Smartwire Named a 2026 R•Home Readers' Favorites Super Star — Thanks to You, Richmond
We got some news this month that we're proud to share: Smartwire has been named a 2026 R•Home Readers' Favorites Super Star in the Electrician category,
If you're not familiar with it, R•Home is Richmond magazine's home publication, and for 17 years it has surveyed its readers — Richmond-area homeowners — about which home service businesses they actually trust. The Super Stars list, now in its second year, combines the results of all 17 years of those surveys to recognize the businesses readers have voted for most often. In the magazine's words, Super Stars are the companies "trusted to ensure every home-related project goes off without a hitch."
That's the part that means the most to us. This isn't a panel of judges or a paid placement. It's Richmond homeowners — many of them our customers — telling a magazine which electrician they'd recommend to a neighbor. Readers have voted Smartwire a favorite every year since 2009, and this is our second consecutive year on the Super Stars list — which is to say, every year that list has existed.
What being a Super Star actually means
R•Home doesn't hand this out for a single good year. To qualify as a Super Star, a business has to have been voted a Readers' Favorite in its category repeatedly across the survey's history. In other words, it measures the thing that's hardest to fake in the trades: consistency over time.
We've been at this for nearly 40 years, and our approach hasn't changed much — show up when we say we will, explain the work in plain English, do it to code, and stand behind it with a 12-month workmanship warranty. It's not complicated, but it does take doing it the same way on the thousandth job as on the first.
Thank you
To every homeowner who voted for us, called us back for a second project, or gave our number to a friend: thank you. Word of mouth built this company long before online reviews existed, and an award decided entirely by readers is word of mouth in print. We don't take it lightly.
The full Super Stars list appears in the September–October 2026 issue of R•Home — a special edition marking the magazine's 20th anniversary — on newsstands and in mailboxes September 1.
Need an electrician Richmond homeowners trust?
If you're looking for an electrician in Richmond or Central Virginia — for a panel upgrade, EV charger installation, whole-home backup power, a remodel, or just a fix done right — we'd be glad to earn your vote too. Contact us to schedule a visit.
Frequently asked questions
What award did Smartwire win in 2026? Smartwire was named a 2026 R•Home Readers' Favorites Super Star in the Electrician category. The designation, published by Richmond magazine's R•Home, recognizes businesses voted readers' favorites most often across 17 years of home service surveys.
How is the R•Home Readers' Favorites Super Star award decided? Entirely by reader voting. R•Home magazine surveys Richmond-area readers about their favorite home service providers, and Super Stars are the businesses voted favorites repeatedly across the survey's history — not a one-time win, and not a paid placement.
How many times has Smartwire been voted a reader favorite? Richmond-area readers have voted Smartwire a favorite electrician every year since 2009 in R•Home's home service surveys — more than a decade and a half of consecutive wins — and Smartwire has been named a Super Star in both years the list has existed (2025 and 2026).
Is Smartwire a licensed electrician in Richmond, VA? Yes. Smartwire is a licensed and insured Class A electrical contractor serving Richmond and Central Virginia, with an A+ Better Business Bureau rating, background-checked staff, and a 12-month workmanship warranty.
Smartwire is a licensed Class A electrical contractor based in Ashland, Virginia, serving the greater Richmond region for nearly 40 years. Voted a top electrician by the readers of R•Home magazine and named a Readers' Favorites Super Star in 2025 and 2026.