Plain-English electrical and HVAC guides from Spartan Home Pros, a licensed New Jersey electrical contractor: what jobs cost, how to tell what is actually wrong, and when to call a pro.
A wired Nest doorbell is a straightforward job when the wiring behind it is right, and a frustrating one when it is not. Nearly every problem we get called out for is the transformer, not the doorbell. Here is what to check before you buy one, and what the install actually involves. Wired or battery…
A ceiling fan has three things that commonly fail and one that is genuinely dangerous. Working out which one you have takes about five minutes, and it decides whether this is a part, a new fan, or a call. Start here: what exactly is it doing? Nothing at all — no light, no fan. Power…
Most wiring jobs in an existing house are not a rewire. They are one new circuit run to one new place, and the whole job is really about the route the wire takes to get there. Here is what is actually involved, what makes one run cost more than another, and when a house genuinely…
An attic fan is one of those things you only think about when it stops — or when it will not stop. Most of the calls we get are one of about five problems, and a couple of them you can check yourself in a few minutes. First: is it actually supposed to be running?…
Most people meet surge protection the hard way — after a storm takes out a TV, the router and the control board in the furnace on the same afternoon. A whole-house surge protector is fitted at the panel and is the only kind that covers the equipment that is wired in rather than plugged in….
The app setup takes five minutes. The wiring is where people get stuck. Most of the calls we get about a video doorbell are not about the doorbell at all — they are about the transformer behind it. Here is what is actually involved. What has to be there already A wired video doorbell needs…
Swapping a light fixture looks like a fifteen minute job until you take the old one down and find out what is behind it. Here is what the work actually involves, what makes one fixture job harder than another, and where the line is between a simple swap and something that needs a licensed electrician….
Almost every EV charger we install at home is a Level 2. It is the difference between adding a few miles an hour and filling the car overnight. Here is what the job actually involves, what your panel has to be able to handle, and what it costs in New Jersey. What Level 2 actually…
Two questions cover most of what people actually want to know: how many carbon monoxide alarms do I need, and where do they go? The short answers are one on every level of the house including the basement, plus one outside each separate sleeping area — and then follow the instructions in the box, because…
An electrical panel installation is the job that everything else in the house depends on. Done properly it is invisible for thirty years. Done badly it is a fire risk that passes inspection anyway. Here is what actually happens, step by step, so you know what you are buying. This is the process. If what…
