Residential

Recent Stories

Mar 2020

Up on the Roof

Mark C. Ode
When I was doing fire and electrocution investigations, I received a phone call from an insurance company about a fire in a home the company insured. Upon arrival at the home, I discovered that the fire department had...
Shutterstock/ Tfoxfoto
Feb 2020

Sometimes It Pays To Complain

Mark C. Ode
In the early 1950s, most 15- and 20-ampere receptacles in commercial buildings and residential dwelling units were ungrounded, two-prong receptacles supplied by branch circuits without an equipment grounding connection. In...
iStock/Dizzy
Jan 2020

Don’t Swim With the Current

Mark C. Ode
A few years ago, I received two phone calls regarding voltage gradients in swimming pools at existing homes in North Carolina. The pools had supposedly been installed using 680.26(A) and (B). This section of the Code was...
Shutterstock/ Oleg Mikhaylov
Dec 2019

Ice, Washing Machines and a Phone

Mark C. Ode
Recently, my refrigerator stopped making ice. The manufacturer told me to get close to the fridge with my cellphone so he could connect electronically to troubleshoot. If you had told me 10 years ago, or even two, that I...
Shutterstock/ Andry Suslov
Nov 2019

Insulate Against Fire

Mark C. Ode
As a home ages, an owner can take many steps to make it more energy-efficient and lower heating and cooling bills. Adding a UV-light glass coating to windows will keep sunlight out. Installing double- or triple-paned glass...
Shutterstock/ Arturs Budkevics
Sep 2019

Ghosts and Problems

Mark C. Ode
As an electrical contractor in the 1970s and 1980s, I received intriguing phone calls from homeowners and commercial customers with strange electrical problems. I could troubleshoot some of these issues over the phone. Others...
Cartoon ghosts float out of a sink drain
Jul 2019

All-Electric Homes Light Up Sacramento

Rick Laezman
Utilities have taken on climate change in a number of different ways. In Sacramento, Calif., the local utility has gone all electric. Sacramento Municipal Utility District’s (SMUD) All-Electric Smart Home project is part of...
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