Electrical questions from Rogers & NW Arkansas

Turn off the breaker for that circuit, or the main breaker, if you can do it safely, then call an electrician. If you see smoke or flames, get everyone out and call 911.

A burning or hot-plastic smell usually means a connection is overheating. Don’t keep using the outlet or switch, and don’t reset a breaker that keeps tripping on that circuit.

That usually means one leg of your service or the service neutral has failed. It can damage appliances quickly. Turn off the main breaker if you can do so safely and call your power company right away.

The fault can be on the utility’s side (the line or transformer) or on yours (the mast, meter base or panel). The utility checks its side first; an electrician repairs anything from the meter base in.

Stay well away from the line and anything it touches, including fences, cars and puddles, and call your power company or 911. Assume every downed line is live.

Once the utility has made it safe, an electrician can repair damage to your service mast, meter base or outdoor wiring so the utility can reconnect you.

Slightly warm can be normal under heavy load, but hot to the touch is not. Turn off the affected breaker if you can do it safely and call an electrician.

Heat at a panel usually points to a loose connection, a failing breaker or an overloaded circuit. All of these get worse with time.

Yes. Any shock means current is going somewhere it shouldn’t. Stop using that device or outlet, turn off its breaker if you can, and have it checked.

Common causes are a damaged appliance cord, a missing ground, a loose connection or water. GFCI protection is designed to cut power before a shock becomes dangerous.

A breaker trips for one of three reasons: the circuit is overloaded, there’s a short circuit or ground fault, or the breaker itself is worn out. If it trips when one appliance runs, that circuit is probably carrying more than it was built for.

Reset it once. If it trips again right away, or the breaker feels hot, leave it off and call an electrician. Resetting a breaker over and over on a real fault is how wires overheat.

Signs include breakers that trip often or won’t reset, scorch marks, a burning smell, rust or water inside the panel, no room for new circuits, an old fuse box, or a brand with a known problem history.

A panel’s age alone isn’t a reason to replace it, but a forty-year-old panel deserves a professional look, especially before you add an EV charger, a hot tub or a big remodel.

Federal Pacific Stab-Lok and Zinsco panels, common in homes built from the 1960s into the 1980s, have long-documented problems with breakers that may not trip when they should. Many electricians recommend replacing them.

If you’re not sure what brand you have, the name is usually printed on the panel door label. Send us a photo and we’ll tell you what you’re looking at.

A panel replacement swaps the breaker panel for a new one. A service upgrade also increases the amperage coming into the house, which can mean a new meter base and service entrance, coordinated with your power company.

Both need a permit in most cities and an inspection before the utility restores power. Done right, it’s usually a one-day outage for a panel swap.

Not always. Many homes run fine on 100 or 150 amps. You may need more if you’re adding an EV charger, a hot tub, a shop, electric heat or a major addition, or if your panel is already full.

The way to know is a load calculation based on what you have and what you plan to add, not a guess.

A quick, slight dip when a big motor starts is common. Motors draw several times their running current for a moment when they start.

Dimming that’s severe, lasts more than a second or happens all over the house can point to a loose connection at the panel, meter or service neutral. That’s worth having checked, because loose connections heat up.

For most homes, yes. A surge protector installed at the panel helps protect everything in the house, from the HVAC board to the refrigerator, from surges caused by lightning and utility switching.

It works best together with good plug-in surge strips for TVs and computers. No device can stop a direct lightning strike, but whole-home protection handles the far more common smaller surges.

No. Plugging a generator into an outlet with a double-ended cord can backfeed the utility line and seriously injure a lineworker, as well as damage your generator and home.

The safe way is a transfer switch or a listed interlock kit on your panel, installed by an electrician, with an inlet box outside where the generator plugs in.

A portable generator with an interlock or transfer switch costs less and can run the essentials. A standby generator starts on its own and can run most or all of the house, but costs more and needs a fuel source such as natural gas or propane.

The right choice depends on how long your outages last, what you need to keep running and your budget. We’ll help you size it.

Outside, well away from doors, windows and vents, never in a garage or on a covered porch. Generator exhaust contains carbon monoxide, which can kill.

Keep working carbon monoxide alarms inside the home, especially when a generator or fuel-burning heater is in use.

Look, from a distance, at the wires running to your house and at the service mast and meter base. If anything is pulled loose, bent or hanging, stay clear and call your power company first.

Inside, if lights are unusually bright or dim, some circuits are dead, or you smell burning, turn off the main breaker if it’s safe and call an electrician. Water near outlets or the panel also needs a professional check before power is restored.

