SPARKY WEEKLY

Sparky’s Weekly Report: Week 25

🗓️ September 1–6, 2026 Week #25

⚡ Opening

September 6, 2026

Week 25 was packed.

I put in about 20 hours of studying this week and completed roughly 300 electrical and NEC questions. I've been spending a lot of time working through the NEC, calculations, theory, and different electrical topics while also keeping up with everything going on with JoshTheSparky.

I've been catching up with electrical educators, working through Question of the Week and Brain Busters, putting together Quick Hits, continuing the Deep NEC Web Browsing series, working on the website and community, and getting ready to go back into Bay Path Module 5.

There's also a lot going on behind the scenes between the website, app, community, podcast, live broadcast, investing section, teaching project, and everything else I'm trying to build.

The main thing is still the same:

Keep building while continuing to learn the trade.

🧠 STUDYING — 20 HOURS & ~300 QUESTIONS

The studying this week was pretty heavy again.

20 hours of studying and roughly 300 questions completed.

A lot of those questions were NEC and electrical calculation questions. I'm trying to get myself into the habit of actually working through problems instead of just looking for an answer and moving on.

Find the section.

Read the surrounding Code.

Figure out what applies.

Work the problem.

Check the answer.

Move on to the next one.

The more questions I work, the more I start seeing where different parts of the NEC connect together. It also makes it easier to recognize when I don't actually understand something as well as I thought I did.

Calculations are still a big part of my studying right now. Demand factors, load calculations, Ohm's Law, power, EV charging, dwelling loads, ranges, motors, equipment loads, and all the other calculations that keep showing up.

I don't want to just memorize formulas.

I want to know when to use them, why I'm using them, and where the Code is telling me to use them.

That has been feeding directly into the content I've been making as well.

📺 CATCHING UP WITH ELECTRICAL EDUCATORS

I've been catching up with some of the electrical educators I've been following.

Thomas Domitrovich's Mastering the Electrical Service was one of the videos I worked through this week.

I've also been watching IAEI Changes, including their material covering NEC 2026 Chapter 6 and Chapter 7.

That's one of the things I like about following different people in the industry. Everybody explains things a little differently, and sometimes hearing somebody else explain something is what finally makes a topic click.

I'm not trying to learn everything from one person.

I'll read the Code myself, watch somebody explain it, work questions, look at another source, and go back to the Code again.

That's how I've been trying to study.

⚡ THE TOPICS I'VE BEEN COVERING

The Quick Hits and other short-form content this week covered a pretty wide range of electrical subjects.

I've been working with topics including elevators, EVSE and EV charging, long-duration loads, healthcare receptacles, mobile-home calculations, RV park calculations, range calculations, demand factors, branch circuits, grounding and bonding, transformers, track lighting, resistors, Ohm's Law, the power wheel, optional methods, and electrical theory.

There has also been material involving NECA, MECA, Brain Busters, Question of the Day, and different NEC code questions.

I like having all these different topics going at once because it keeps me from getting stuck studying one little piece of the trade.

Electrical work is too broad for that.

You can be working on a calculation one minute and looking at a completely different type of equipment or installation the next.

That's why I'm trying to build a broader understanding instead of only studying what I think is going to be on the next test.

⚡ QUESTION OF THE WEEK

This week's Question of the Week is another 2026 NEC calculation question.

A dwelling feeder supplies four household electric ranges rated:

10 kW
14 kW
15 kW
21 kW

The question asks for the maximum demand load.

The choices are:

A — 17.0 kW
B — 18.7 kW
C — 19.55 kW
D — 20.4 kW

The important part isn't memorizing the answer.

Find the applicable section.

Work through the calculation.

Verify it against the actual 2026 NEC.

That's the process I'm trying to build with these questions.

Don't just memorize the answer. Learn how to find it.

The Question of the Week is available through the 2026 National Electrical Code community on FastTraxSystem.

As always, make sure you're using the NEC edition and local amendments that actually apply to your work, licensing, or exam.

🌐 DEEP NEC WEB BROWSING — PART 2

Deep NEC Web Browsing Part 2 drops Monday night.

The series is about learning how to actually use the internet when researching the NEC.

There is a ton of electrical information online, but that doesn't mean all of it is current or correct.

You have to pay attention to what NEC edition somebody is talking about, where the information came from, whether the source is actually authoritative, and whether the requirement applies to the situation you're dealing with.

Being able to search for an answer isn't the same as knowing how to research one.

That's what I'm trying to work on with this series.

📰 TRADE NEWS & INDUSTRY READING

I've continued keeping up with electrical-industry information from places like NECA, MECA, EC&M, Electrical Contractor Magazine, Mike Holt, Electrical Code Academy, NEC, NFPA, and other trade resources.

