Electrical answers you can work out before you call anyone.
The same math an electrician does before quoting (load calculations, breaker and wire sizes, solar limits, lighting layouts), built so you can run your own numbers. Every tool shows its arithmetic and cites where the numbers come from.
EV charging
Circuit size, charge time and what it costs on SDG&E or SCE.
EV charger circuit & charging-cost calculator
Breaker, wire and charger size for your car, plus miles added per hour and the cost per charge on SDG&E or SCE.
Open the tool →SDG&E or SCE? South Orange County utility finder
Which utility serves your town, what your EV and solar rate plans are called, and who to call for a service upgrade.
Open the tool →Panels & load
Whether your panel can take one more big appliance.
Solar & backup
How much solar your panel can accept, and what backup power you need.
Solar-ready panel checker (the 120% rule)
How big a solar or battery system your existing panel can accept before it needs an upgrade or a derate.
Open the tool →Backup power sizing: generator or home battery
Pick what has to stay on during an outage and get generator watts, battery kWh and hours of runtime.
Open the tool →Lighting & kitchens
Recessed layouts and the circuits a real kitchen needs.
Recessed lighting layout calculator
How many recessed lights a room needs, how far apart and how far off the walls, drawn to scale.
Open the tool →Kitchen remodel circuit planner
Pick your appliances and get every circuit (code, install-guide and recommended) with breaker, wire, GFCI/AFCI and panel spaces.
Open the tool →Wire & circuits
Wire size, voltage drop and the breaker that keeps tripping.
Wire size & voltage drop calculator
Copper or aluminum wire size for a sub-panel, garage, ADU or EV run, with the voltage drop over the distance.
Open the tool →Why does my breaker keep tripping? Troubleshooter
Answer four questions about the trip and get the likely cause, what is safe to check yourself, and when to stop.
Open the tool →Safety checks
Panels and wiring that insurers and inspectors flag.
Permits & hiring
What needs a permit in your city, and how to check a license.
The code itself
The rules behind the numbers, section by section.
Guides
Longer reads, written for South Orange County houses and utilities.
Home EV charging in South Orange County: the complete guide
Level 1 vs Level 2, circuit sizes, two-car garages, SDG&E and SCE EV rates, permits and what installation involves.
Read the guide →Panel and service upgrades: 100A to 200A, explained
When a panel upgrade is really needed, what it involves with SDG&E or SCE, and the alternatives worth checking first.
Read the guide →What's behind the walls: South County home wiring by decade
What a 1960s, 70s, 80s or 90s South Orange County house usually has for wiring and panels, and what to check.
Read the guide →Getting your house solar- and battery-ready
Panel capacity, the 120% rule, main breaker derates, batteries and backup: the electrical side of going solar in California.
Read the guide →Kitchen remodel electrical: lighting, circuits and code
Layered lighting, island power, induction, appliance circuits and the California code rules for a remodeled kitchen.
Read the guide →GFCI and AFCI protection: where California code requires it
What GFCI and AFCI devices do, where the current California Electrical Code requires them, and why they trip.
Read the guide →Hiring an electrician in California: license, contract, permit
How to verify a C-10 license, what the contract must say, deposit limits, and who pulls the permit.
Read the guide →Send a photo. Get a real answer.
Text is fastest, and a photo quote is free. Call if it is urgent, if you smell something burning, or if a breaker will not reset.
Electrical work contracted under C K ELECTRIC · CSLB Lic. #354550 (C-10) · Farmer Works Electric license in process