Sunset Air Blog: Posts Tagged ‘Puyallup’

Qualities to Look for in a Professional Electrician

Friday, September 5th, 2014

In this fast-paced Information Age, it’s easy to locate professional services to take care of any of your household needs. In fact, it’s too easy: a simple Internet set search will turn up scores of companies you can hire… and not much in the way to separate them so you can find the one that will do the job you need at the quality level you expect.

If you are searching for an electrician in Puyallup, WA, you will run across this dilemma. Electricians from across the Southwest Washington area will pop up in your searches. How can you decide on the right company for the job?

We’ve listed a few of the qualities that you should place on your shopping list when you’re looking for an electrician. At Sunset Air, we’re proud to live up to the expectations of our clients, and we think we will live up to all your expectations as well.

Look For These Qualities in an Electrician

  • Many years in the business: Although there is nothing stopping a new company from hiring electricians with many years of experience, in general newer companies won’t be able to deliver the same confident level of quality as one that had a few decades of history behind it. It’s also much easier to put your trust in electricians that have shown they’ve earned the respect of the community and many clients. You should look for an electrical service company with at least 10 years of history.
  • Offers commercial services as well: You may not run a business, but you should pay attention to any electrical service company that handles both commercial and residential work. Technicians who can handle the wiring needs for a whole commercial building will have the necessary skill set to take care of any issues you may experience with the electrical system in your home.

Sunset Air has served the South Puget Sound and Southwest Washington areas for over 35 years, growing from a small garage to an extensive office and showroom with a large team of experienced employees. Along with commercial and residential electrical services, we also offer services for heating, air conditioning, water heaters, generators, and solar energy. You can contact us any time of the day or night when you need emergency help for your home.

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When You Should Schedule Whole-House Rewiring

Friday, August 22nd, 2014

Rewiring an entire home’s electrical system is a large task, but one that often necessary to improve daily electrical use and to increase safety. The job requires a team of expert electricians and should never be undertaken as a hobbyist “adventure” or delegated to amateurs who offer suspiciously low prices.

If you believe your home needs to have whole-house rewiring, a call for electrician from Sunset Air. We are proud of the skills of our team of electricians, and we offer many electrical services—large and small—to the South Puget Sound and Southwest Washington areas. We will help you decide if whole-house rewiring is the best option for your home.

When Whole-House Rewiring May Be Necessary

The amount of electricity that we use in our homes on a daily basis has increased exponentially since the 1980s, and seems to rise each year. We have more powerful appliances than ever before, as well as new gizmos that need a steady electrical supply. Just think about how many devices you need to have hooked up every day just for recharging, and you will have an idea of the recent boost in electrical needs for U.S. homes.

All this heightened demand for power can overwhelm older wiring systems, even ones from only a few decades back. If you think that whole-house re-wiring is something necessary only for houses more than five decades old, you might be surprised to learn that your home needs it!

However, old homes are a good place to start. If you live in a house built pre-World War II that has never received an upgrade to its electrical system, you should schedule rewiring right away: old copper wiring can become dangerous with the growing amount of electrical demand placed on it.

For newer homes, be on the lookout for these signs that you will benefit from whole-house rewiring:

  • Aluminum wiring: This metal replaced copper after 1965 and remained in use through the mid-1970s. However, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, aluminum wires can overheat and cause fires. Check with an electrician if your home was built between 1965–1973 to see if you have aluminum wiring.
  • Constantly tripped circuit breakers: If you are habitually going to the circuit breaker panel to reset tripped breakers, then your home is sending you the signal that its electrical system cannot handle the current demands placed on it.
  • Charred, discolored outlets: These marks indicate electrical fires caused by shorts within the outlet. At the very least, the outlet will need an upgrade… and possibly all the wiring as well.
  • Acrid smells: Do you notice a burning smell whenever you turn on the lights in your home, but cannot find the source? Then it’s time to call an electrician, because something could be seriously amiss with your home’s wiring and it will need replacement.

If possible, you should arrange for rewiring during a remodel a safeguard. However, if you have emergency indications like those above, or if your home simply cannot handle the daily electrical demands placed on it, call for an electrician in Puyallup, WA from Sunset Air to see if you should schedule whole-house rewiring ASAP.

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Warning Signs You Need Professional Electrical Repair

Friday, May 23rd, 2014

Electrical repair is nothing to sneeze at. Damage to your electrical system can affect your household’s ability to function, and while modern homes have safety measures in place, electricity can be quite dangerous without a trained electrician performing repairs. Here in Puyallup, electrical repair services are standing by to correct the issue, but before they do, you need to be able to call them in.

