NAME:  JC Cuellar

POSITION AT OHMS:  Apprentice Electrician – CurrentSAFE Electrician

NUMBER OF YEARS AT OHMS:  1 year, 7 months

WHERE ARE YOU FROM:  Richmond, Texas

HOBBIES:  Sports

FAVORITE MOVIE:  Gladiator

FAVORITE FOOD:  Chicken Alfredo

FAVORITE VACATION DESTINATION:  Fiesta Texas in San Antonio or Veracruz, Mexico

FAVORITE BOOK:  Electrical Code Book (lol)

FAVORITE BAND:  Hip Hop

FAVORITE THING ABOUT HOUSTON:  The variety of fun and things to do.

WHAT ONE PLACE WOULD YOU RECOMMEND TO VISIT IN HOUSTON:  The Galleria

WHAT DREW YOU TO THE ELECTRICAL FIELD:  I always liked to see how my work helps people.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE THING ABOUT WORKING AT OHMS:  The hard work everyone puts in to accomplish the job.  It is a great learning experience.

WHAT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING YOU HAVE LEARNED WORKING AT OHMS:  To always try to be better at my job and work to think ahead.

DO YOU HAVE ANY TIPS FOR OUR CUSTOMERS?:  Just to keep being great customers!

WHAT IS SO WONDERFUL ABOUT OUR CUSTOMERS?:  They are always nice and caring and treat us fairly.  They are quick to let us know how happy they are when the job is done well.

Our final safety post from the ESFI this month (we are going to begin next month with their flyer outlining the National Electrical Code) is one near and dear to many of us:  Childproofing!  There is no greater task in the midst of diapers, bottles, pacifiers, blankets, and screaming than childproofing.  Most of us wait until our babies become mobile, and then things are not necessarily done to task.  Check out this nifty flyer and get to childproofing before the screams and coos of your little one(s) distract(s) you!

If you have any questions about anything we have posted this month, or want to speak to someone about the safety of your house, call our office or use the contact form on our website.

If you would like to print any of the flyers we featured, Click Here and scroll all the way to the bottom of the page.

Remember, we are here to help!

With the school year winding down (or already complete for some!) the excitement of pools, lakes, beaches, and the like is in full force.  Continuing the theme of Electrical Safety Month, this week’s flyer is focused on an unknown danger for many:  electric shock drowning.  There have been a number of articles recently detailing instances of such (we even shared one on our Facebook Page not too long ago), and we feel this flyer can be insanely useful for everyone.  We highly recommend printing it out and making yourself, and everyone you pool with, familiar with every possible aspect of electric shock drowning.

Keep in mind, the real dangers are out in lakes, ponds, and oceans, but electric shock can happen anywhere there is water.  For further information regarding electric shock drowning, we recommend you visit the Electrical Safety Foundation International .

As May continues on (and the promise of summer is looming in the foreground) our focus remains on Electrical Safety Month.  As promised, here is flyer number two in the ESFI’s educational series on safety.  Surge protectors can be the single best method of home electrical safety and security you can employ.  We just recently had a whole home surge protection system in our house, and not one day has passed that I regret it.  Now, that doesn’t mean that the single strand surge protectors are worthless.  Those are better protection than nothing. 

Our electricians are skilled in installing whole home surge protection systems.  So, if you have been thinking about it, now is the time to implement one more safety aspect in to your home.  Call our office to get any questions you have answered, schedule a free estimate, or make that appointment and pull the trigger!  We are here to help you!

Since May is official Electrical Safety Month, we felt it a good time to educate all of our wonderful followers on day-to-day electrical safety.  The Electrical Safety Foundation International (ESFI) annually publishes nifty flyers that are downloadable to viewers.  Being that we at Ohms are here to look out for you all and help in any way we can, are going to publish each and every one of these flyers for this year!  Don’t fret, there are only five so we won’t be taking up too much of your time.  The first one is one of my favorite subjects:  GFCIs!

Have any questions or want to make the switch?  Call us and we can help you out.  We are, after all, here to make your life easier, brighter, and safer!

