Electrician Services — What We Do & How It Works
A breakdown of every service we connect homeowners with — what each job involves, when you need it, and what to expect from start to finish.
(888) 412-3162What Residential Electrical Work Actually Involves
Electrical work covers a wide range — from a tripped breaker that takes ten minutes to reset to a full service upgrade that requires a permit, an inspection, and coordination with the utility. The jobs below represent the full scope of what a licensed residential electrician handles. Most homeowners only need one or two of these in a given year; others — particularly in older homes — need several in sequence.
Every job in this list requires a licensed electrician. Not because of liability — because unlicensed electrical work is the leading preventable cause of house fires in the US, and because any unpermitted work creates real problems when you sell the home.
Emergency Electrical Service
An electrical emergency is any situation where the system has already failed in a way that poses an immediate risk — not a planned repair. This includes: a complete loss of power in the home when the utility shows no outage, an outlet that sparked or caused a small fire, a burning smell coming from a wall or panel, a breaker that will not reset and controls circuits you need running, or a panel that has been physically damaged by a storm or flood.
In all of these situations, the right action is to cut power to the affected area at the breaker (or at the main if you're unsure), get everyone out if there's any smell of burning, and call a licensed electrician — not tomorrow, now. Emergency service means same-day response with a licensed technician who can safely assess what happened, identify the root cause, and make the repair or stabilize the system so it's safe to use.
What emergency service is not: a breaker that trips when you run too many things at once, a single dead outlet, or a light that stopped working. Those are real issues worth fixing, but they're scheduled jobs — not emergencies.
Electrical Panel Upgrade
Your electrical panel is the distribution hub for every circuit in the home. When it's undersized — which is common in homes built before 1990 — it can't support the load modern households put on it. The most common symptom is breakers that trip frequently, particularly when multiple appliances run at the same time. But an undersized panel also creates real fire risk: circuits forced to carry more current than their breakers are rated for will overheat over time.
A panel upgrade replaces your existing panel (or fuse box) with a new 200-amp service panel. The process involves: shutting down the main, removing the old panel, installing the new one, re-terminating every circuit, and having the work inspected by a local building inspector before power is restored. This requires a permit in virtually every jurisdiction in the country.
You need a panel upgrade if: you have a fuse box rather than circuit breakers, your panel is 100 amps or less and you're adding an EV charger or generator, your panel is a brand known for fire risk (Federal Pacific, Zinsco), or your insurer has flagged it for replacement.
Circuit Breaker Repair & Replacement
A circuit breaker has one job: interrupt the circuit when current exceeds the safe limit for the wiring it protects. When a breaker fails to trip when it should, or trips when it shouldn't, or won't reset at all — it needs to be replaced. Running a home on a failing breaker is a serious fire risk.
Breaker replacement is straightforward when the panel itself is in good shape: the old breaker is removed and a compatible replacement is installed. The complexity increases when the panel is old, the breaker is a discontinued model, or there's evidence of overheating in the panel box itself. Modern panels use arc-fault circuit interrupters (AFCIs) and ground-fault circuit interrupters (GFCIs) — if your home has older standard breakers in locations that now require AFCI or GFCI protection by code, a replacement may mean upgrading to the appropriate type.
Outlet & Switch Repair
A dead outlet is one of the more common electrical calls — and one of the more misunderstood ones. The first thing to check is whether a GFCI outlet upstream on the same circuit has tripped. GFCI outlets have a test and reset button; when they trip, they cut power to everything downstream on that circuit. Pressing the reset button (if it pops back out) is sometimes all it takes.
If resetting the GFCI doesn't restore power, or if there's no GFCI on the circuit, the issue is likely a failed outlet, a loose connection behind the outlet box, or a tripped breaker that won't stay reset. All of these require opening the outlet box and working inside a live panel — which is where a licensed electrician belongs.
Common outlet and switch jobs: replacing standard outlets with GFCI or AFCI types for code compliance, adding USB outlets or smart outlets in existing box locations, replacing dimmer switches (which have compatibility requirements with LED fixtures), and tracing the cause of outlets that intermittently lose power.
Wiring Repair & Rewiring
Wiring problems are the most serious category of residential electrical work. Damaged insulation, loose connections, overloaded circuits, and aluminum wiring are all conditions that can cause fires — often with no visible warning signs beforehand.
Wiring repair ranges from locating and fixing a single damaged segment (common after pest damage, renovation work, or a nail through a cable) to rewiring entire sections of a home. Older homes — particularly those built before 1975 — may have aluminum branch circuit wiring rather than copper. Aluminum wiring was standard at the time but has since been identified as a significant fire risk due to oxidation at connection points. Remediation typically involves installing special connectors at every device location or replacing the aluminum circuits with copper entirely.
