Electrical questions from Midland-area homes and businesses.

Turn off the breaker for that circuit, or the main breaker, if you can reach it safely, then call a licensed electrician. If you see smoke or flames, get everyone out and call 911.

A burning or hot-plastic smell usually means a connection is overheating. Don’t keep using that outlet or keep resetting the breaker until it has been checked.

No. A breaker that trips again and again is telling you something is wrong: an overload, a short, a ground fault or a failing breaker. Resetting it over and over lets damage build.

Unplug what was running on that circuit and try once. If it trips again with little or nothing on it, leave it off and have the circuit troubleshot.

Partial power loss with no tripped breakers can point to a problem with one leg of your service, at the meter, the service connection or the main breaker. Turn off sensitive equipment, call your utility to check their side, and call an electrician.

If some lights get unusually bright while others dim, a loose neutral is possible, and it can damage appliances. Shut off the main if it is safe to do so until it is diagnosed.

Stay well away (at least 25 to 35 feet), keep people and pets back, and call your electric utility or 911. Treat every downed line as live, even if it isn’t sparking.

Don’t try to move it with anything, and don’t drive over it. In the Midland area that usually means calling Consumers Energy; in much of Bay City, Bay City Electric Light & Power.

An outlet or switch that feels warm usually means a loose connection, a worn-out device or an overloaded circuit. Stop using it, turn off that breaker if it is safe, and have it checked.

Dimmers can run slightly warm by design, but an ordinary outlet or switch should not. Scorch marks, buzzing or a melted look need attention right away.

Yes. Working smoke alarms are a basic requirement of rental housing codes, and local rental codes in Mid-Michigan spell out where they go and what type is needed. Blasy Electric installs smoke detectors to align with rental code requirements, updates old units and checks that each one works.

Smoke alarms should be replaced about every 10 years. Hard-wired, interconnected alarms, where one sounds and all sound, are the standard for new work.

Common signs: an old fuse box, a panel with no open spaces, breakers that trip under normal use, a 60- or 100-amp service in a house with central air and electric appliances, or a panel brand with a known history of problems.

Plans for an EV charger, hot tub, addition or shop are the other big reason. Blasy updates breaker panels to meet new power needs, replaces old fuse boxes and solves overloaded circuits.

In most homes, yes. Fuse boxes were designed for far smaller loads than a modern house uses, and they are easy to defeat by installing an oversized fuse, which removes the protection entirely.

Many insurers ask about fuse panels. Replacing one with a modern breaker panel is a permit job for a licensed electrician.

Federal Pacific Stab-Lok and Zinsco panels have long-standing reports of breakers that may not trip under overload and of connection problems. Many electricians and home inspectors recommend replacing them.

These panels were common in homes built in the 1960s and 1970s, the same era as many Midland, Saginaw and Bay County subdivisions. If you have one, have it evaluated, especially if you see scorching, loose breakers or warmth.

Yes, in some of the oldest houses, particularly lumber-era homes in Bay City and Saginaw. Knob-and-tube isn’t automatically dangerous, but after a century it is often brittle, ungrounded, overloaded or buried in insulation, which it was never designed for.

Have it evaluated by a licensed electrician. Replacing it during a remodel is usually the most practical time.

Not by just changing the outlet. A three-prong outlet needs a ground, and installing one without a ground is a code violation that gives a false sense of safety.

The fixes are running a ground, rewiring the circuit, or adding GFCI protection and labeling the outlets ‘No equipment ground’, which the code allows. An electrician can tell you which fits your wiring.

Blasy Electric’s home inspections look at safety, potential code violations, energy savings, future upgrades and resale. They are useful before buying or selling, after a flood, or when you’re planning a remodel.

You get a plain-language picture of the system: what is fine, what should be fixed now, and what to plan for.

Panel, service, feeder and new-circuit work should be done by a licensed electrician, with a permit and inspection. Work inside a panel exposes you to service conductors that stay live even with the main breaker off.

What any homeowner can safely do is reset a tripped breaker once, label circuits, test GFCI outlets and smoke alarms, and keep the area in front of the panel clear.

Through a properly installed transfer switch or panel interlock, or by plugging appliances straight into the generator with heavy-duty cords. Never back-feed a house through a dryer outlet or any other receptacle.

Back-feeding can electrocute utility line workers and start fires. Blasy Electric configures safe power outlets for portable generators so you can connect the right way.

If an outage means losing your furnace, well pump, sump pump, freezer or medical equipment, a back-up generator is worth considering. Michigan ice storms and summer thunderstorms can leave homes without power for days.

Blasy installs back-up generator systems sized to what you need to keep running.

Outdoors only, well away from doors, windows and vents. Never run one in a garage, basement or porch, even with the door open, because carbon monoxide builds up fast.

Install battery-backed CO alarms in the house, and keep the generator dry.

No. Treat anything that has been under water (panels, breakers, outlets, switches, wiring and appliances) as unsafe until a licensed electrician has evaluated it. Don’t turn power back on to flooded equipment yourself.

