Paul at Brilliance Electric provided outstanding service in a very timely matter. We had a small backyard sauna that we needed to power from a panel more than 150 feet away through the entire basement and into the garden. Paul developed an elegant and visually aesthetic solution so that the job could be done in a way that was easier, aesthetically more pleasing and at lower cost to boot. He was patient and explaining all the options, and took a real interest in the sauna itself and the need to create for a visually pleasing solution to maintain the beauty of the garden. Workwise, Paul was in constant contact, and provided clear cost estimates, and excepted payment only when milestones were definitively met. Small details like sending us small diagram renderings of a new design idea, and listening to our thoughts in a respectful and curious manner, and checking in with us frequently to make sure we were all in the same page, really made a difference in the quality of the final result. In summary, Paul got the job done, did it exceedingly well, came in at-cost and made us feel good. We couldn't have asked for better. read more

See all

Long overdue review. TLDR: Paul is amazing, definitely call him if you have a routine job or a thorny electrical mystery to solve. We recently moved into a 95 year old house with old wiring. We were getting strong shocks from our entry gate whenever we touched it without wearing shoes and sometimes even with shoes on. The gate has a button operated opening buzzer and doorbell and at first we thought there might be a short circuit. The buzzer/doorbell goes through an ancient 24V transformer, which could have also been the source. The door buzzer also failed some of the time. It was a mess. Tracing all the wires covered in electrical tape and spliced together with wire bolts took me hours. After disconnecting and reconnecting lots of connections and checking for shorts I still couldn't find the problem. We had another highly rated electrician stop by. After an hour, he also couldn't figure out the problem. Initially he suggested rewiring the entire house. He later suggested there could be some sort of induction issue, maybe from the power lines nearby (though they should be too far away to cause shocks), and that grounding the gate should fix the problem. Well... I have some electrical/physics background, so I drilled a hole through the side of the house, connected a thick ground wire to the gate, ran it through the hole, and connected a grounding clamp to the plumbing. I intended to simply connect the wire to the ground clamp and be done. As my hand approached the clamp, the hair on my arm stood on end. I paused and got some pliers with thick rubber insulation, held the wire, and nearly touched it to the ground clamp. Big shock, big spark, and all the lights went out. Fuse had blown. Bigger problem than I thought. The gate must be connected to the AC circuit somehow to blow a 20A fuse. I measured the voltage on the gate to ground and was getting 80 VAC. Wow. I called Paul Fanta. Paul came out quickly and retraced the messy wires and sorted out how everything was connected. He rewired the buzzer and doorbell circuits much more neatly and labelled everything, climbing over and around all the junk in our garage. Very methodical. We remeasured the gate voltage and got a lower (maybe 20VAC) reading and no shock. It should have been 0VAC, so we were still a little puzzled. My wife came home, asked us how it was going, and as soon as we mentioned the induction idea, she suggested that maybe the metal handrail that runs right down to (but doesn't touch) the gate could be the source. Brilliant! We measured that voltage and got... 120VAC. Holy hell! The handrail was somehow connected directly to the AC power line. Probably one of the screws holding it on the wall hit an AC power line, but didn't sever it. From there we figured out that it was connected to our outside door light. Disconnecting that line fixed the problem. We decided to put off fixing the light, because it would have required tearing up lots of plaster and we were able to come up with another way to light the hallway. The buzzer/doorbell wiring and the transformer turned out to be red herrings, but there was no way to know that at the start, and having it so much more organized is great if we have a problem down the road. We're very grateful for Paul's patience and expertise in solving our mystery. We'll definitely call on him for future electrical work. Highly recommended! read more

See all

This review is long overdue, but Paul is an amazing electrician! He has done a number of jobs on our single family home over the years. He is kind, efficient, and extremely knowledgeable. Hi offer him my highest recommendation! read more