I'm trying to keep up with more than just the NEC itself.

The electrical trade is bigger than the Code.

There are contractors, manufacturers, inspectors, educators, associations, training programs, technology companies, and a lot of people working on different sides of the industry.

The more I learn about the trade, the more I realize how much there is to learn.

I also spent some time looking at the CMECP program and its different professional-development paths.

There are programs for contractors, certified technicians, and journeymen, with education, testing, professional development, and other requirements involved.

That's something I'm interested in because I don't want learning to stop once I get through one license or one school module.

📲 NECCHAT

NECChat through FastTraxSystem is also getting push notifications.

That means users can receive notifications when somebody makes a post or replies to something.

It's a small thing, but it makes a community much easier to actually keep up with.

If somebody answers a question you asked, you shouldn't have to remember to go back and check the thread every day.

🌐 JOSHTHESPARKY.COM

I've continued working on the website this week too.

JoshTheSparky.com is still the main home for everything I'm building.

I've been working on pages, embeds, organization, and getting different parts of the site connected.

There are still things that need work. There are still things that aren't finished. There will probably always be something that needs fixing.

If you find something broken, missing, or acting weird, send it to ask@joshthesparky.com.

The website is supposed to be a resource and an archive, so I'd rather know when something isn't working.

📱 THE APP

The JoshTheSparky Base44 app is still a work in progress.

I'm not going to pretend it's finished because it isn't.

The Wix and WordPress mirrors are also still incomplete.

For now, the main JoshTheSparky website remains the primary place to find everything.

The app is something I'm continuing to build toward, but there's a lot involved in getting all the pieces working properly.

💬 THE COMMUNITY

The community keeps expanding across different platforms.

There's NECChat/FastTraxSystem, Discord, ForumBoard/FreeForums, Reddit, and the JoshTheSparky website.

I don't expect everybody to use the same platform.

Some people like forums. Some people prefer Discord. Some people are already on Reddit. Some people just want to use the website.

That's why I'm trying to build a network instead of making JoshTheSparky completely dependent on one social-media platform.

Social media is part of the project, but I don't want it to be the entire project.

⭐ SEPTEMBER FEATURED SPARKYS

The September Featured Sparkys are also out.

@The360Electrician brings a lot of attention to the business side of the electrical trade — estimating, operations, finances, marketing, and building a company.

@its_electricaltime focuses on electrical knowledge, tips, tutorials, social content, videos, and classes.

@thepreachingelectrician combines electrical trade content with motivation, faith, and personal standards.

@new_mexico_sparky gives people an inspector's perspective on the trade.

And @johnny.the.electrician brings the memes, workplace humor, motivation, and relatable trade content.

That's five completely different perspectives.

That's what I like about doing Featured Sparkys. There isn't one way to contribute to the electrical community.

🎙️ JOSHTHESPARKY RADIO & BROADCASTING

JoshTheSparky Radio is moving toward a weekly podcast schedule through RSS.com.

I've also been working toward bringing the live broadcast back.

The Sparky's Feed and broadcast pages will be getting updates as that comes together.

I want the podcast and broadcast to become regular parts of JoshTheSparky instead of something that happens once in a while.

There's a lot of electrical content that works better when you can actually sit down and listen to somebody talk through it.

👨‍🏫 LEARNING HOW TO TEACH

I've been thinking more about teaching too.

I'm working on a practice course, but I'm not interested in just calling myself a teacher because I made some videos.

I want to actually get better at explaining electrical concepts.

If I can't explain something clearly, that's probably a sign that I need to understand it better myself.

Teaching is going to force me to find those gaps.

Eventually I want to get into deeper material too, including a Chapter 1 NEC deep dive.

💰 INVESTING & THE ELECTRICAL TRADE

The investing side of JoshTheSparky is starting to come together too.

I'm looking at stocks, real estate, cryptocurrency, alternative investments, business, personal finance, and retirement.

I'm approaching it from the perspective of somebody working in the electrical trade and trying to learn this stuff myself.

I'm not a financial expert and I'm not trying to give people financial advice.

I'm researching it, learning about it, and documenting the process.

There's a lot of financial information out there, just like there is electrical information, and I'm trying to build something useful around it.

🤖 TRADEHOG & AI

TradeHog.net remains the official AI of JoshTheSparky.com.

It's not a paid sponsorship.

I actually like using it.

I think AI has a lot of potential for the skilled trades, and not just electrical.

There's potential for plumbing, HVAC, construction, and other trades too.

But AI is still a tool.

You shouldn't use it as an excuse not to learn.

Ask it questions. Use it to help research. Compare answers. And verify what it tells you.