Here’s A Short List of Some Warning Signs You Need Professional Electrical Repair

  • The circuit breaker keeps tripping. The breakers are an important safety feature in your home, cutting off power in the event the wires or circuits are overloaded with too much power. Without them, the excess power could damage your electrical system and possibly even start a fire.
  • Loose outlets. If you plug something into your outlet and the plug falls out, it probably means that the contacts are worn or loose. Either way, that spells trouble: rendering the outlet useless at best and damaging whatever is plugged into it at worst. Similar problems can occur in the event of “backstabbed” (loose) wires connecting the outlet to the rest of the electrical system.
  • Flickering lights. Your lights will flicker if they suffer from an interrupted power flow, which usually means either a loose connection somewhere or frayed wires somewhere along the line. (Wires can become frayed through age, or from external damage such as vermin chewing on them.) Flickering lights can sometimes get worse in instances of high wind or rain, as the inclement weather rattles or shifts the pertinent component.

If you spot the warning signs that you need professional electrical repair, don’t try to fix the problem yourself. Instead, call in the expert electricians at Sunset Air. Our trained electrical technicians have years of experience and the training to handle the latest developments in the field. We’ll hunt down the source of the issue and make repairs quickly and safely. Electrical repair services in Puyallup don’t come any more reliable. Pick up the phone and give us a call today. You’ll be glad you did!

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What to Look for with an Electrical Repair Service

Friday, May 16th, 2014

Your electrical system is one of the most important components of your house, but also one of the most potentially dangerous. You need a good electrical repair service to correct any problems that arise, and here in Puyallup, electrical repair services are quite common. But that gives rise to another question: which company is the right one to use. Luckily, there are factors that can help separate the good companies from the bad ones.

Here’s what to Look for With An Electrical Repair Service Company in Puyallup, WA

First of all, you want a company that can offer reliable credentials. Every electrical repair service must be licensed and bonded by the state. But a good company will go beyond that. Look for companies that are affiliated with reputable third parties, or which offer bona fides from the cities in which they operate. That speaks to a quality of service that you can rely on.

In addition, look for a company that has a long history of service. That isn’t to say a brand new company is bad. Every company started somewhere and you might find a new service that turns out to be quite reliable. However, a well-established company with a great deal of experience behind it has proven eminently reliable, with happy customers and a solid record to back up its claims.

Finally, you want to look at the services offered to get a good impression of the company’s merits. Any reputable service will give you an estimate in advance, so that you know exactly what’s in store before they begin work.

All of these features can be found in Sunset Air, a well-established company in service since 1976. We have affiliations with local cities, as well as Sheet Metal and Air Conditioning Contractors’ National Association. We offer estimates before we start to work. If you know what to look for with an electrical repair service in Puyallup, you’ll see that the choice is clear. Give us a call today and let us show you what we can do!

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What Are the Benefits of Upgrading My Electrical Service Panel?

Tuesday, April 22nd, 2014

Here in Puyallup, electrical services are used to handling all manner of systems. We have our share of older houses in the area, and many of them sport older electrical systems to boot. A solid upgrade performed by a reliable electrical contractor can help out your home in innumerable ways. If you’re experiencing problems with your electrical system, or even if your system is working fine but relies on older technology, you may want to seriously consider replacing your electric panel with an updated model. “What are the benefits of upgrading my electrical service panel?” We’ve provided a quick outline below.

In the first place, upgrading your electrical system may be legally necessary, since older models may no longer adhere to modern statues and codes. Generally speaking, if your panel still uses fuses and other outdated equipment, it likely isn’t up to code and will require replacing.

The reasons why fold into another huge benefit to upgrading your panel: safety. Old or worn service panels could cause an overload, shorting out your electricity and/or possibly causing a fire. A newer panel can provide increased safety to your home, as well as the convenience of being able to handle your electrical load adequately. A new electrical panel may also save you money in electrical bills, since it

We use electrical power at an unprecedented level these days, with plasma screen TVs, high-end computers and similar devices playing an increasingly large role in our lives. Without a proper electrical panel, you may not be able to support the kinds of appliances you need to stay connected. For more on the benefits of upgrading your electrical service panel, or to schedule an inspection of your existing panel, give the experts at Sunset Air a call. We offer electrical services in Puyallup and we’ll get you an up-to-date panel that meets all of your electrical needs. Electricity can be dangerous, so don’t leave such an important project in the hands of amateurs. Contact us today to make an appointment. You’ll be glad you did!