Paul came by today, which was great considering I'd only reached out to him the day before. He was very knowledgeable and thorough, and though he recognized I couldn't make many of the proactive safety changes he suggested, he was still very thorough in explaining it to me. I know next to nothing about electricity and wiring, but he was still able to explain how a lot of it works, and helped me understand exactly what was going on. As for the actual repair, he worked very quickly and efficiently, and did a great job overall. The new plug / light switch he installed is now the nicest looking one in my apartment. Definitely recommend Paul; very nice and highly responsive guy. read more

I have no hesitation in recommending Paul. I could not have been more pleased with my experience. In the past, I have dreaded involving an electrician (probably unfairly) as I have so little knowledge of anything electric. However, Paul was an absolute joy to work with and I will definitely call on him again. He is very clear in his communications and took the time to understand what I needed. He was very professional and clearly enjoys what he does. My sense is that he both enjoys solving a problem as well as making a client happy. My task for Paul was to install a 1970s retro light fixture purchased in Germany in a victorian SF condo with old wiring. It was not the most thoughtful purchase. Once the old fixture came down, it was clear that the wiring and mounting did not match. Yet Paul had a bag of connectors and pieces and quickly pieced together a workable solution. He also did a quick evaluation of the safety of the wiring and offered practical solutions. My perception was simply that Paul wanted to make my lamp work as quickly and safely as possible. I have not read every review on here, but it looks like they are all five stars. They are well deserved. I came close to hiring someone with a lower bid, but am glad I trusted my instinct that it was low because the person had not taken the time to understand my project. Had I made that choice, I suspect project would either have been abandoned or cost more in the end. read more

Really knowledgeable and solves EVERY problem: 1. Bathroom lights went out. Everything looked okay to me. He says the GFCI is probably bad and finds it IN THE SINK CABINET--I wouldn't have thought to look there. Fixed it. Done. But he says there's a problem with the electrical panel that will come back to bite me in the butt, and I say, let's cross that bridge when we get there, so... 2. Panel issue rears its ugly head. He suggests a long-term and a short-term fix with the plusses/minuses. I make a decision, and the issue is fixed. Done. 3. I try to wire up a new Nuheat Home with no luck. He comes in and makes it work. I'm torn on this one because it shows my incompetence. Bottom line: problem fixed. Any problem. He fixes it. read more

We had an urgent electrical issue at our office, and we were concerned we wouldn't be able to get it looked at in a timely manner. Paul identified the issue and made the repairs within a few hours of our initial call. Extremely quick response time. He has a professional, yet easygoing demeanor. Very easy to talk to. He even explained the work he was doing to me and some of my curious coworkers. He did everything possible to save us time and money. Highly recommend. read more

Paul is an Electrical GENIUS! Our house started an electrical Beetlejuice tantrum, with outlets suddenly not working and power surges turning our TV and subwoofer on (boom!)...before freaking out that some loose wire tucked in the wall of our 120-year-old Victorian was going to spark and burn us all down, we called Paul, who patiently walked us through all of the steps to be sure we weren't requiring immediate assistance. He replied within a half-hour and carefully walked us through how to do a safe electric panel check (the Left Hand Rule and wear shoes!), checking everything we needed to check to be sure we weren't a ticking time bomb. He helped us fix that bum outlet, and assessed our electrical system as to where we now know we need to make upgrades. And all via text and image exchanges! An angel! We can sleep more soundly now. THANK YOU, Paul! read more

Brilliance Electric - Doing a safe electrical panel check - Electricians Near Me

I tried to do some basic electrical work and failed. Called Brilliance Electric and Paul was able to schedule a time that worked for me the next day. I got lucky! He was fixed the problem and even coached me through the repair process so I could learn from him. Great guy, knows these old SF buildings very well. Would call him again for any electrical work that needs to be done. read more

Paul was amazing. Professional, communicative, easy to work with, and showed up in a mask. You can tell he deeply enjoys his work and has been working in the field for a long time. Highly recommended. read more

I randomly called Paul for a 2nd opinion because the 1st electrician i called couldn't solve my problem for a very old electrical system in a residential facility. Indeed, Paul had both the experience and commitment to try to figure out our issue. He even engaged our appliance company to make sure he had all the information he needed. He was friendly, thorough, communicative, responsive, and reliable. He knows his stuff! Will definitely call him again! read more