Especially when you're dealing with electrical Code.

📰 SPARKY MONTHLY #2

Sparky Monthly Issue #2 was released for September.

I'm glad to have the second issue out because the newsletter gives me another way to collect everything together each month.

The website, journal, newsletter, podcast, and other archives are important to me because I don't want everything JoshTheSparky creates to disappear into a social-media feed.

🧠 2026 NEC BRAIN BUSTER PACKET 2

2026 NEC Brain Buster Packet 2 is also out.

There are 25 questions in the packet.

The process is still the same:

Open the Code.

Find the section.

Read the surrounding material.

Work the problem.

Verify the answer.

Don't just memorize A, B, C, or D.

After working roughly 300 questions myself this week, I'm even more convinced that actually working questions is one of the best ways to find the areas where you need more study.

🏫 BACK TO BAY PATH

I'm also getting ready to go back into Bay Path Module 5.

I've enjoyed having the time to do independent studying, but I'm looking forward to getting back into structured training.

The school material, the NEC, field experience, calculations, questions, and independent studying all connect together.

Sometimes something I learn in school makes more sense because I've already seen it in the field.

Sometimes something I see in the field makes more sense after I've studied it.

And sometimes I run into something where I realize I don't understand it at all yet.

That's part of learning the trade.

🏗️ NECA CONVENTION

The 2026 NECA Convention & Trade Show is coming up October 4–7 in Las Vegas.

I'm not going this year.

Maybe another time.

I'll still be watching the educational and industry material that comes out of the convention.

There's plenty of information coming out of these events that can still be useful even when you aren't physically there.

🧰 PRODUCT OF THE WEEK — STACK CADDY

This week's Product of the Week is Stack Caddy by Paul Abernathy.

Stack Caddy is a modular, stackable storage system for keeping smaller jobsite items organized.

It's one of those products that makes sense because it comes from an actual trade problem.

Small parts and jobsite essentials have a way of getting thrown around, buried, lost, or just becoming a pain in the ass to keep organized.

I like seeing electricians take problems they've actually dealt with in the field and turn them into products that solve those problems.

📓 SPARKY'S JOURNAL

A few of the Sparky's Journal topics I'm working on include:

Featured Sparkys of September

NEC 2026 Book Highlighting and Marking System

Never Rely on a Tic Trace

The journal gives me somewhere to put the longer stuff.

Not everything needs to be a Quick Hit.

Sometimes I want to actually sit down and write about something, explain what I learned, or document something that doesn't fit into a few slides.

That's what the journal is for.

🗃️ BUILDING THE ARCHIVE

I've been thinking more about the archive side of JoshTheSparky too.

I don't want this whole project to depend on social media.

Social platforms change.

Algorithms change.

Posts get buried.

Accounts disappear.

People move to different platforms.

If I've spent years making educational content, I want that information to still be somewhere people can find it.

That's why the website matters.

The journals matter.

The newsletters matter.

The podcast matters.

The community matters.

The archives matter.

Social media can help people discover JoshTheSparky, but I want there to be somewhere for them to actually go once they get here.

⚡ KEEP BUILDING

That's pretty much where Week 25 leaves me.

I've got 20 hours of studying behind me and roughly 300 questions completed.

I've worked through a ton of NEC and calculation material. I've been watching other electricians and educators. I've kept making Quick Hits and questions. I've got Brain Buster Packet 2 out, and Deep NEC Web Browsing Part 2 is coming.

The September Featured Sparkys are out. Sparky Monthly Issue #2 is out. The website keeps getting built. The community keeps expanding. The podcast is moving toward a weekly schedule, the live broadcast is getting closer, the teaching course is starting to take shape, the investing section is growing, TradeHog is still part of the project, and I'm heading back into Bay Path Module 5.

There's a lot left to do.

I'm still an apprentice. I'm still learning. I'm still going to find things I don't know. I'm still going to make mistakes. I'm still going to have to go back and verify things.

That's alright.

I'm going to keep working through it.

Keep studying. Keep building. Keep learning. Take care of yourself. Confirm everything.

You're the electrician.

See you next week.

📖 QUOTE OF THE WEEK

1 Corinthians 16:9

“A wide door of opportunity is open for me, and there are many adversaries.”

There's opportunity everywhere right now.

But opportunity doesn't mean the road is going to be easy.

Keep going anyway.

🎵 SONG OF THE WEEK

Bones — “DaDroughtIsOver”

TeamSesh.

Still a lot to learn.

Still just getting started.

Keep stacking knowledge. Keep building the trade. Keep building the platform.

⚡ JoshTheSparky

@joshthesparky4

joshthesparky.com

Future Massachusetts Electrician | NEC Student | Always Learning