Whole-House Generator Myths—And the Facts

March 27th, 2023
generator-residential

There was once a time when the most common definition of the word myth was stories about ancient gods and heroes. Today, the common definition is anything that’s widely believed yet untrue.

There are whole shows, podcasts, video channels, and books based on breaking about the myths that circulate through our society and which the internet has only made harder to squash.

Are there myths about whole-house generators out there? You bet! 

We’re experts when it comes to whole-house generators, and we’d like to go through a few common myths about these devices and dispel them with the facts.

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What Are the Benefits of a Variable Frequency Drive for a Business?

March 13th, 2023
electrical-schematic

You may have heard about variable frequency drives (VFDs) before, but not understood what they do or what benefits they may offer to your business.

We hope to change this with some helpful information. VFDs are becoming more and more common in commercial and industrial use because of their benefits, which include higher energy efficiency, fewer breakdowns, longer system life, and lower environmental impact.

But let’s start at the beginning and answer your first question…

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Why You Should ONLY Hire Professional Electricians

February 27th, 2023
electrical-parts

The title of this post is a bit redundant: it should be “Why You Should ONLY Hire Electricians.” The reason is that any one who’s an amateur electrician is not an electrician!

You can’t have an amateur lawyer or an amateur doctor—when you say “lawyer” or “doctor,” you mean someone who has a law degree or a medical degree and a license to practice. The same criteria applies to electricians. 

Unfortunately, homeowners often make the mistake of thinking an amateur who claims to be an electrician is someone they can trust with important work.

Hiring an amateur “electrician” to fix wiring for your house makes as much sense as hiring a “medical enthusiast” (or whatever title a bogus doctor uses) to handle your surgery. 

We hope this explanation has convinced you to only hire a (professional) electrician in Cheektowaga, NY. If you want to learn more about why to avoid amateurs (and that includes you) for electrical work, follow us below.

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Old Fuel and Your Generator: A Bad Combination

February 13th, 2023
emergency-home-generator

We strongly recommend whole-house generators to our customers. There are few things more reassuring than knowing that your home will have the electrical power it needs in case of an extended outage.

Power losses are most common during periods of extreme weather, and a home that cannot run its HVAC system for several days at a time under such conditions is likely to be unlivable.

Generators also make homes safer in general, stop refrigerated and frozen food from spoiling, and ensure that powered medical equipment continues to operate.

The best way to power a generator is with natural gas, since this fuel source is piped directly to the generator and there’s no need to keep a separate fuel supply of liquid propane, gasoline, or diesel on hand.

But not all homes have access to a natural gas line. For those homes that rely on a different fuel source, we have some important advice about old, stale fuel.

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Don’t Try to Install Your Own Spa Electrical System!

January 30th, 2023
pool-at-night

Having a spa or hot tub for your house is a wonderful luxury: you can enjoy the refreshing quality of a pool without all the space that a pool requires, and few sensations are more relaxing than soaking in the water of a hot tub at the end of the day.

Hot tubs are also great for socializing and they can significantly increase the value of a home.

Can you install a spa on your own? Well, we don’t recommend trying it. It’s a lot more complicated than buying a hot tub and plugging it in.

You have to consider the deck, the support, the plumbing connection, the massive weight, the chemicals … there’s far too much to it.

Furthermore, hot tubs and spas have local code and safety requirements they have to meet, and it takes professionals to ensure that your new hot tub meets these codes.

And, above all, you can’t install your own electrical system for your spa!

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Switching to LED Lights: 2023 Is the Year to Do It!

January 16th, 2023
lightbulb-LED-100-dollar-bills

We don’t like making New Years’ resolutions for others, but sometimes people feel at a loss for what they want to achieve in the new year. So we’d like to make a suggestion, one that’s not too difficult to achieve when you have the right people working with you. 

Change your home’s indoor lighting over entirely to LED lights.

Part of this job you can do on your own. For basic lamps or anyplace you have easily accessible light bulb fixtures, you only need to purchase LED bulbs of the same wattage and replace the old incandescent bulbs with them.

LED lights cost more to purchase, but they aren’t super expensive, and the long-term benefits and savings are well worth it. 

But you have more complex lighting in your house, and this is where you’ll need electrical professionals to handle the retrofit that makes your home into a true LED home. Scherer Electric is the company to trust when it comes to indoor lighting in Orchard Park, NY.

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What Types of Wiring and Electrical Panels Are Outdated?

December 19th, 2022
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Residential electrical technology continues to march forward, and that means out of date older systems. In many cases, you won’t need to worry about technology in your house that’s a couple of years old. But you may need to worry about technology that’s several decades old!

We’re going to look at four outdated types of wiring and electrical panels we find in many homes. We recommend our customers have these replaced or updated.  

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Some Common Generator Problems You May Encounter

December 5th, 2022
generator-residential

One of the best ways to have a happy, relaxing, and low-stress holiday season is to know that you have a whole-house generator that’s ready to go to work if the power goes out. An extended power loss during the winter does a lot more than shut off the holiday lights: it will result in spoiled food, cold discomfort, and even life-threatening situations for anyone who uses powered medical equipment.

The best way to ensure you have a reliable generator is to schedule routine maintenance for it. This will help prevent most potential malfunctions. Even with the best maintenance, you may still encounter a need for our technicians to come out and provide generator repair in Depew, NY. In this post, we’ll look at several of the more common generator troubles we fix.

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Our Electricians’ Tips for a Safe Winter Holiday Season

November 21st, 2022
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The end of the year is always a “Season of Lights,” no matter which holidays you’re celebrating. It’s only natural as the weather turns colder and the night falls earlier that people want to feel brightness and cheer all around them, and this means festive lighting displays both indoors and outdoors. 

We want you and your family to have a bright and wonderful winter holiday season. We also want you to be safe! 

Our team of electricians in Orchard Park, NY and throughout Western New York have tips for ways to keep your house safe during the holidays, free from fire danger and electrical shortages.

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Ways to Tell You Need Commercial or Industrial Wiring Upgrades

November 7th, 2022
commercial-building-lobby

It’s hard to imagine there’s any commercial or industrial business that operates without electricity. The electrical demands for most facilities are enormous, and interruptions with the electrical system will usually bring operations to an abrupt halt and result in costly downtime.

You can’t avoid all electrical problems in your business, but if you have damaged or old wiring, you’ll suffer a larger amount of problems and even safety issues. Scherer Electric offers commercial and industrial electric service in Buffalo, NY to upgrade and rewire facilities to meet contemporary demands. 

Below are some of the signs you may notice that will warn you it’s time to call us for upgrades to your commercial/industrial electrical system.

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