Paul is a superb electrician. I've had him to my house twice. Both times he made a quick and accurate diagnosis. Visit 1 was for a bathroom light switch that was not working. Paul discovered that the switch was fine and then diagnosed a faulty wire in the ceiling light fixture. He then fixed it efficiently and it is back to normal. Visit 2 was for a recessed MR16 halogen fixture that stopped working. He found that the transformer was to blame and replaced it. Now the light works perfectly. And this was in a 12 foot ceiling over a kitchen counter which required Paul to work under challenging conditions. Paul is smart, efficient, and fairly priced. He is knowledgeable about building codes and his work was very neat and aesthetically pleasing. He was very transparent about price up front and came in under the estimate for the work. He's also a super nice man and an excellent conversationalist. He's really top notch and I highly recommend him for your electrical needs. read more

Paul has ALWAYS been amazing to work with. He has taken care of the electrical need of my business for years now, is very fair on price, does solid work and has never let us down when we needed him. Call him read more

After previously experiencing a painfully incompetent electrician, we needed a competent electrician that would efficiently troubleshoot a persistent electrical problem on time. Well, after reading all these positive Yelp reviews, we decided to go with Paul. Let me sum this up for you without repeating too many of the nice things people have written about this electrician; Do you want a competent professional? That's him. He is extremely responsive to e-mail. I really couldn't believe that an electrician emails and texts. No seriously! He *doesn't* just ditch you like some other electricians and does follow up with you. And to top that off, he is calm and very personable. You need calm and competent when you are worried about an electrical issue at an older home and your Grandma is freaking out! Hire Paul because he is fair, competent, friendly, and most importantly, knows how to troubleshoot and do his job right. I am really impressed by the quality of service, and we would hire Paul again in a heart beat. read more

Paul helped fix the wiring in a bathroom that had been done poorly by the contractor. He also gave me the most helpful tip to plug my refrigerator into a different outlet when I blew something that couldn't be fixed by resetting the breakers in the panel. read more

Prompt reply and follow-ups via phone and text. Easy and timely scheduling. Willing to share knowledge. Great customer service. read more

My Victorian in the heart of San Francisco had 4 rooms without power for a long time... I was ready to throw in the towel - and then in walked Paul. Like a magician with a diving rod, he found an old panel box I did not even know was in my closest! With one switch he fixed everything - saving me what could have cost a fortune (that I do not have)! Not only that, he promptly arranged a follow-up visit to ensure the old fuses were fully replaced to ensure the safety of my home (and my 3 children living there) and to maximum the long term use of the existing electrical. THANK YOU PAUL! You are the best in the field! read more

Paul is a what I call a Master. He knows his craft and is very straight forward. He installed 2 30 v and 50v Tesla compatible outlets within 2 hours..... and all of it with a very nice smile. Highly recommended. read more

Paul does excellent, fastidious work and will take on the most complex of projects. He is a true pleasure to work with. He recently lost his beloved father which has affected his ability to respond to his clients as quickly as he would like but he is worth waiting a bit for. I strongly recommend him as a treasured resource. read more

Paul is a great guy and runs a good business. Very easy to communicate with and if you need something he is your guy. He can fix any odd electrical problem for you at your home or Business and has a very fast turnaround time! Same day service in some cases. read more

There are not enough words in the dictionary that can fully describe the quality of workmanship and professionality of Brilliance Electric. Quite simply, Brilliance Electric is second to none. Whether it is re-wiring a mid-century apartment building, preparing an electrical assessment of a 1907 office building, or trouble-shooting a faulty kitchen light or non-functional electrical outlet, Paul's workmanship is impeccable. He is very responsive when we call him, and can seemingly trouble-shoot anything electrical. I think he could hold his own against Nikola Tesla and/or James Maxwell. I'm very glad that we found him. read more

