Who doesn’t like to save on power costs? Although you don’t have control over power supply charges, there may be some things that you can do at home to reduce the cost of your next electrical bill.
Electrical Safety Training Tip #1: Overlamping
Keeping your electrical system safe is an effective preventive measure against fires and accidents. While many people know some of the basic techniques to maintain electrical safety, one of the most commonly disregarded conditions is known as overlamping.
What You Need To Know About Overlamping
In a nutshell, overlamping is a situation when a light bulb has a higher wattage requirement than the load capacity of the lighting fixture. Most light fixtures have a capacity of 60 watts, which can handle a wide variety of light bulbs designed for home use.
Your Spring Cleaning Appliance Checklist
Winter is coming to a close, and this sends most people scrambling to start spring cleaning. In fact, spring cleaning has become a tradition for homeowners after a season of snow, ski breaks, and shoveling. It’s also the perfect time to check our home appliances in preparation for the season that’s about to come.
3 Electrical Safety Tips for Your Kitchen
When it comes to safety, you can never be too careful. Even in the privacy of your own home, risks and accidents are just waiting to happen, especially if you aren’t aware of them. Today, we’re going to look at electrical safety tips and techniques for your kitchen.
1. Turn off and unplug unused kitchen appliances
According to the National Fire Protection Association, the most common reason for home fires is cooking equipment. Aside from the hazards brought about by gas-powered devices, electrical appliances can also aggravate this risk.
5 Tips for Maintaining Your Generator
The generator is perhaps one of the most under-appreciated but highly useful devices in homes and facilities. With the convenience and advantage that it brings, the generator deserves to be maintained. Besides, failing to do maintenance on your generator may hasten its wear and tear, leading you to spend more on buying a new unit.
Maintaining Your Generator Tips
If you want your generator to last a long time, here are some effective tips to keep it maintained:
Consider getting a warranty
Some sellers may give you a discount if you don’t get a warranty for the generator. However, having a warranty will safeguard you against any potential damage that the unit may experience, regardless if you bought it as brand new or not.
Put the generator in an enclosure
Don’t think for a second that your generator is invincible. Just like any other appliance, exposing your generator to the elements – especially water or moisture – may speed up its deterioration. To avoid this, put it inside a protective cover. Fortunately, some hardware stores sell covers, tents, and enclosures. The design is to protect your generator. If you have enough resources, it’s best to put the generator in its own garage or house.
Run the generator once every quarter
Generators do the work when the main power supply doesn’t. However, even if the power supply remains uninterrupted, make sure that you turn on the generator once every 3 months. The main reason behind this is for the battery of the electric starter to charge up.
Keep the fluid level within range.
In other words, fill up your generator tank with enough supply. One of the fastest ways to damage your generator is by running it while it’s already out of fluid. In similar fashion, check that you have enough supply of generator oil and filters. Missing out on these things will render your generator useless in times of power interruption.
Clean and store it properly after each use.
After it works its magic onto moments of power outage, make sure that you clean the generator. Wipe off any grease, fuel spills, and adhering dirt on its body. A compressed air blower can make this job much faster.
Final Word
In pretty much the same reason as with other devices and appliances, taking care of your generator can increase its life span. That way, you can save on costs and enjoy your supplementary power for a little while longer.
Need help with maintaining your generator? Wire Craft electric will help you out. Call us now.
3 Facts About Carbon Monoxide Detectors
Some dangers in this world are visible, but others may sneak past your senses and affect your health without you knowing it. This is the case of carbon monoxide poisonings, which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says has caused hundreds of deaths and thousands of emergency room visits.
Carbon monoxide poisoning can be prevented, and one of the best preventive measures is installing a carbon monoxide detector. Carbon monoxide poisoning may increase the risk of headaches, nausea, shortness of breath, and cause a general feeling of weakness. Having appropriate prevention techniques can protect you from experiencing these symptoms of CO poisoning, as they are often associated with many other sicknesses and the source can be hard to identify.
If you’re not yet familiar with this device, here are three important bits of information about the carbon monoxide detector:
Carbon monoxide detectors have a specific purpose.
Comparing it with other types of alarm devices, a carbon monoxide detector measures the level of CO. It checks the atmosphere of the room where it is. When the air approaches the critical CO limit, the device alarm will trigger.
When used properly, CO detectors alert the people inside the facility about the low CO level. This should prompt the people to either evacuate from the area or introduce better ventilation.
Carbon monoxide detectors are different from carbon monoxide fire detectors.
Carbon monoxide detectors determine the presence of the invisible gas in the room. On the other hand fire detectors check the level of CO in the atmosphere to anticipate a fire outbreak.
Choosing the right CO detector requires careful research.
If you plan to buy a CO detector for your home or office, you need to check the following factors:
- The detector should carry a voluntary UL standard 2034 certification.
- Choose between battery-operated or electric CO detectors.
- Opt for quality over cost. You don’t want to use a cheap detector only for it to fail in a real low-CO scenario.
Using the device correctly reduces the risk of panic and leads people to safety.