A GFCI (ground-fault circuit interrupter) cuts power in a fraction of a second if current leaks to ground, such as through water or a person. It’s the outlet with the Test and Reset buttons.

Current code calls for GFCI protection in bathrooms, kitchens, garages, outdoors, laundry areas, crawl spaces and other damp locations. Older homes often don’t have it everywhere it would help.

An AFCI (arc-fault circuit interrupter) breaker detects the electrical arcing that can start fires from damaged cords, loose connections or nails through wires, and shuts off the circuit.

Code requires AFCI protection on most living-area circuits in new construction, and often when circuits are extended or modified.

Not without a ground. A three-prong outlet with no ground wire behind it looks safe but isn’t. The fix is to run a ground, or install GFCI protection and label the outlets “No equipment ground,” depending on the circuit.

An electrician can tell you which option fits each circuit.

Usually, yes, but the ceiling box must be rated for a fan. A standard light box can’t safely carry a fan’s weight and wobble. We replace it with a fan-rated box and brace.

If you want the light and fan on separate switches, that may need an extra conductor run to the switch.

As a rule of thumb, spacing recessed lights about half the ceiling height apart gives even light (roughly 4 feet apart on an 8-foot ceiling), but the room’s use matters more than a formula.

Kitchens want light over the counters, not behind you; great rooms often want layers of recessed, accent and fan lighting on separate dimmers. We plan the layout with you before cutting any holes.

Dimmers can run slightly warm, which is normal. An ordinary switch or outlet that feels warm or hot usually has a loose connection or is overloaded.

Stop using it, turn off its breaker if you can, and have it checked. Loose connections are a leading cause of electrical fires.

Early, before walls are opened and before cabinets and fixtures are ordered. A kitchen or bath remodel often needs new dedicated circuits, GFCI and AFCI protection, and a lighting plan.

Getting the electrical plan settled up front avoids change orders and patching later.

A Level 2 charger needs a dedicated 240-volt circuit, typically 40 to 60 amps, from a panel with enough capacity to carry it. An electrician does a load check, runs the circuit and installs or connects the charger.

If your panel is full or near capacity, options include a load-management device or a panel or service upgrade. In most cities it needs a permit.

Usually yes, if your service has room. A hot tub needs a dedicated circuit and a disconnect within sight of the tub. A shop or garage often gets a feeder to a subpanel sized for its tools and lighting.

We start with your panel and a load check, then size the circuit or feeder to match the distance and what you’ll run.

It can. Solar connects into your panel or service, and some panels don’t have the busbar rating to accept it without changes. The utility also has interconnection requirements before a system can run.

If you’re considering solar, have your panel evaluated first, so you know whether an upgrade belongs in the project budget.

Think about how you’ll live in the house: where furniture and TVs go, where you want outlets on the island and outdoors, which rooms need fans, where you’ll charge an EV, and whether you want a generator inlet.

Adding these during the build is far easier and cheaper than adding them after the drywall is up.

The Board of Electrical Examiners, part of the Arkansas Department of Labor and Licensing, licenses electricians in Arkansas. License classes include master, journeyman, residential master and residential journeyman.

You can verify an electrician through the department’s online license search or by calling the board.

Ask for the license holder’s name and license number, then look it up with the Arkansas Department of Labor and Licensing. Ask also who will pull the permit and who will be supervising the work.

In Rogers, the city requires a master electrician license for any company pulling electrical permits, and the electrician must work for that company.

Most new wiring, panel and service work needs a permit from your city’s building or inspections office, followed by an inspection. Replacing a fixture or device like-for-like usually does not.

Outside city limits the rules can differ. A licensed electrician knows what applies at your address and handles the permit as part of the job.

Ask whether they’re licensed in Arkansas, whether they carry insurance, who will pull the permit, what exactly is included in the price, and how long the work will take.

A good electrician explains the problem in plain words and gives you options, not just a number.

Changing a light bulb or resetting a breaker, yes. Panel, service, feeder and new-circuit work should be left to a licensed electrician. Mistakes there can cause fires and shocks, and permits and inspections usually apply.

Online videos and AI chatbots can’t see your wiring. When in doubt, turn off the power and call.

Call your power company for anything on their side: outages affecting the street, downed lines, the transformer and the line to your house. Call an electrician for anything from the meter base inward: panels, breakers, wiring, outlets and fixtures.

In Benton County, that power company might be SWEPCO, Carroll Electric Cooperative or a city utility such as Bentonville’s, depending on your address.