Paul was an absolute professional and solutions based. We had a beer coolant emergency going into the 4th of July weekend. He showed up same day, fitting us into a busy schedule, and didn't leave until the job was done. Anyway the new machine didn't match power available so he worked his magic to get the voltage change done and explained everything to me in simple terms and got me involved with some hands on assistance, which allowed me to understand electricity a little more. This guy is a hero. read more

Went above and beyond in helping me. He came over after a long day. My problem was a weird one, where my thermostat just lost power. I am stunned with how thoroughly he trouble shot the problem. Nothing seemed to be working, and I thought I would have to call in an HVAC company and maybe get a new heater. Then, after diagnosing everything, Paul found some little hidden breaker, deep in the bowels of my heating system. A simple reset solved the problem. I'm still really impressed he found it. I'm even more impressed with his tenacity, experience, and joy he takes in what he does. read more

Brilliance Electric is appropriately titled. Though I'm sure the proprietor named his business for other reasons, Paul Fanta is truly a brilliant electrician. A pretty straight forward service appointment turned into an extremely valuable diagnosis of an electrical system in need. This gentleman is worth every penny and then some. read more

S T O P! Look no further, save yourself the trouble. Paul Fanta is absolutely amazing. Hands down. I have hired a couple electrician for my commercial set up, but they had a hard time trying to figure out how to get me what my business needs. I wasted so much time trying to find a good technician and was finally saved by Paul. He is a professional and very friendly. When I presented the issues to him, he smiled and said, "let's make it happen. We'll get you up and running." He kept his word and I've now put that stressful situation long behind me. read more

I've been using Paul's services since 2012 and he always delivers timely and professional electrical expertise in resolving my issues. Most recently I had Paul install (5)smoke/CO detectors throughout my building. He installed them perfectly and hard wired them together. Also he repaired an outside flood light, rather than replacing, saved me $200. I highly recommend Paul Fanta and will continue using his services. He also replaced a faulty wall switch. I already paid him $600 for 2 hours. Paul is $300/hour, and worth the price imho. read more

We called Paul this morning for an electrical problem in our place based on location and top rating. He had outstanding communication, came on time, fixed the problem, charged reasonably, and was very professional. We would be happy to use him again and recommend him. November 2017 -- we had another issue in our condo and Paul resolved it for us on a Sunday night. Could not be more satisfied! read more

Great work, excellent communication, and he took videos and pictures of the work in progress. Very pleased with the result!

Would highly recommend Brilliance. They provided me with excellent and timely service. Paul is great! Highly recommended!!

Simply the best. Responsive, friendly, efficient, and very reasonably priced. Our front gate buzzer was being really cranky, and I was having a hard time getting out of the building (one time I ended up just sticking my arm and key through the gate to unlock the door). Finally I got fed up and decided to look up electricians in the area. I first left a voicemail for Paul, called a second guy, who told me that I could actually fix the problem myself (no thank you) because he wouldn't be able to come by until the following week, and by the time I hung up the phone, Paul had texted to tell me he could come by in about an hour. We exchanged a few short texts, and Husband met him at home. By the time I arrived a few minutes later, Paul was almost done with the task, showed us what was wrong, and even fixed our doorbell (which was working fine, but the cover was just cracked and gaping open). Super wonderful service, and now I can actually get out of the building without having to wiggle the buzzer around for 10 minutes! read more

this is the second time we have used Paul. He is friendly, on time, professional and incredibly helpful. He actually left once after identifying our problem and while sitting in his car writing up the bill, said "wait i might be able to solve this right now instead of ordering something" and came back and fixed our weird lighting issue. We will always call Paul first. read more

It was pleasure to work with Paul Fanta. He had high degree of communication, went over and beyond the normal project and was a pleasure to work with. Would highly recommend him to anyone. read more

