Residential Vs. Commercial Electricians

Residential Vs Commercial Electricians: What Are The Key Differences?

When it comes to commercial vs electrical services, there are some very significant differences. Fact is, all electricians are not equipped to handle both cases. The flow of electricity is strong and powerful. If channeled improperly into your property – you can end up suffering a great deal of damage. This flow of power into your property is controlled by your electrical panel.  It controls the flow of the electricity and ensures that your electrical system is not underpowered or overloaded. Here, various different building types need need different electrical loads in order to function as intended. Hence, there comes to be a huge difference between commercial and residential buildings, and which kind of services they require.

These differences include the different environments where wiring is installed, the different grade or quality of materials, and the different level of energy demands.  A bunch of factors are involved in installing and designing any kind of electrical system. Hence, it is important to work with an experienced trained for your particular project and property type.

Residential Vs. Commercial: What’s The Underlying Difference?

As the names suggest, commercial wiring is wiring and electrical work that caters to residential buildings and houses. The scope of such wiring is confined to homeowners. Commercial wiring, on the other, happens to be a much more complex form of service that pertains to commercial setups such as malls, hospitals, warehouses. The varying level of electricity demands, atmospheric conditions and accessibility within these two different setups makes up for a range of differences in the way wiring is installed and repairs. In this article, we break the key differences between commercial and residential buildings. These consist of wiring, phases of power, quality, accessibility, types of electricians, and licensing:

Wiring

The first and foremost difference between commercial and residential electrical installation is the type of wiring used for the particular building. In commercial buildings, the wiring is contained in a tube-like conduits for protection. The wires are situated run in open spaces to allow access. On the other hand, in residential homes, plastic sheathing is wound around narrow , thin wires. This sheathing is essential in order to protect anyone from being harmed by touching the wire directly – as these wires may be situated in crawl space or attic space. Residential wiring usually doesn’t use conduits, although they can be used sometimes.

Phases of Power

Commercial buildings use three phase power which consists of a neutral wire, a 208-volt leg and a 120-volt leg. On the other hand, homes use single phase power that has a neutral wire and a 120-volt wires.

The power supplied by the utility company also differed massively when it comes to commercial vs residential applications. As imaginable, commercial buildings require way more power than residential buildings. To help make sure that all buildings receive the magnitude of power they require without overloading a property, utility companies categorise the electrical load by phase – residential and commercial buildings.

Quality

The grade or quality of electrical materials also differed significantly between XX. Commercial materials have to be more chemical exposure, corrosion and heat. They have to comply with different standards, and governed by different codes. Moreover, commercial buildings like hospitals need a backup source of power so they can withstand more demanding usage. Therefore, devices in places like hospitals have to be more durable and also able to work in a temperature range wider than that in residential sites.

Type Of Electricians

There is a notable difference in the type of electrician you will employ for your particular property type. While the residential electricians and their scope is often just limited to home owners and their applications, commercial electricians are more involved with contractors, designers and architects. Their job is to view a project from a different perspective and implement their role on a large scale. They might also be required to provide detailed plans and drawings for installations, whereas residential electricians are often not required to carry out as detailed planning regarding their tasks or projects.

Accessibility

Accessibility is another factor involved here. In the case of residential buildings, home owners don’t want unsightly electrical wiring to be visible. Moreover, if there happen to be pets or children in the house, you definitely don’t want the wiring to be accessible easily. Hence, with residential buildings, it is important to ensure that the wires are hidden behind the drywall. Moreover, all the wiring kit be implemented perfectly the first time round, because it’s extremely difficult to go back inside the wall and make repair.

On the other hand, the wiring needs to be easily accessible to make repairs or updates as needed. Wiring in commercial buildings has to be more well positioned in order to be repaired immediately. There’s too much going on on a daily basis within commercial buildings. All of this can take a toll on the wiring in commercial buildings much quicker than residential settings. A commercial electrician must hence take all of this into account during installation as well as when making repairs.

Licensing

There are significant differences between the people who are equipped to work in residential buildings vs commercial buildings, and the way they require their licenses. Electricians who work in the commercial sector have to be licensed but also required to go through a commercial electrician apprenticeship program in order to receive a certification.
On the other hand, residential electricians just have to be licensed by state and local agencies and don’t usually undergo any other kind of certification. Commercial electricians are required to carry out many of the same tasks as residential electricians, but they’re also equipped to be hired for more sophisticated, large scale projects.

The load demands, energy needs, and equipment setup for residential electrical work is certainly not the same as for commercial electrical work. To make sure you don’t have to learn this the hard way, make sure that you employ electrical services that are suitable to your particular project.