Electrical questions, answered for Wichita.

If it’s safe to reach, turn off the breaker for that circuit, or the main breaker, then call an electrician. If you see smoke or fire, get everyone out and call 911.

Don’t keep using the outlet, and don’t open the panel cover to look. A burning or fishy smell often means a connection is overheating, and that can turn into a fire inside the wall.

Partial power loss often means a problem with one leg of your service: a loose connection at the meter, the weatherhead or the main, or a failing main breaker. Turn off sensitive equipment and call an electrician. If you suspect a utility-side problem, call Evergy or your utility too.

Lights that are unusually bright or dim when this happens point to a lost neutral, which can damage appliances. Turn off the main if it’s safe and call right away.

Stay far away, assume it’s live, keep kids and pets back, and call your electric utility (Evergy for most of the Wichita area) or 911. Never try to move it, even with something that seems non-conductive.

If a line is down on your car, stay inside unless there is a fire, and wait for the utility. Once the utility has made it safe, an electrician can repair a damaged mast, weatherhead or meter base on your side.

No. A panel that is hot to the touch, buzzing or crackling needs an electrician soon. If you smell burning or see scorching, turn off the main if it’s safe and call.

Common causes are an overloaded circuit, a loose connection, a failing breaker, or an older panel brand with a poor track record.

A brief dim when a big motor starts is common. Persistent flicker, heavy dimming, or flicker across the whole house is not, and an electrician should check it.

Causes range from loose connections and an undersized service to a shared circuit or a problem at the meter or utility transformer. In a Kansas summer, an older service is often working near its limit.

A tiny spark when plugging in a heavy load can happen. A big spark, a pop, scorch marks, or an outlet that feels loose or warm is a sign to stop using it and have it replaced.

Turn off that circuit at the breaker until it’s repaired. Outlets wear out, and a worn one makes a poor connection that heats up.

Signs include breakers that trip often, no open spaces in the panel, a fuse box, 60- or 100-amp service in a house with central air, or plans to add a big load like an EV charger, a hot tub or a generator.

An electrician can do a load calculation and tell you whether you need a new panel, a service upgrade, or just better circuit layout. Panel and service work always requires a licensed electrician and a permit.

They are widely regarded as a risk. Federal Pacific Stab-Lok and Zinsco panels, common in homes from the 1960s and 1970s, have a history of breakers that may not trip when they should. Many electricians and home inspectors recommend replacing them.

If you aren’t sure what brand you have, an electrician can identify it. Don’t remove the panel cover yourself.

Homes built before about 1940, like many in College Hill, Riverside and Delano, may still have knob-and-tube wiring in walls or attics: single wires on porcelain knobs with no ground wire.

It isn’t automatically unsafe, but it wasn’t designed to be buried in insulation, it has no ground, and it has often been modified. An electrician can inspect it and recommend repair or replacement. Insurance companies sometimes ask about it.

Some homes built from about the mid-1960s to the mid-1970s used aluminum branch-circuit wiring. Its connections can loosen and overheat over time, especially at devices not rated for aluminum.

A licensed electrician can remediate it with approved connectors or rewire. Warm cover plates, flickering or a burning smell are reasons to call.

The weatherhead is the hooded fitting at the top of your service mast where the overhead utility wires connect. It keeps water out of the service conduit. Electri-Tech lists weatherhead replacement among its services.

A damaged mast or weatherhead is repaired by a licensed electrician, coordinated with the utility, which disconnects and reconnects the service drop. Never touch the wires yourself.

Two-prong outlets mean the circuit likely has no ground. Swapping in a three-prong outlet without a ground is unsafe and against code.

The fixes are running a new grounded circuit or installing GFCI protection labeled “No Equipment Ground”, which code allows. An electrician can tell you which fits your house.

Unplug expensive electronics if a strong storm is coming and you have time. A whole-home surge protector at the panel, along with plug-in surge strips, adds layers of protection.

No device can stop a direct lightning strike, but surge protection handles the far more common smaller surges from nearby strikes and grid switching.

For many homes, yes. A whole-home surge protective device installs at the panel and protects everything in the house, including appliances and HVAC equipment that plug-in strips can’t cover.

The 2020 and later editions of the National Electrical Code require surge protection when a dwelling service is installed or replaced, where those editions have been adopted, so it’s often added during a panel upgrade.

It depends on what you want to run. A portable generator with a transfer switch or interlock can carry essentials like the furnace fan, refrigerator, sump pump and some lights. A standby generator can be sized for part or all of the house.

An electrician can list your essential loads and size the generator and transfer equipment. Electri-Tech installs backup generators and clean-energy backup options.

No. Backfeeding a house through an outlet with a double-male cord is illegal and dangerous. It can energize utility lines and injure lineworkers, damage your equipment and start a fire.

