Submitted by Some_Historian_679 t3_113qheo in rva
Hi all, we recently moved into our house in June of 2022, and our electric bills have been unusually high, so we’re looking for an honest electrician to come out and see what’s going on. In addition, some parts of the house aren’t getting power despite replacing the corresponding fuses. Thanks a bunch!!
We got the same rec from reddit and used him to inspect our knob and tube wiring, as well as upgrade our panel. He was great to work with and really experienced with old museum district houses and honest about what we did/didn't need to worry about!
I’ve used them at least four times over the last few years since I trust them.
Going to add another recommendation for Scott, he’s great at figuring out older electrical systems.
Wow, everyone here appears to think this is the guy! Thank you for the rec!! 🙏🏻🙏🏻
>parts of the house aren’t getting power despite replacing the corresponding fuses.
Fuses??? Are you sure it's not breakers, because if your electrical panel is still using fuses that would indicate that your house is old, really old, and part of your high electric bill might be because they didn't really do the best in insulating houses back in the day. For example, my 1930's home, and several other 1950's and earlier houses I've been in have 0 insulation in the walls, and half of them have the original insulation in the attic from when the houses were built, which wasn't that great. Plus, old homes will leak air like a sieve, all of which will cause HVAC systems to operate more frequently (especially if you also still have the original single pane windows. The Department of Energy does have a DIY Home Energy Audit that you can start to get an idea of what to look for while you wait for the electrician. And if you house is indeed on fuses, your electrical system may have reached the end of its life. The asbestos insulation that was used in wires long ago becomes brittle over time and likes to fall off whenever it is messed with (plus, they didn't exactly have ground wires included back then, a necessity for many things these days and while some people will use the metal boxes as a ground, that's technically not an acceptable practice). This is one of the reasons I replaced every wire in my home, that and one circuit (fuse) would control half the house. Unfortunately, because I did this myself with the help of an electrician friend who's no longer in the area, I do not have any suggestions, but I do wish you luck because this has the potential to be a very expensive project...
I misspoke, it was breakers! But the house was originally built in the late 30s with an addition built in the late 80s. It all seems pretty roughshod haha
That's good to hear, so aside from you probably having no insulation in the original part of the house, the electrician should hopefully have no problems identifying your power issues...
We used Reed Power Solutions, based on someone's recommendation on here. They were quick and super easy to work with.
Came here to suggest Reed as well! They are super kind and respond quickly to questions.
May I ask what type of work you got done? And ballpark how much that ran you? Sorry for the 20 questions, but we’re new to this and want to go in prepared 😅
Sure. 3 outlets and the overhead light in our guest room randomly stopped working. They were in and out in about 20 minutes. Their standard call rate is $159, we also ended up paying a small ($5, I think) fee to pay with credit card.
Oh okay awesome thank you!! We have similar problems with a few of our overheads in the house. Sometimes I think the last owner did it himself 🤣🤣
We have used Kinetic Electric for installing outside outlets and a full electric service upgrade. Scott is always responsive and pretty quick to get you on his schedule. He also is good with answering questions and taking the time to explain things to you.
Another vote for Kinetic. Super nice guy, knowledgeable.
this may also be useful for you: Home Retrofit - Energy Audit - Dominion Energy Conservation Programs (domsavings.com)
Dominion rebates available for home energy savings measures
We used Above the Code recently. Fair pricing, quick scheduling.
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I vouch strongly for Wilber Pacas of C&W electrical. He will give you an honest answer and not try to rip you off. Dude stands by his work too.
Had this issue and used Connect Electric. I was very satisfied.
Thank you everyone for taking the time out of your day to give me your recommendations!! I truly appreciate you 🙏🏻🥳
Tuckahoe Electric!
The odds are this is an HVAC issue fyi
Old Town Electric
I have generally had great experiences with Woodfin. They are more expensive but when it comes to electrical stuff I would rather pay a premium ….
No specific knock on Woodfin here, but my advice from a real estate agent general rule of thumb is if they advertise on TV, stay away.
As an agent, I can confirm from a cost perspective. Plenty of exceptions like most good HVAC companies advertise. Generally those type of plumbing and electrical companies are not ripping people off ,rather, they are just repairing more than what is needed. Examples: Michael and Sons & JES are notorious for this. Generally most of these companies are honest just expensive.
I know only 2 large HVAC in this area who have good reviews but are actually very sketchy. Reviews are a poor way to measure these companies honesty or workmanship.
For example, ones with good reviews are often when are made people to feel special. They might fix something for 1/2 the cost of another company and the person thinks they were just being nice.
What that reviewer does not realize, is they probably did not repair what they said. Or they might have charged the manufacturer the cost for parts and not tell the client.
I won’t say the bad ones but I will confirm the good ones.
ImplementEven1196 t1_j8rt1fn wrote
My go- to guy is Scott Johnson (Anything Electrical). He and his guys found some creative solutions to fishing wires that avoided a lot of plaster destruction.
(804) 370-9829