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Yes, electricians must be licensed, certified, and in most cases, insured. Licensing requirements vary by state and local municipality, but most U.S. municipalities require electricians to hold an electrical contractor’s license. It's always a good practice to confirm requirements with your local municipality. Even if licensing is not required in your area, hiring a licensed and experienced electrician often leads to a better end result.

A license is a legal requirement to operate a business and is necessary for pulling project permits. Certifications, on the other hand, are typically voluntary and demonstrate a certain level of expertise. In some cases, a certified electrician may send an apprentice or journeyman to perform the work, but they must operate under a primary electrician who holds the proper license.

Before hiring, you should verify the electrician's license, insurance coverage, and any third-party certifications. You can use Angi’s contractor licensing search to confirm a pro's license status. Additionally, businesses with the “Angi Approved” badge on our platform meet strict criteria, including having the required state and local licenses, passing a background check, and maintaining a high average rating.

Compared to amps, volts, and watts, ohms are a different kind of measurement, though also very common. Ohms show the resistance of materials like wiring: How much they impede the flow of electrons. The reason household wiring is usually copper or aluminum is that these materials are affordable and also have lower ohms, which means low resistance/high conductivity.

A circuit breaker flipping off when it detects an overloaded circuit isn’t a problem, but flipping the switch frequently can damage it and eventually cause an electrical hazard. If you’re going on a long vacation or leaving your home for the season, you should avoid turning off your circuit breaker to prevent electrical damage to your system.

The American Wire Gauge system calculates wire size diameters using the complicated formula D(AWG)=.005·92((36-AWG)/39) inch. A simpler rule of thumb is that every six-gauge decrease doubles the wire diameter, and every three-gauge decrease doubles the wire’s cross-sectional area. On the other hand, wavenumbers are typically measured in reciprocal meters (1/m or m−1) or reciprocal centimeters (1/cm or cm−1).