Carbon monoxide poisoning may be too big of a problem to solve. But with the availability of carbon monoxide detectors, we can all breathe a sigh of relief, knowing that we’re making steps to protect ourselves from this silent killer.
Need help with carbon monoxide issues? Wire craft professional will surely help you out. Contact us now.
The Value of Surge Protectors
As people welcome more gadgets and appliances inside the home, a sudden electrical surge may increase the danger of fires and accidents. In this case, surge protectors can minimize this risk.
Outdoor Lighting to Brighten Up Your Home
The holidays may have passed by so quickly, but it doesn’t mean that you can’t enjoy flickering lights and festive sights anymore. Today, we’re going to share with you some ways to upgrade your outdoor lighting so that you can illuminate and liven up your home.
Tips For Unique Outdoor Lighting At Home
Let’s cut right to the chase, and check out these amazingly beautiful outdoor lighting options that you can use outside your home:
Solar Mason Jar Lids
Mason jars have risen in popularity because of their classic and sturdy look, making them perfect Instagram accents. Why not use the novelty of this jar for your lighting needs? Some online shops and local novelty stores sell solar-powered Mason jar lids, which consists of a regular Mason jar screw lid and a solar panel lid insert. Put the jar under the sun for at least 6 hours, and this can illuminate your evenings outdoors with a unique twist.
Christmas lights wrapped around posts and trees
Who says you can use these babies only during the holidays? Christmas lights are perfect for outdoor lighting any day of the year, if you ask me. It might be best to choose lights in one to two colors, preferable with LED bulbs for the sake of safety and energy conservation. One great way to showcase this kind of lights is by wrapping them around posts or trees. This can instantly give you the holiday feels even outside the season.
String seashells with lights
Bring the sea into your backyard by attaching seashells to your Christmas lights or string lights. The seashells can mute the glaring illuminance of your bulbs, while at the same time giving you a summer kind of feeling.
Old string lights placed in glass shades
Here’s a quick and easy tip: You can combine old glass shades (that you may have stored somewhere in your home) and some string lights (preferably in one color) to create a nifty outdoor light! Just place the string lights inside the glass shade, and hook up the lights to a power source.
Railing lights
To create a perfect mood lighting outdoors, install railing lights onto the bottom surfaces of your outdoor steps. You can also add it on railings or counters. The effect is a soft illumination without the glare of traditional outdoor bulbs.
Need Help?
Many of these outdoor lighting tips are easy to do. Some of them may require intermediate knowledge on electrical systems.
Wire Craft can help you hook up a new set of outdoor lighting fixtures. Fixtures that are not only visually appealing, but also perfectly safe.
3 Common Electrical Problems and How to Resolve Them
After years of living in the same home, we may have a tendency to overlook things. This is a dangerous attitude, especially when we’re talking about electrical safety. Today, we will talk about three of the most common electrical issues around the house, and the strategies to resolve them.
Guide to Energy Efficient Light Bulbs
The world is ever-evolving, and the demand for electricity is at an all-time high. Apart from this, homeowners and building managers are finding it more difficult to keep power costs at bay, due to the increasing load requirement. For this purpose, energy efficient light bulbs could be your quick and easy solution to manage your power usage.
What is an Energy Efficiency Light Bulb?
As its name suggests, an energy efficient lightbulb is a device that emits light at a lower power requirement than others. This special kind of light bulb is designed to minimize electricity usage without reducing the amount of light that it generates. Energy efficient light bulbs have become extremely useful these days, since a significant portion of the electrical load is used for lighting.
Types of Energy Efficient Light Bulbs
Here are some of the most common types of energy efficient light bulbs:
Compact Fluorescent Lamp (CFL)
The bulb works by heating up the components inside the tube, and is designed to use up only a quarter of the power required by incandescent bulbs. Most CFLs can last up to 10,000 hours.
Cold Cathode Bulbs
This is a special type of CFL that works well even in low temperatures (where most conventional CFLs won’t be able to function). It doesn’t use a filament to heat the tube components, but instead relies on a metal thimble that makes this bulb last as long as 25,000 hours.
Light-Emitting Diode (LED)
A more modern approach to lighting makes use of LED technology, producing much brighter light at significantly lower electricity usage. LED lamps are much more energy efficient that CFLs, and may last up to 50,000 hours. This is probably the reason why LEDs are more expensive than CFLs and incandescent bulbs.
Additional Tips on Energy Efficiency for Lighting
If you want to maximize the energy savings from your lighting, choose bulbs with an ENERGY STAR label. These lamps have passed the energy efficiency standards set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. You don’t have to replace all of your existing bulbs at once. Just make sure that when your old lamps burn out, replace them with energy efficient light bulbs.
It’s also a good practice to turn off unused lights. That way, you can really save up on unnecessary energy expenses.
Being wise in choosing lightbulbs may involve some research and an increase in initial costs. However, energy efficient light bulbs will turn out to be cheaper in the long run. This is especially when you consider the power savings that you will incur.
Do you need help in choosing the perfect lighting option for your facility? If you’re looking for an electrical contractor to set up your lighting system, contact us at Wire Craft. We’ll send a professional to bring your lighting ideas to life.
