breaker completely off then back on to reset it. If this doesn't work it indicates other problems and it may be time to call an electrician to troubleshoot.
You may see something plugged in but does not work properly, like a dim lamp. This can mean you lost your neutral conductor in that circuit. So instead of getting 120 volts you are getting less. The cause could be a broken or loose neutral at a joint or even all the way back to your main electrical panel.