A whole-home rewiring project is a major undertaking. It typically involves running new circuits throughout the home, upgrading the panel, and obtaining permits in every jurisdiction. It's the right choice when the existing wiring is beyond repair or when a home is being substantially renovated.
Ceiling Fan & Light Fixture Installation
Installing a ceiling fan or light fixture is one of the more accessible electrical jobs — but it has one common complication: the electrical box in the ceiling. Standard junction boxes are not rated to support the weight and movement of a ceiling fan. Installing a fan where only a light existed requires replacing the box with a fan-rated box, which in turn requires access from above (an attic or crawl space) or cutting and patching the drywall.
Where the box is already fan-rated, or where you're replacing a fan with another fan, the job is straightforward. Where there's no ceiling outlet at all — a room with no existing overhead light — a new circuit needs to be run, which is a more involved project and typically requires a permit.
EV Charger Installation
A Level 2 EV charger runs on 240 volts and requires a dedicated circuit — a circuit that powers nothing else. The charger itself draws between 24 and 48 amps depending on the unit, so the circuit must be sized appropriately (typically a 50-amp circuit with a 40-amp continuous load rating).
The installation involves: assessing the panel for available capacity, running a new 240V circuit from the panel to the garage or parking location, installing a dedicated circuit breaker, and mounting and wiring the charging unit. If the panel doesn't have sufficient capacity, a panel upgrade may be required before installation.
Most EV charger installs qualify for federal tax credits and some utility rebates — your electrician can advise on what paperwork to keep. A permit is required in most jurisdictions.
Smoke & Carbon Monoxide Detector Installation
Battery-powered smoke detectors are better than nothing, but hardwired detectors with battery backup are the code-required standard in new construction and most renovations. Hardwired detectors are interconnected — when one triggers, all of them sound. This gives occupants more warning time in a larger home.
Modern combo units detect both smoke and carbon monoxide, which simplifies placement. Code requirements vary by jurisdiction but generally require detectors in every bedroom, outside every sleeping area, and on every level of the home including the basement. If you're selling your home, the inspection will include verifying detector placement and functionality.
Whole-Home Surge Protection
A power strip surge protector only protects the devices plugged into it. A whole-home surge protector installs at the main panel and protects every circuit in the home simultaneously — including appliances, HVAC systems, and anything else hardwired into the electrical system.
Surge events happen from lightning strikes (even indirect ones nearby), utility switching events, and large motor loads cycling on and off. Modern homes have more sensitive electronics and appliances than ever — smart appliances, variable-speed HVAC, home automation systems — all of which can be damaged or degraded by voltage spikes that a panel-level suppressor would catch.
Installation is a single-day job: the suppressor mounts in or adjacent to the main panel and takes about an hour to install. Most manufacturers offer a connected equipment warranty that covers damage to devices if the unit fails to protect them.
Electrical Safety Inspection
A pre-purchase electrical inspection is one of the most valuable things a homebuyer can add to their due diligence process. A general home inspector checks that things work; an electrician inspects whether things are safe and code-compliant. These are different assessments. Common findings in older homes include: outdated panels, aluminum wiring, double-tapped breakers, missing GFCI protection, undersized service, and unpermitted additions.
Insurance inspections are increasingly required for older homes — particularly those with Federal Pacific or Zinsco panels, knob-and-tube wiring, or service under 100 amps. The inspector's report documents what needs to be addressed and provides the written evidence insurers need.
General safety inspections are appropriate for any home that hasn't been professionally evaluated in more than ten years, particularly if new high-draw appliances have been added or the home has been renovated by non-licensed contractors.
Generator Installation
A generator is only useful if it's wired into the home properly. Plugging a portable generator directly into a wall outlet — a practice called backfeeding — is illegal, fatal to utility workers, and will destroy the generator when utility power returns. Every generator installation requires a transfer switch, either manual or automatic.
A manual transfer switch installs at the panel and lets you select which circuits you want the generator to power during an outage. You connect the generator, flip the transfer switch, and start it. An automatic standby generator — typically natural gas or propane — monitors grid power and starts itself within seconds of an outage, requiring no manual intervention.
Standby generator installation involves: a licensed electrician wiring the transfer switch and generator connection, a licensed plumber or gas contractor running the fuel line, permits from the local building department, and a final inspection before the system is commissioned. It's a multi-day project for a permanent installation, but one that significantly changes the livability of a home during extended outages.
Questions About a Specific Job?
Call and describe what you're dealing with — we'll tell you what it involves and get you a same-day appointment.
(888) 412-3162Licensed contractors — 24/7 availability