Shedding Light on the Electricity Needs of Old Homes

When you have an old home you probably know that the electric system may be on the fritz. You may have re-wired already or may be considering it. Joe from Sonny Electric sat down with Pasadena Now to shed some light on the subject.

Oftentimes, the electrical systems need upgrades so all of the homeowner’s modern appliances can be used. “The other problem though where houses has helped Pasadena is they have the old fuses and usually the services are too small so they usually need a service upgrade. In the service upgrade is to increase the capacity so they have more power. So they can use their appliances, central air-conditioning. A lot of [the old] houses never had air-conditioning,” said Joe. “What happens [is] we have to change the service and upgrade so they’re allowed to have air-conditioning,” said Joe.

Joe understands the needs of older homes when it comes to electricity and went on to say that Sonny Electric has worked on many older homes in the Pasadena area. “[We can help with old homes] especially at Pasadena[V2] … They’re [a] knob and tube [system] and as long as you don’t fetch a knob and tube that’s legal, with today’s appliances we usually suggest to get rid of the knob and tube if we’re going to be putting new appliances that they have accepted to an upgrade under appliances. With knob and tube is a non-­grounded system,” Joe added. All this technical talk is code for making your house efficient and saving you money.

Even if you’re not looking to upgrade, there are simple things you can do to save money and make the most efficient use of your electricity. “[Change all .lighting to LED.,” said Joe. Also be smart about when you use high-powered appliances. “Peak hours are during the day,” said Joe, so it helps to do things like run your dishwasher or use your washer and dryer a non-peak times.

For more advice on your electrical needs, you can reach Sonny Electric at sonnyelectric89@gmail or by calling (323) 258-1767.