I'd like to apologize to anyone attempting to consume Mr. Paul Fanta's services in the September - December time frame of 2013. It was my fault that he was so busy! With that said, Paul performed a herculean task for me over a 6 to 8 week period. I purchased an old Victorian condo with knob and tube wiring spliced to badly implemented newer wiring in all the wrong shapes, sizes, and code violating incarnations. Nothing was grounded. No junction boxes for anything. Horribly unsafe. I wanted it fixed - rewired completely and nothing to worry about. This turned out to be an incredible amount of work. From running an entirely new power distribution system from the ground level to the third story, through the roof, and in to my unit all the way to ripping out, fishing, and rewiring every single fixture and outlet it was the experience of a lifetime. Paul was intimately familiar with all code requirements, scheduled inspections promptly and gained the favor of my district's electrical inspector with his superb quality work, and most of all was incredibly communicative during the whole process and made it possible for us to move in within our deadline. Paul worked all hours, weekends, and had all the tools and people at his disposal to ensure success. Paul proactively fixed issues - including designing new lighting layouts, hanging ceiling fans, purchasing new products and fixtures, running A/V wire for "nice to have" features through the walls, and asking me if I'd be interested in things I had no idea existed (whole home surge protection for every outlet built in to the panel? yes please.) A word of warning to anyone considering a similar engagement: rewiring a place, especially an older Victorian, isn't a clean affair. Walls and ceilings will be opened - and don't let the gravity of this escape you - every single light fixture, switch, and outlet will need to be code compliant. You will find out things that you wish you didn't know, but in the end, the peace of mind is priceless. Paul worked amazingly under my insane deadline; my wife actually gave birth to my second child in the middle of all this, so my stress levels were through the roof. On top of this, Paul is also a great guy to talk to and will be honest about everything he sees and does. Paul understood the emotional stress I was going through with my first time home purchase and was able to work with and around the sheer amount of work we were doing (did I mention there was nonstop lead paint stripping, plumbing work, and other contractors Paul had to work with too?) He enjoys his work and has plenty of stories about what he has seen in San Francisco to keep you entertained. Don't underestimate the value of a high quality electrical system - and I'm happy to say Paul is the man who can make that happen. read more

Update - 6/23/2015: I tried to hire Paul to do another project in my home. I had to reschedule our initial appointment for an unexpected wedding, he cancelled the rescheduled appointment a day late because he was sick (I get it, shit happens), but all further attempts to reschedule have gone ignored. Seriously disappointing. Five stars is not high enough a rating for this guy. Thanks to an incompetent electrician that my home insurance provider sent out, I was left without power and in a dangerous situation (our main panel was sparking). Paul came over at 6 PM on a Tuesday and in 2 hours diagnosed and corrected the problem. He is cheerful, very well priced, and really knows his shit. I was a bit panicked, and he was pretty awesome/reassuring the entire time. Don't even mess around with other electricians. read more

I got in touch with Paul today about some electrical sockets not working in my store front. He replied back immediately and sent a link to a page from his website and asked if I had seen the following instructions: http://sfpow.blogspot.com/2014/01/faq-if-then-else.html OMG! First off, as a woman business owner, I feel like I get taken for stupid every time I have to call a handyman, etc. to fix anything. I am blown away that Paul took the time to send me instructions that were simple to understand and that fixed my problem without having him make a trip that I would be charged for. Call me ignorant for not knowing more about basic electrical but I'm sure that others have made this mistake before. Thank you, Paul! For your kindness, promptness, generosity, and willingness to help me instead of charging me when most people would have. I'm amazed. I'll definitely refer friends to Paul and when I have a more challenging problem, I'll seek his help again. Glad to know people like this still exist! read more

I hate to be the party pooper of Paul, but I had a really lousy experience with him. From his professionalism to his ability to complete the work on time and on budget, Paul failed me over and over. He did not correctly spec the job, and what was supposed to be completed in a matter of 3 days took several weeks. He didn't finish some key points, pointing to a miscommunication we had (I assumed lights meant lights, but floor lamps do not count as lights. Who knew?) and insisted on additional payment or incompletion of the job. He also had to be called back multiple times after he "completed" the work due to forgotten details like wires hanging out of boxes and missing plate covers. Due to his negligence I needed our painter to come out an extra 3 times, costing me additional money. The whole experience was frustrating. I will never use Paul's services again. read more