The safe way is a transfer switch or a panel interlock with a proper inlet, installed by a licensed electrician. Always run the generator outdoors, away from doors and windows, because of carbon monoxide.

Look, from a distance, at your service mast, weatherhead, meter base and the wires to the house. If anything is bent, pulled loose or sparking, stay away and call the utility and an electrician.

Water in the panel, outdoor outlets or light fixtures also needs a professional check before you use them again. Don’t turn power back on to equipment that has been flooded.

Many homes with 200-amp service can, but an electrician needs to check your existing load first. A typical Level 2 charger needs a dedicated 240-volt circuit, often 40 to 60 amps.

If the panel is full or the service is small, options include a panel upgrade, a smaller charger setting or a load-management device. Electri-Tech installs EV car chargers.

A hot tub needs a dedicated 240-volt circuit (often 50 or 60 amps, depending on the tub), a disconnect within sight of the tub, GFCI protection and bonding.

Location matters too: clearances from overhead lines and distances from the house are set by code. Electri-Tech lists pool and spa installation on its listing.

Yes. Solar panel installs are listed on Electri-Tech’s residential services, along with clean-energy backup options.

Solar systems have to be interconnected with your utility, so permits, utility approval and correct inverter and disconnect wiring are part of the job.

Usually, yes. LEDs use a fraction of the energy of incandescent and older fluorescent lighting and last far longer, which matters most in shops, warehouses and parking lots that are lit for long hours.

Electri-Tech does LED upgrades and lighting retrofits for homes, businesses and industrial buildings, including parking lot pole lights.

Yes. Outdoor accent lighting is on Electri-Tech’s service list. That covers uplighting for trees and the front of the house, path lighting and security lighting.

Outdoor circuits need weather-rated boxes and GFCI protection, and buried wiring has to meet code depth.

New construction, remodels, service panel upgrades, lighting retrofits and upgrades, emergency backup lighting, display boards, exterior LED lighting and parking lot pole lighting, per their commercial services page.

Their project managers and licensed electricians can plan, design and deploy a project, or troubleshoot and repair an existing system.

New construction, interior LED lighting, electrical switchgear upgrades, lighting retrofits, emergency lighting, LED upgrades, control wiring, motor wiring and controls, and new machine wiring.

Industrial work is often tied to building renovations or new equipment, so planning and scheduling around production matter.

Call 316-683-2841 or send a request with the address, the scope and any drawings or specs. Their site invites you to contact them “for a project bid or a repair estimate.”

For new construction and remodels, bringing the electrical contractor in early helps with service sizing, lead times on gear and a realistic schedule.

Fire codes generally call for a short functional test of emergency and exit lighting every month and a longer full-duration test every year, with records kept. Your fire marshal or code official sets the exact requirement.

Fixtures that fail the test need new batteries, lamps or the whole unit. Electri-Tech installs and upgrades emergency lighting.

The machine’s nameplate data (voltage, phase, full-load amps), where it will go, and what else is on the same panel. That tells the electrician whether existing capacity is enough or a new feeder or panel is needed.

Electri-Tech lists new machine wiring, motor wiring and controls, and control wiring among its industrial services.

Kansas has no statewide electrician or electrical contractor license. Licensing is done locally, by cities and counties.

In Wichita and unincorporated Sedgwick County, MABCD (the Metropolitan Area Building and Construction Department) licenses contractors and requires journeyman and master trade certificates for electricians. Other cities may have their own rules.

Ask for the contractor’s license number and the local jurisdiction that issued it, then confirm it with that office. For Wichita and unincorporated Sedgwick County, that is MABCD.

Also ask for a certificate of insurance, and make sure the contractor pulls the permit in their own name. Electri-Tech’s listing gives “Lic #2441” and says it is bonded and insured.

Most electrical work beyond like-for-like replacement of a fixture, switch or outlet needs a permit: new circuits, panels and services, generators, EV chargers, hot tubs, solar and remodel wiring.

Permits mean an inspector checks the work. That protects you, and it can matter for insurance and when you sell the house.

Ask whether they are licensed in your jurisdiction and insured, whether they will pull the permit, who will do the work, what the price includes, and how they handle changes.

Get the scope in writing. A good contractor explains what they found and why it needs doing.

Insured means the contractor carries liability insurance (and usually workers’ compensation), which protects you if there is damage or an injury on the job. Bonded means a surety bond backs the contractor’s obligations, as some jurisdictions require for licensing.

Electri-Tech describes itself as “fully, licensed, bonded, and insured.”

Simple, like-for-like replacements are sometimes allowed for homeowners, but rules vary by jurisdiction. Panel, service, feeder and new-circuit work should be left to a licensed electrician.

Mistakes in that kind of work cause fires and shocks, and they often aren’t visible until something fails. Call a licensed electrician.