Mid-Michigan saw this firsthand after the May 2020 Edenville and Sanford dam failures. Most submerged electrical parts need replacement, not drying out, and the utility may need to disconnect and reconnect the service.

Lightning and utility switching send surges through the wiring that can damage electronics, appliances, furnaces and chargers. A whole-home surge protector at the panel, paired with plug-in protectors on sensitive equipment, is a good layered defense.

Recent editions of the National Electrical Code require surge protection when a home’s service is replaced or upgraded. Ask whether it applies to your job.

A Level 2 charger needs a dedicated 240-volt circuit sized to the charger, and a check that your panel has the space and capacity for it. That is a permit job for a licensed electrician.

If the panel is full, the options include a subpanel, a panel update or a load-managed charger. Blasy installs residential and commercial EV charging equipment.

Many do. Electric dryers, ranges and ovens, many microwaves, and some workout equipment need a dedicated circuit at the right voltage and amperage.

Blasy runs power for new appliances, including dryers, kitchen stoves, microwaves and workout equipment.

Usually, yes. Modern efficient lighting uses a fraction of the power of older lamps and lasts far longer, which lowers utility bills at home and especially in businesses with long operating hours.

Blasy upgrades homes and businesses to energy efficient lighting for utility savings.

A dedicated circuit with GFCI protection and a disconnect within sight of the equipment, sized to the manufacturer’s requirements, plus proper bonding for pools.

It is a permit job. Blasy runs and connects the power lines for hot tubs and pools.

A remodel is the cheapest time to update power: add circuits and outlets where you will actually use them, bring kitchens and baths up to current GFCI and AFCI requirements, and plan lighting before the walls close.

Blasy updates your power needs during remodels, meeting code requirements.

Lights at every entry, along the driveway and at the garage, on motion detectors or timers so they are on when you need them. Yard lights help on larger rural lots.

Blasy installs exterior lighting, yard lights and motion detectors.

All types: manufacturing, sports and religious facilities, labs, medical clinics, property management firms and restaurants, among others.

Every job follows industrial standards and is backed by state licensing and safety training. A strong administrative staff handles purchase orders, scheduling and payments.

Yes. Blasy handles recurring maintenance contracts and on-call service for businesses, as well as one-time repairs.

The company prides itself on long-term relationships with its customers.

In design-build, the electrical contractor designs the system and builds it, which simplifies a project and keeps one team accountable. In bid-spec, the contractor bids and builds to an engineer’s or owner’s specifications.

Blasy’s commercial and industrial contracting division offers both.

It is a recognition from Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) for member contractors that meet standards in safety, training, community involvement and employee benefits.

Blasy Electric is a member of the Greater Michigan Chapter of ABC and an Accredited Quality Contractor.

STEP is ABC’s Safety Training Evaluation Process, a program that measures a contractor’s safety practices and recognizes them at levels such as Platinum and Diamond.

Blasy Electric is a STEP member and lists its status as Diamond Level certified.

Yes. The contracting division’s track record includes stadiums, street lighting and decorative building illumination, along with parking lot lighting, outdoor facility lighting and controls, and sign lighting.

Call 989-631-6252 to talk through a project.

The Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA), through its Bureau of Construction Codes, licenses electrical contractors, master electricians and journeyman electricians, and registers apprentices.

You can confirm any license with LARA’s online license lookup before hiring.

Hire a Michigan-licensed electrical contractor, ask for proof of insurance, make sure permits will be pulled when the job requires them, and look at the company’s track record and reviews.

Ask who will actually do the work, how long the company has been around, and how billing works. Blasy Electric has served Midland since 1965, and all of its electricians are state-licensed.

Most electrical work beyond replacing a device like-for-like needs a permit: new circuits, panel and service changes, generators, EV chargers, hot tubs and remodels.

Permits are issued by the local enforcing agency (a city, township or county), or by the state’s Bureau of Construction Codes where no local agency enforces the code. A permit means an inspector checks the work, which protects you at resale and with your insurer.

The office at 1012 Jefferson Avenue in Midland is open Monday to Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Call 989-631-6252 or email service@blasyelectric.com.

You can also send a service request online any time, and a service team member will get in touch with you promptly.

Use the ‘Pay your bill’ link on this site, which opens Blasy Electric’s secure PayTrace payment portal. Enter your invoice number so the payment is applied to the correct account.

Blasy accepts Visa, Mastercard, American Express and Discover online. PayTrace confirms whether your payment went through; keep the receipt for your records.

Invoices are due upon receipt. A 2% service charge may be added to invoices past 30 days, which is an annual percentage of 24%.

Payments must be made in full and received by the due date to avoid late service fees. Online payments can take 1 to 3 days to post, so allow time. Questions? Call the office at 989-631-6252.

Blasy Electric has been hiring licensed journeymen electricians: full-time local work, competitive pay, health and retirement benefits, and room to grow into leadership roles.

Applicants need a current Michigan Journeyman Electrician License, residential and commercial experience, reliable transportation and a clean driving record. Send a resume to service@blasyelectric.com.