NAME:  Tonya Eaton

POSITION AT OHMS:  Service Manager/Dispatcher

NUMBER OF YEARS AT OHMS:  1 year, 8 months

WHERE ARE YOU FROM:  San Bernadino, California

HOBBIES:  Gardening and Cooking

FAVORITE MOVIE:  Rebecca

FAVORITE FOOD:  Tacos – Mexican Food

FAVORITE VACATION DESTINATION:  Universal Studios in Florida

FAVORITE BOOK:  Rebecca

FAVORITE BAND:  Blue October – Rock & Roll

FAVORITE THING ABOUT HOUSTON:  Winter

WHAT ONE PLACE WOULD YOU RECOMMEND TO VISIT IN HOUSTON:  Waugh Drive Bat Colony

WHAT DREW YOU TO THE ELECTRICAL FIELD:  New Career –  New Beginning

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE THING ABOUT WORKING AT OHMS:  The people I work with.

WHAT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING YOU HAVE LEARNED WORKING AT OHMS:  Leadership

DO YOU HAVE ANY TIPS FOR OUR CUSTOMERS?:  1.  Research the company you want to do business with, and 2.  Don’t be afraid to ask questions.

WHAT IS SO WONDERFUL ABOUT OUR CUSTOMERS?:   1.  Our customers help us with business by introducing us to new customers, and 2.  They trust and appreciate us.

What does National Small Business Week mean to you? To me it means family.  My parents started this business because of their growing family.  They started Ohms so that my mom could raise their children at home, at the park, in the pool, at the beach, at the zoo, and, occasionally, at work with her and my dad.  I have memories of my parents at school eating lunch with me and also feeding sugar cubes to the horses in the field behind their office.  There were weeklong beach trips and long, boring days at work.  School field trips my mom was always the first parent to volunteer to chaperone.  My dad couldn’t make it to every school event because the company was still in its early stages.  There were ups and downs, but the positives outweighed the negatives a thousand to one.

I chose to follow in my mom’s footsteps and came to work in the family business full-time, for good, when I got engaged to my now husband. I’ll be honest, it made wedding planning much easier when my mom and I could come and go as-needed for tastings, appointments, meetings, and all other things wedding.  With pregnancy shortly after, the path was cemented.  My husband (he does not work with the family) and I decided we wanted to raise our kids how my parents did.  Both of our kids started their lives going to work with me.  They were with their mom and both grandparents every single day.  It looked like we were running a baby store in an electrical service warehouse.  It may not have been the normal 9-5 daycare, but it was the normal for us.  And honestly, having my mom with me day in and day out in those first years made raising kids that much easier.  If someone got sick, we would rotate who stayed home that day so that my husband wouldn’t have to use his sick time (it allowed him more time off for vacations and holidays).  When they started school, I was able to be at every event, from Christmas parties to birthday celebrations.  To date, there has been a parent or grandparent at every single school event and/or field trip for both of my children and they are almost 9 and 7 ½ now.  That’s some teamwork!  And if it hadn’t been for this company, this small family-owned and -operated business, that would not be possible.

So, there you have it. That’s what National Small Business Week means to me.  What does it mean to you? 

Houston in summer (or spring for that matter). We all know the first thing that happens:  the air conditioner is cranked down and the electric bill skyrockets!  Now, nobody wants to suffer through half of the year sitting in your house in a constant pool of sweat, so the air conditioner is not the answer.  If there is someone in your house like my husband, your lights will constantly be monitored and turned off twenty times a day.  (Note:  He does this at my parents’ house too.  The first thing he does every single time we visit is walk around their house, turning all of their lights off. He just can’t help it, I suppose.)  This no doubt helps, but it is never a guarantee to lower your electric bill, because often the daily damage is already done by the time the light monitor makes their rounds. 

We recently made the plunge to replace all of the hideous fluorescent lights in our kitchen, breakfast room, dining room, playroom, and living room with LED lights, and the reduction in energy usage and cost was immediate! Not to mention the house looks better without the lurking yellow glare from fluorescent light bulbs everywhere you looked. The task was long, dusty, and, at times, inconvenient, but in the end completely worth it, both cosmetically and economically.

