Electrical Considerations When Expanding a Business
For businesses that are growing and expanding, there often comes a point when you need to add to or modify your building.
For a retail shop, this may mean changing or adding product display fixtures. That immediately raises several electrical and lighting questions. Are the new displays for refrigerated or frozen items that require different power than your existing equipment? Are you adding fixtures in areas where there is currently no power, or where the existing electrical is not suitable? Even for room-temperature goods, do the displays require power for lighting? Does your current lighting help your products stand out, or does it detract from visibility? Would fixture-specific lighting improve the presentation?
Some of these questions are addressed by the designer or manufacturer of the display equipment—but often they are not. As electricians, we take the time to research the electrical and lighting requirements for each situation and make sure the design and installation are done correctly from the start.
For manufacturing or processing facilities, expansions usually involve adding new equipment, which introduces a different set of concerns. Does the equipment require three-phase power? If so, does your building already have it? Is the equipment designed for North American electrical systems? Will your existing electrical service from the utility provider (such as FPL) be sufficient to handle the additional load? Will that added load affect your power factor and potentially cause issues such as flickering lights or problems with sensitive equipment?
At Stutzman Electrical Services, we can help answer these questions early in the process. In some cases—particularly with larger expansions—an electrical engineer may be required to design the system. When that level of design is needed, we recognize it and work with the appropriate professionals to ensure the project is done correctly.
It’s also important to understand that not all electrical contractors in Florida have the same level of training and experience. While we all take the same licensing exam, that exam represents only a small portion of what it takes to be a well-rounded electrician. I mention this because I had the benefit of completing the Canadian apprenticeship program, which provided much more in-depth technical training than is required here in Florida.
That background led me to work on a wide range of complex projects, including a full grocery store remodel, the build-out of Target stores during their time in the Canadian market, a potash mine expansion, construction of a power plant with natural gas and steam generators, and a uranium mine expansion in northern Canada. On many of these projects, I worked directly alongside engineers—not just installing electrical systems, but understanding why they were designed a certain way.
Those experiences, along with working with electricians from around the world, have given me a deeper understanding of how different electrical systems operate and why correct design matters so much.
A recent example involved a company that relocated and hired an electrician to connect their equipment at the new facility. Unfortunately, the electrician did not fully review the equipment specifications and did not understand that European-designed machinery operates on different voltage and frequency standards. The equipment was wired incorrectly, resulting in damaged components and months of costly downtime.
When I arrived, I reviewed both the equipment manual and the nameplate. It became clear that the machine was designed for 230-volt single-phase European power at 50 hertz—not the 60 hertz system used in the United States. Although the manufacturer had included components to adapt the equipment for the U.S. power grid, the wiring had been done incorrectly. After correcting the wiring and testing the system, the owner was able to replace the damaged components, and the equipment is now operating as intended.
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