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3 Benefits to Window Replacement

Wednesday, April 16th, 2014

People usually think of “window replacement” as something that happens after a neighborhood ball game gets out of hand and they end up with a smashed-in window. But window replacement plays a large part in home improvements, and there are a number of benefits you can receive from new windows if you have the right contractors helping you pick the replacements and install them. We’ll look at a few of the advantages of having window replacement in Puyallup, WA.

Sunset Air does more than handle air conditioners and heaters. Our team provides comfort services that improve homes with water heaters, solar power, electrical installation and repairs, and back-up generators. Our window and door replacement specialists are available to help you make your home a safer, more beautiful, comfortable, and energy-efficient place to live.

3 Window Replacement Benefits:

  1. Improved insulation for summer and winter: Windows are one of the major places where a home gains and loses heat. During cold weather, thin and insufficient windows will allow the heat inside your home to escape and make your interior colder, which will force your heater to overwork. In hot weather, the same inferior windows will allow heat to seep inside, pressuring your AC. With efficient windows in place, you’ll save money each month on your energy bills from the HVAC systems that don’t need to strain to keep you comfortable.
  2. Prevent furniture weathering: A window is clear and lets in light—but it can allow in too much light, particularly damaging UV-A and UV-B radiation. This can cause damage to your furniture such as fading. To help protect your valuable furnishings, you can have special windows with improved UV shielding put in.
  3. Better safety: Okay, let’s talk about that baseball-through-the-window for a moment. Accidents happen, and glass windows can break. However, newer windows are designed for better safety should an accident happen. Safety windows will not shatter into large, knife-edged pieces that can cut people. This is especially important as part of earthquake preparedness: in the aftermath of a temblor, you won’t have rooms filled with shattered glass along the floor, and people near windows will be much safer.

Schedule Your Window Replacements Today

Although all of the above make good reasons to have your old windows replaced, there’s always the standard reason: You simply want to have a new, fresh look in your home. Sunset Air can help you with window replacement in Puyallup, WA that will add a new sparkle to your house, while also saving you money, keeping you safe, and protecting your furnishings. Call us today for an appointment.

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Benefits of Solar System Maintenance and Heating Repair

Thursday, February 6th, 2014

Believe it or not, solar panels make a lot of sense as heating options here in the Pacific Northwest. Technology has advanced such that solar panels can work extremely well even in areas with a lot of cloud cover like ours. In Puyallup, heating repair services can often handle issues with solar panels too, allowing you to reap the full benefits of this eco-friendly and energy efficient form of heating. Regular maintenance and repair sessions are essential to keeping them running at their best, and the benefits of solar system maintenance in Puyallup and heating repair cannot be underestimated.

The biggest drawback to solar panels is that they’re located out in the elements, where exposure and climate damage can take their toll. They don’t have any moving parts, so wear and tear is kept to a minimum, but even so, breakdowns and general aging issues are quite common. It doesn’t necessarily bring the whole process to a halt, but it can slow down the system’s efficiency immensely, which ends up costing your money.

In fact, efficiency really is the name of the game when it comes to solar panels. A regular maintenance session can keep them clear of dust and grime, as well as replacing worn parts before they start to affect the rest of the system. The more you can stay on top of such a situation, the bigger return you’ll see on your solar panel investment.

The benefits of solar system maintenance and heating repair can only be realized if you choose the right company to provide such services. In Puyallup, heating repair services like Sunset Air have the skill and experience to do the job right. We pride ourselves on our thorough and effective handling of solar panel problems of all varieties and we want you to be happy with every step of the process. We can explain the benefits of solar panels to you before installing a beautiful system, and when the time comes to keep it maintained or replace a worn part, we can perform the job with courtesy and care. Give us a call today to set up an appointment!

