Microwave ovens revolutionized kitchens across America when they came on the market in the 1970’s. Since then these technological marvels have come a long way, with more features, compact sizing, and greater cooking power than ever before. With greater power comes greater power usage, but if your microwave is tripping the breaker in your home, it’s a sign that the appliance is overloading the electrical circuit. The questions is, why, and what can be done to solve the problem?

One of the most popular lighting trends of the past decade has been the use of via etsy.com

Antique or edison light bulbs generally come in a few different shapes. One popular shape is the tubular light bulb, and the DIY fixture above is a great use for the tubular light bulb shape. Tubular antique light bulbs really show off their filaments, and the glowing filaments are the star of the show!

2. Also Pretty Tubular!

Candelabra based antique light bulbs are very popular and are great for use in chandeliers, pendants, and other fixtures that use this smaller kind of light bulb. I didn’t want you to think that antique light bulbs only came in medium-based varieties. No, you can create a vintage lighting look with your fixtures that use candelabra based light bulbs, too.

4. Blowing the Dust Off an Old Look

Another popular shape for edison light bulbs is the globe. This envelope shape is more spherical and looks great alone, but when grouped together as in the above photo, you can see the reflection of the glowing filaments in all the globes of glass, and this is a pretty neat effect. Such a warm look.

6. The Industrial Look

Some people like to use antique light bulbs in new fixtures that look old, and some people like to use antique light bulbs in old fixtures that look new. In this case, very old cages have been restored to use in a new light fixture. This represents what edison bulbs are all about, holding onto the beautiful things of the past. In this age of integrated LEDs and the dawning of things like via etsy.com

This homemade light fixture features quartz crystals hanging down amongst the edison bulbs. This is pretty neat. The crystals are the perfect things to arrest the warm glow emanating from the antique light bulbs. What a creative idea.

9. Wall Sconce

Holidays are a known time for seeing friends and family, some of whom you may not be able to see often throughout the rest of the year. A hobby some people love during the holidays is to add decorative lighting to add a warm welcoming appeal to their homes. Whether your lighting is serious and somber to show your religious beliefs or fun and playful to reflect your personality, there are a few things to be aware of with the extra power draw your decorations put on your house.

Tech Specs and Electrical Engineering

When the public electric line reaches your house, it runs to a circuit breaker (or fuse box in older homes) to prevent dangerous levels of overload which could cause a shock, and the breaker is designed to automatically shut off if a dangerous level of electricity is reached with a surge or if too many appliances are run. There are exceptions, but most circuit breakers are designed to handle 15 amps, or a little over 1600 watts of power which is plenty for modern appliances.

The Simple Terms: When You Run Too Much Power

When you overload a circuit breaker, it becomes a nuisance as everything running on that line shuts down. It's not normally a daily occurrence, but usually only happens when something exceptional occurs. Running too many kitchen appliances at once, for example, can overload a circuit breaker, as can running a space heater or power tool on a line already being used. A common cause of circuit failure is when you've never had a problem running a hairdryer and curling iron until a guest in the guest bath turns on a second hairdryer. Holiday lighting usually runs on a low power supply but adds up when layered and can cause problems with a line which is already near its maximum usage levels.

The Layman's and the Professional's Solutions

A long, long time ago, in 1932 to be exact, a tradition began. A simple searchlight atop the Empire State Building announced the election of Franklin Delano Roosevelt as President.

If you watched last night’s election results (or were conveniently somewhere in NYC) you probably saw that iconic building at it again. Last night’s exhibition marked the Empire State Building’s first use of its new custom LED panel technology.

CNN joined forces with the building to project a running tally atop the spire, presenting real-time election results with a brilliant display of colored light. The lights were visible from miles around, and broadcast worldwide to CNN’s viewers.

In case you didn’t see it last night, the lights worked like this: The four sided tower atop the building was lit in patriotic red, white, and blue stripes. The mast functioned as a meter with two blue sides, and two red to represent President Obama and Gov. Romney’s respective electoral votes. As each state was projected by CNN, and electoral votes were allocated to each candidate, the meter displayed a running tally.