It is hard to imagine a world without electricity. At the very least, this would mean being denied access to certain things we have come to know as essential. You can be certain it would be chaotic.
Some figures in the movie industry have even tried making us see the importance of electricity. This is by creating storylines about a world without this essential commodity. Some of the works that have done this include:
- Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (released 2014)
- The Postman (released 1997)
- Into the Forest (released 2015)
- Waterworld (released 1995)
- Revolution (released 2012)
All of these movies (and more) try to depict the reality of a world without electricity. Regardless of the narrative expressed, one thing is certain. It is that electricity is one of the most essential things in society today.
For us, the movie “Revolution” did one of the best jobs explaining this. If you are curious about learning more about this movie, you can visit: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1028715-revolution/reviews
Considering the importance of electricity, professionals tasked with the responsibility of ensuring we all get access to electricity are equally important. Here we are talking about electricians and electrical contractors.
There are so many ways these professionals are needed in our society. We will discuss 3 major ways in this article and advise that you pay rapt attention. This is because the information shared here will help you figure out the right electrician or electrical contractor to hire when the need arises.
About Electricians and Electrical Contractors
Many people use the terms electrician and electrical contractor intermittently. The truth is that these professionals share a lot of similarities but are different in some ways.
The best way to understand their difference is to see electrical contractors as the more business-oriented professionals. Some of them do not even handle on-site jobs. Rather, they hire electricians to do the job.
In fact, some of them are not very skilled in the work practice in some places. However, it is legally required for them to have a practicing license.
On the other hand, the electrician is more like a tradesman that works alone. S/he may have an apprentice who is learning the trade from him as required in certain parts.
Both professionals are expected by law to have a practice license. So, this is one of the similarities between an electrical contractor and an electrician that you should know.
Types of Electricians and Electrical Contractors
You should be aware that both professionals have a lot in common as explained above. This also has to do with the various types available. The various types of these professionals include:
- Residential
- Commercial
- Industrial
Residential
As the name suggests, they attend to the electrical needs of residential buildings. One of the reasons they are streamlined to this is because of the peculiarities of the setup in homes at large.
For instance, most setups will have the wiring run inside the walls. Furthermore, this electrical setup is wrapped in something that is insulated. The whole essence is to protect occupants from shock. Also, it ensures that the wires are protected from damage and not too exposed.
This may not necessarily be the case for commercial buildings. It is even common to see the wiring of commercial buildings.
The power supplies used by these experts are single-phased. The volts they deal with are either 240 or 120.
Commercial
Unlike residential professionals that handle single-phase wiring setup, commercial experts deal with a three-wire setup. The reason for the difference is because the electrical needs of residential buildings are different from commercial ones.
The three-wire setup is such that 2 parts have equal capacities to handle small voltages. The last part/leg is tasked with the responsibility of handling higher voltage.
As explained above, it is not uncommon to see the wiring exposed. However, protection is ensured by making use of conduits. This is why there is no cause for alarm even when the wires are seen passing through walls, ceilings, and open places. For more on this, you can click here.
Industrial
Some people like to classify the responsibilities of these professionals as part of the task of commercial professionals. Well, we beg to disagree. This is because there are clear-cut differences in how they operate.
However, they are some similarities as well. For instance, they both render their services to commercial buildings. However, industry professionals are more into servicing large-scale commercial buildings like factories, mines, chemical plants, and several others.
Also, the kind of conduit they use is one of what makes them peculiar. Rather than making use of MC or MTC cables, RMC conduits are used. This is because of the ability of these conduits to control circuitry and power instrumentation and motors.
Some Similarities between Commercial, Industrial, and Residential Electrical Professionals
There are similarities between all of these professionals as you well know by now. However, this does not mean you can entrust just any electrical job to anyone. Most of the similarities are even in different degrees.
It is best you know if s/he is specially trained, licensed, and experienced to handle the job before hiring. Having established this, some of the similarities between them include the following:
Interpretation of Technical Electrical Blueprint
They all need to be able to interpret blueprints. This skill is required both during installation and repairs. It has to do with figuring out the electrical channels and installing or servicing them.
Inspection of Electrical Installations and Features
They are all trained to inspect electrical installations and features. This is so that they can figure out possible problems and make adjustments before things get out of hand.
For us, this is something that people who deal with industrial experts often hire them for. This is because a fault can cause downtime or shutdown of operations. You can visit https://www.anserservice.ca/electrical-contracting/ for more on this subject.
Conclusion
We have discussed subjects that center on the services offered by three types of electrical professionals. You should know that there are no fewer than 20 specialties of these experts.
So, we only covered the very important ones. We strongly advise that you make good use of this information when they need to hire an electrical expert arises.