A town of villages and waterfront
Wareham wraps around the head of Buzzards Bay, cut through by the Wareham, Weweantic and Agawam rivers. That means a lot of houses within sight of salt water, and a lot of electrical equipment that lives in the salt air. Meter sockets, outdoor receptacles and service masts near Onset Bay, Swifts Beach and Point Independence corrode faster than they would in Middleborough, and a corroded connection is a hot connection.
Cottages that became year-round homes
Many of Wareham's beach neighborhoods started as summer colonies. Those cottages were wired for a few lights and a fridge, then winterized, added onto and fitted with electric heat, a heat pump or two and a modern kitchen. Small fuse panels and 60-amp services still turn up, along with ungrounded two-wire circuits. A service upgrade, done once and done right, is often the cleanest fix.
Storm country
The 1938 hurricane, Carol in 1954 and Bob in 1991 all pushed surge into Wareham. Today it's mostly nor'easters: wind, flooding on the low roads and multi-day outages on Eversource lines. That's why generator inlets and interlocks are some of the most useful work Glenn does here, along with whole-home surge protection.
Common jobs in Wareham
- Service upgrades on converted cottages
- Generator inlets and interlocks before storm season
- Replacing salt-corroded meter sockets and outdoor boxes
- Heat pump circuits
- EV charger circuits in garages and driveways
Do you work in Onset and the beach neighborhoods?
Yes. Onset, Swifts Beach, Parkwood Beach, Point Independence and the rest of Wareham's shore neighborhoods are all close to home base in West Wareham.
Shore houses tend to need the same things: corrosion repairs on outdoor equipment, service upgrades for converted cottages and generator hookups for storm season.
My Wareham cottage still has a fuse box. Do I need to replace it?
Not always overnight, but a fuse box in a year-round home is usually a sign the service is too small and the wiring is old. Many insurers and buyers also push for replacement.
The usual fix is a new breaker panel and, often, a larger service. Glenn will look at the panel, the wiring it feeds and what you want to run, and give you the options and a price.
Who issues electrical permits in Wareham?
The Town of Wareham's building department, through its inspector of wires. Your electrician pulls the permit and the inspector checks the work.
In Massachusetts, permits for electrical work are taken out by the licensed electrician doing it, so you shouldn't have to deal with the paperwork yourself.
What should I do when a nor'easter knocks out power in Wareham?
Report the outage to Eversource, stay well away from any downed line, and if you run a portable generator, run it outdoors far from windows and only connect it through a proper inlet and interlock or transfer switch.
If you don't have that connection yet, that's a good job to schedule before the next storm.
Nearby
Neighboring towns.
Sparks, smoke, a hot panel or a burning smell? Turn off the breaker or the main if you can do it safely, then call. For fire or smoke, get out and call 911. For a downed line, stay clear and call Eversource.