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Electrical Surge Damage Inspection
Fuel type changes where the unit can sit and what it costs to run. A transfer switch is what separates a safe standby system from a dangerous extension cord arrangement.
Electrical Surge Damage Inspection in O’Fallon and across St. Charles, St. Louis, Lincoln and Warren counties.
No dispatcher and no commissioned salesman. Seventeen years in the trade, four of them on his own.
5.0 from 94 Google reviews · BBB A+ since 2022
What this work actually involves
Surge protection is installed at the panel where it can clamp what comes in, not just at the device.
First the reading, then the explanation, then the repair scoped to what was actually found. If that turns out smaller than the job you called about, that is what you are charged for.
Work needing a permit gets one and work needing an inspection is left ready for it. There is no handoff between whoever quotes and whoever fixes, because they are the same person.
When people call about this
- A well pump the house depends on
- A sump pump and a finished basement
- Portable generator cords through a window
- A home office that cannot go dark
Why people choose Clint for it
One person does the diagnosis and the repair, so nothing is lost between a salesman and a technician, and nobody is paid to sell past the finding.
Seventeen years in the trade, four of them running his own shop, 5.0 from 94 Google reviews, and an A+ BBB accreditation held since 2022.
Where this is done
A roughly fifty mile working radius from O’Fallon, covering thirty municipalities across five jurisdictions in the St. Louis metro.
See the full service area, or the rest of our backup power work.
Writing the list before pricing the system
Backup cost is decided almost entirely by the list of what has to keep running. Furnace blower, refrigerator, well or sump pump, a few circuits of light: written down honestly, that list is far smaller and cheaper than running everything.
The list comes first, the size comes from the list, and the quote comes from the size. Done the other way round you buy a system sized to a brochure.
The transfer arrangement is the safety-critical part
Whatever the source, the transfer has to make feeding the utility physically impossible. That is a transfer switch or a listed interlock, and it is what protects the crews working to restore your street.
A cord into a dryer outlet does not do that, and it is the single most dangerous thing homeowners improvise during an outage.
What an inspection covers and what you get
Grounding and bonding, protection in wet locations, panel condition with the cover off, terminations at large loads, device condition, and the specific hazards the housing stock here produces: aluminum branch wiring, knob-and-tube, obsolete panels.
You get a written list with readings, separated into what is a hazard, what is a code item, and what is simply old and working. Buyers, insurers and inspectors all ask for different ones.
Where surge protection belongs
Most damaging surges are not lightning. They come from the utility side and from large motors inside the house cycling off, which is why a whole-house device at the panel catches more events than a strip at the television.
The panel device handles the big transients, and point-of-use protection at expensive electronics handles what gets past it. Layered that way it works; a strip alone does not, and a panel device alone leaves sensitive equipment exposed.
Who actually does the work
Clint Ehman does the diagnosis and the repair himself. There is no salesman writing a scope for a technician to execute, and nobody paid on what the visit totals.
Seventeen years in the trade, four of them running his own shop out of O’Fallon, licensed, bonded and insured with workers compensation coverage, 5.0 from 94 Google reviews, and A+ BBB accreditation held since 2022.
“Infinity came out for same day service after an electric line had been cut in my yard. He was able to locate and correct it very quickly, eliminating any risk of injury or additional power outage.”
Melissa Johnson · Google review
How the visit goes
- The call
What you need to keep running and how often the power goes out where you are.
- The measurement
The loads you named, added up honestly, and the panel’s capacity to feed a transfer switch or interlock.
- The finding
A size and a configuration, with the cost difference between keeping the essentials on and running the whole house made plain.
- The work
Unit sited, circuit run, transfer switch or interlock installed so back-feeding is impossible, inspected, then a walkthrough of starting and transferring with you present.
What the job includes
- Load selection: what has to run, what can wait
- Generator or inlet sized to the chosen loads
- Transfer switch or interlock so back-feeding is impossible
- Pad or mounting, and the circuit to it
- Permit and inspection where required
- A walkthrough of starting and transferring, in person
What it does not
- Gas piping, which is the plumber’s trade
- Concrete pads beyond a prefabricated base
- Generator servicing contracts
If the fix belongs to another trade, you get the name of one rather than a price from this one. There is a gallery of finished jobs, and a form if that is easier than calling.
Related backup power work
Electrical Surge Damage Inspection across the metro
Where the house is changes what the work involves. What an inspector looks at first differs by address here, which shapes the job as much as the house does.
Warren County
Newer builds beside older farm properties, with outbuildings and well pumps that town panels never see.
St. Charles County
St. Charles County is mostly 1990s and 2000s subdivisions. The wiring is modern and the services were sized before anyone owned an electric car or finished a basement, so capacity is the usual constraint rather than condition.
St. Louis County
The obsolete panel brands concentrate in this county, because they were installed through exactly the decades this housing was built and upgraded.
County by county coverage is on the service areas page.
Questions worth asking first.
What size generator do I need?
It depends on what has to keep running. A well pump, a sump pump and a furnace need very different capacity from a whole house, and picking the loads deliberately keeps the cost sensible.
Is a transfer switch required?
Yes, for any permanent standby system. It stops the generator back-feeding the utility, which is what protects the line workers restoring your street.
Can I use a generator cord into a dryer outlet?
No. That back-feeds the utility and endangers the crews working your line. A transfer switch or a listed interlock is what makes that physically impossible.
How long have you been doing this?
Clint has seventeen years in the trade and has been running his own shop out of O’Fallon since 2022.
What do your reviews say?
5.0 from 94 Google reviews, and A+ accreditation with the BBB held since 2022. The reviews are on the reviews page with links to where each was posted.
Worth a call before it gets worse.
Heat, a smell or a repeated trip is the house reporting something real. Electrical Surge Damage Inspection in O’Fallon and across the metro.
Mon-Thu 8-5 · Fri 8-4 · Sat 10-3. If a message suits you better, there is a form.