Here are just a few benefits of converting your boring, ugly, glaring, outdated, or expensive lighting throughout your home:

1. LONG LIFE: The average lifespan of an LED light bulb is roughly 100,000 hours. That being said, if you leave the light on for 8 hours a day, you wouldn’t need to replace the bulb for close to 20 years. This was the seller for my husband (although he still turns all of the lights out when he gets home from work.)
2. ENERGY EFFICIENCY: With traditional lighting, 80% of the electricity is lost as heat. Thus, if you have an energy bill at $100, $80 of that has been used to heat the room, not light it. As a result, you likely turn the air conditioner down to cool the room faster or more, thinking it is a result of the sweltering Houston summer. 
3. ECO-FRIENDLY: LED light bulbs are made free of toxic chemicals and are 100% recyclable. 
4. STURDY: LED light bulbs are built from extremely durable and sturdy materials and components. They are great for all weather conditions and are ideal for both indoor and outdoor lighting.
5. DESIGN: LED light bulbs can be combined with any shape, level of lighting, color, etc. to create a pleasant experience for both the eye and mind. Classrooms and airplanes are already utilizing the mood illumination to enhance performance and experience. Sign me up for LED lighting in my 7 ½ and 8 year old children’s’ rooms 
6. INSTANT & FREQUENT: LED light bulbs reach 100% brightness immediately upon being turned on. Additionally, frequent on/off switching does not affect the bulbs life or light emission. Imagine 12 recess LED cans in your living room being turned on at a.m. That’ll wake up the entire house!

These are just a few reasons to make the switch, take the plunge, to LED lighting. Just replacing the bulbs in one room will allow a drop in your energy bill, an improvement in your mood, and a peace of mind that you are moving in the right direction to help our environment.  Although the task can be a daunting one, the right electrical company can put your fears at bay and take you from beginning to end with little effect on your day-to-day life.  Call our office with questions or to schedule a free estimate to get the party started!

NAME:  Oscar Castro

POSITION AT OHMS:  Assistant General Manager/Safety Manager

NUMBER OF YEARS AT OHMS:  19 Years

WHERE ARE YOU FROM:  Mexico

HOBBIES:  Home Improvement Projects

FAVORITE MOVIE:  X-Men

FAVORITE FOOD:  Seafood

FAVORITE VACATION DESTINATION:  Cancun

FAVORITE BAND:  Los Traileros Del Norte

FAVORITE THING ABOUT HOUSTON:  The People

WHAT ONE PLACE WOULD YOU RECOMMEND TO VISIT IN HOUSTON:  NASA

WHAT DREW YOU TO THE ELECTRICAL FIELD:  I have worked in the field since I was a child.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE THING ABOUT WORKING AT OHMS:  It feels like family.

WHAT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING YOU HAVE LEARNED WORKING AT OHMS:  Many things, but I never stop learning.

We field questions day after day regarding what types of electrical repairs would be smart, safe, or just okay, for a customer to complete on their own. Today’s world is full of DIY experts, or those trying to become such, or just trying to save money here or there.  While there are many small electrical fixes a homeowner can tackle on their own, the majority would not be safe, wise, or realistic for anyone other than an experienced, licensed electrician to take on. 

I asked our service electricians (those who handle homes and smaller-scale commercial jobs), our Master Electrician, Estimator/General Manager, and our Assistant General Manager what repairs they would absolutely recommend calling an electrician (hopefully us!) to handle, and their answers were quite in unison.

So, without further ado, here is the short list for your reading pleasure (and information bank):

–If your main breaker trips, you should never, under any circumstance, trip it back on without first having it checked by a licensed electrician. The main breaker is designed to trip if a problem exists; if you turn it back on without diagnosing the problem, it could damage the wiring, or worse, blow up.

–If you find a receptacle (plug) that is discolored or hot to the touch, call a licensed electrician to replace it. Changing a receptacle may seem easy, but you may not be able to determine why it is discolored or hot, and simply changing it will not repair the overall problem. 

–Adding or relocating wires is a job only a licensed electrician should take on. If you do not know what you are doing you can potentially affect and/or overload the entire circuit, causing a fire hazard.

–Do not go in to your attic (or any attic for that matter!) and check on the electrical connections. There are often many damaged wires caused by pests that present a shock hazard.  In a dark or insulated attic the problems are often not visible.

If you have any questions about other existing or potential electrical problems, call or email us, and we can get you answers and on our schedule if need be. We are here to help and to keep all of you safe, happy, and comfortable in your home!