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3 Advantages of PV Panels in Puyallup

Thursday, January 23rd, 2014

PV panels are a component in solar power. The “PV” stands for “photovoltaics,” which is the method by which solar radiation is converted into energy. PV panels are spread out to catch as much of the sun’s rays as they can in order to transform it into electrical energy. In towns like Puyallup, heating through solar power sounds like a long shot: we’re not exactly inundated with sunny days here in the Pacific Northwest. But PV panels actually make a lot of sense for homeowners interested in solar power. Here are 3 advantages of PV panels in Puyallup, WA:

  • They don’t need sunny days to work. PV panels can pull energy from the daylight even during cloudy or rainy days. That means you don’t have to worry about the sun coming out in order to make effective use of them.
  • They provide increased energy independence. Once you pay for the cost of installation, you’ll find your energy bills going down tremendously as the PV panels begin generating electricity for you. In some cases, you may even be able to sell excess electricity back to the grid. Larger numbers of PV panels mean greater savings, and the existence of PV panels will likely increase the resale value of your house when the time comes. Furthermore, PV panels provide that electricity even when the civic grid is experiencing problems, providing you with greater energy independence than you could expect
  • They’re environmentally friendly.  Solar panels are green to the extreme, generating electricity without an attendant carbon footprint. It generates no harmful byproducts and it requires no fossil fuels. Here in the environmentally conscious Northwest, you can’t do much better.

If you approve of the advantages of PV panels in Puyallup and want to speak to an expert about it, then Sunset Air is waiting to help. We handle all kinds of energy issues in Puyallup: heating, air conditioning and solar energy included. We can answer your questions, help you plan your installation and then set up your panels with professionalism and pride.  Give us a call today. You’ll be glad that you did!

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Why Is a Damaged Thermocouple a Problem?

Wednesday, January 15th, 2014

Furnaces are complex pieces of equipment, relying on a number of different components in order to do their jobs effectively. In towns like Puyallup, heating is of an especial concern since our winters can be so wet and cold. When an individual component gets damaged, it can throw the entire system off. You may have heard the term “thermocouple” mentioned in regards to certain kinds of heating repair. What is a thermocouple and why is a damaged thermocouple a problem? The answers can be found below.

The thermocouple is usually attached to the pilot light or ignition system. In some models, it may even be a part of the same component as the ignition. It measures the temperature of the burner and regulates the flow of gas into the heater. When the pilot light is on, the thermocouple reads it and releases the gas to start the heating process. When the pilot light is out, it detects that and prevents the gas from flowing: keeping your house from being flooded with unlit gas in the bargain. That makes it a vital safety feature, which also means that the furnace can’t really run without it.

In most cases, a damaged thermocouple simply shuts off the gas entirely before it can be replaced. In some ways, that’s not a problem at all, since it keeps gas out of your home and maintains basic safety standards. On the other hand, the heater won’t work as long as the thermocouple remains damaged, meaning that you’ll need to get it repaired or replaced before you can use your furnace again.

In such cases, a trained professional can help. Thermocouples are fairly easy to swap out if you have the right training, but they’re tricky components, and installing them improperly will keep the furnace from turning on. Heating repairs are conducted by the Puyallup heating repair service technicians at Sunset Air. We can explain why a damaged thermocouple is a problem, then make repairs with courtesy and care. Pick up the phone and give us a call today. You’ll be glad that you did!

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Signs That You Need Heating Replacement in Puyallup

Tuesday, October 1st, 2013

Puyallup heating systems are as omnipresent in our homes as water and electricity. Our wet Washington weather makes the need for a reliable heating system inescapable. And while regular maintenance and careful use can give your heater many years of life, sooner or later, the time comes to replace it with a newer and more efficient unit. It can be hard to tell when exactly you need to install a new unit, especially if it’s seeing regular use (though once the decision is made, it’s best to do it just before the heating season starts, if possible). Here are some signs that you need heating replacement in Puyallup:

  • Age. A furnace or boiler that is more than 15 years old, or a heat pump that is more than 10 years old, should be considered for replacement. It’s not necessarily a make-or-break factor – again, with proper care, a heater can last quite a long time – but if you have an older unit and you notice additional problems with it, it may be time to consider something new.
  • Bills are rising. As heaters age, they become more inefficient, requiring greater maintenance and repair sessions to keep functioning. If you notice your heating bills steadily rising, despite not running the heater any more often than normal, it’s a good sign that replacement is in order. The same holds true if you’re scheduling repairs more and more often; eventually, the cost of replacement outweighs the constant cost of maintaining the older one.
  • Insufficient heating. Along those lines, a heater needs to maintain adequate comfort levels when it runs, even if that costs you more in heating bills. If your house is never comfortable – always a little too chilly or drafty, no matter how long you run the heater – a newer and more efficient unit can probably solve the problem.

If you spot signs that you need heating maintenance in Puyallup, you need to speak with a professional about your options. Sunset Air handles Puyallup heating issues and can install a great new heater for you to help you tackle those cold and rainy days head on. Contact our staff for a consultation today.

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