Where do I start waxing poetically about the Master Electrician and one of the nicest human beings I know, Paul Fanta!?! I've been working with Paul Fanta off/on for about 2 years now. If you are like me and live in San Francisco and your place of residence is not brand new and you are reading this, you, like 99% of us SF'ers, have electrical challenges. Paul knows it all! Old Knob-and-Tube; Overloads; Old Panel Boxes; Apartment Wiring; Outdoor "shared" circuits; upgrades, New construction; SF / CA Electrical Codes and Requirements; Capacity Planning; Troubleshooting; Entire new home electric planning. I challenge anybody to stump Paul Fanta! This cannot be done! Perhaps more importantly, in a jaded world of being wary of service providers who want to do the least work in the shortest time possible for the highest fee and take advantage of your immediate peril, Paul Fanta is the gold-standard and lighthouse in the fog. Literally. Paul will take his time, walk you through exactly what he finds, what he is doing and what he recommends, including the minimum solution and more extensive options and their pro's and con's. Paul's response time is remarkable and he is a straight-shooter, an honest business man and family man and a true artisan at his craft - he is truly passionate about electricity! And of course, Paul's rates are extremely fair and reasonable! What more could you ask for: A gem of a person, an expert, responsive, fair, economical and reliable. Paul, I can only give you five stars but I would give you 11 if I could! read more

I've never had to hire an electrician before I hired Paul, but I can't imagine going with anyone else. He was incredibly responsive, very prompt, and highly professional. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend him. In addition to being good at his job, Paul is also incredibly sharp. He studied architecture and design, and is possesses an ideal mix of experience and curiosity when it comes to fixing problems. So if you have a tricky problem, Paul is an ideal choice. read more

Cut to the scene Friday afternoon... Frantic call from an employee at my salon, "The power just went out and our server went down. What do we do?" "The whole building?", says I. "No, just the outlet that the server and other computers were plugged into." "Plug them into another outlet," I say...and so the emergency is averted temporarily. Of course it's probably just the breaker in the box was tripped and I can flip it back in the morning... Saturday morning... Hmmm...It's not the breaker and these two sets of plugs are definitely dead...Extent of my professional knowledge of electrical workings has now been exhausted. Help Yelp! I need an electrician on short notice on a Saturday to deal with a small job...no problem, right? I called a few that came up at the top of the search and either no answer or already booked...then, just before I was going to give up, Paul's 5-star rating came up. I looked, I was impressed (yet a bit skeptical), but thought I would give him a try...and that's where the magic begins. Paul was very responsive, gave me an arrival time estimate and started to diagnose the problem via text. He arrived about the time he said he would EVEN while battling through the St Patrick's Day Parade and Citywide party that had begun already. He was pleasant, knew his stuff, and solved our problem (as well as a problem we didn't know we had!). I can't speak highly enough about the level of service, communication, and professionalism that embodies Paul and what he does. I have already referred him to my mother for some work she needs done - sorry Paul, I owe you another one! - and we have found our forever electrician for personal and professional needs. Thank you, Paul! 5-Stars plus, if there is such a thing! read more

I am a real estate broker and property manager. My tenant reported no hot water and I needed to act quickly after having called a plumber and having had other in-house contractors investigate the issue earlier that afternoon without success, I texted Paul, on a Friday night no less! (Several other electricians I called before him said they were closed after 5pm and through the weekend.) I was extremely impressed by how quick Paul was to respond to my text and how quickly he came to the unit and even provided me live regular updates as to his estimated time arrival via text through Glympse. Then when he arrived at the unit, he immediately identified and resolved the issue even taking video outside on the rooftop in the rain in the dark of night with his flashlight showing the water damage to the electrical panel which he texted me there onsite. I was totally blown away by Paul's use of GPS and video feedback because in my 10 years of real estate work with tons of contractors, I had never received such tech savvy professionalism! Paul has done additional amazing work for me since then and he is not only highly skilled, but a gentleman as well. read more