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Winning homeowner will get a new panel with surge protection that protects those sensitive electronics and prevents danger from fire or shock!
Above and Beyond Electric is looking for the ugliest electrical panel in the Memphis area and will give it’s owner a free new Eaton electrical panel. This contest is part of an effort to increase awareness of the risk for electrical fires in older homes as well as the ability to protect all your electrical equipment with the whole house surge protection system.
Most homes that were built 20 or more years ago have outdated electrical systems. In older homes, electrical systems were designed for a lower electrical pressure (100 amp) than we use today (150-200 amp) and built with a type of wires that are not meant to carry the heavy loads of electricity that is commonly used today.
“We feel that this contest is a good way to draw attention to the potential electrical system failures that happen every year,” said Nathan Harmeier, owner of Above and Beyond Electric. “There are some very ugly, outdated electrical panels around town and just because things seem fine on the surface doesn’t mean that there are not issues deeper inside the heart of your home’s electrical system.”
According to Harmeier, there have been a number of reports that Zinsco Panels and Federal Pacific Electrical Panels, which were both popular installations in older homes in the Memphis area, have been found to fail to provide proper safety and protection leaving homes and homeowners at risk to both fires and electrical shock. Although they can appear to be working fine, outdated panels were not designed to handle our current electrical needs. Older panels often only have 60 amps, when today they need about 150. As homes have increased energy demands, these older panels can overheat causing internal parts to melt and breakers may fail to trip in response to excess current situations, leading to electrical fires.
Modern electrical panels are built to not only handle the higher electrical needs of today’s homes, but to do it safely and offer more protection.
Homeowners who believe they might have the ugliest electrical panel in the area can enter the contest at the Above and Beyond Electric booth at the Shelby Farm’s Earth Day Event or complete Above and Beyond Electric’s online entry form found on their website at www.aboveandbeyondelectric.com by April 30, 2011. Official rules can also be viewed at the website. The winning entry will be chosen based on ugliness and age; and will be replaced with a new 200 amp Cutler Hammer Surge Loadcenter.
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