This week, I participated in a weekly twitter chat calledTweetChat, with whom I have no affiliation but do use) Wednesdays at 2 p.m. EST and use the hashtag #KBTribeChat. Information about the interesting conversation. One of the questions was about using lighting to personal kitchens and baths. Of course, this got me very excited. I inadvertently learned that Twitter is great if you have a little that you kind of want to say. It’s terrible when you have a LOT that you REALLY want to say. That 140 character limit becomes a cruel, tyrannical constraint. So I thought to myself: You’ll just have to wait until you get back home to the blog, where you can write actual paragraphs, to answer this question. Ahhh. It feels good now to have a little room to stretch out.

So, how can you use lighting to personalize a space? Here are 4 things to keep in mind.

1) Fixture and Light Source

Hydroelectric power is a technology which produces electricity via hydropower, or the energy released by moving water, such as for instance water moving through the course of a river or falling downhill. In the United States today, most hydroelectric power is generated by water flowing downhill, and most of this downhill flow is achieved via the construction of artificial dams. The dams are constructed so as to engender sufficient water outflow volume by way of creating a significant “head” or, that is, the difference in height between the water’s source (or crest) and the water’s outflow.

A significant enough “head” is necessary to produce a sufficiently useful flow of energy from the hydroelectric power source. This is why dams constructed for the purpose of creating hydroelectric power are built as high as is feasible. Within these dams there are turbines which receive the force of the water’s flow, and the turning of the blades of the turbines generates the electrical current which is transferred to long-distance power lines and transformed into electricity for use in homes and offices.

In addition to the dams there are some tidal harnesses which have been constructed. These draw electrical power from the flow of the tide along a coastal area. In the United States, there is a heightened interest in creating many more small, unobtrusive tidal flow hydroelectric power generators in rivers and large streams which would be used just for generating local electricity. In Canada, there is so much electricity generated by hydroelectric facilities that they simply say “hydro” to refer to any public electricity utility, even nuclear power. Norway and Iceland also generate nearly all of their citizens’ needed electricity by way of hydroelectric power.

North America has the greatest hydroelectric power capacity. Canada is the world’s leading nation in that regard, and the United States is the world’s second leading nation.

Except in nations that have a proportionate abundance of the right natural resources (i.e. a lot of water), hydroelectric power is used to handle the supplying of electricity during high peak loads. Today’s greatest single interest in harnessing more hydroelectric power resides in the fact that it is a renewable source, or “alternative source”, of electricity, since obviously the planet will never run out of water and it doesn’t matter if the water utilized is potable or not.

The big concern about using more hydroelectric power is that it may disrupt ecosystems too much if more facilities (especially dams) are installed. A secondary concern is that water demand for hydroelectric facilities sometimes conflicts with irrigation demands.

The Greeks were using hydroelectric power to turn water-wheels for the grinding of grain over 2,000 years ago. Hydroelectric power was “rediscovered” in the 18th century in the U.S. and western Europe.

The first modern hydroelectric dam was completed in 1882 on the Fox River in Appleton, Wisconsin in the United States and could generate 12.5 kW of electrical power. It was based upon the ideas of American inventor Lester Allan Pelton, who invented a jet-free water turbine in 1880.

By: Emilie Sims

Electrical outlets are found in nearly every room of the home, which represents a constant risk if you have small children. According to the National Fire Protection Agency, approximately 2,400 children each year suffer severe shocks and burns from inserting objects into the slots of electrical outlets. Additionally, there are an estimated six to 12 child fatalities each year related to this. Prevent this from happening to your family by childproofing the electrical outlets in each room of your home.

Also known as safe plates, these are additional covers that sit on top of your existing outlet and are held in place by a screw. There is a spring-loaded plastic cover that prevents your child from poking anything inside of the outlet.

Installing tamper resistant receptacles (TRRs) around the home provides a permanent solution to help reduce the risk of childhood shock and injury. TRRs, which look like ordinary outlets, are designed with small, spring-loaded receptacle plates that close off the slots, but open when equal pressure is applied to both sides. This design prevents children from inserting fingers or other foreign objects into the slots, and reduces risk of electrical shock or injury.

There are also several types of childproof electrical outlets that you can choose to install that will provide a permanent way to reduce risk of child injury.

This tamper-resistant outlet contains both a switch and an outlet to plug in devices. The dual mechanical shutter system blocks the insertion of objects into the outlet, increasing your child’s safety.

A ground fault circuit interrupter (GFCI) outlet can be identified by the “test” and “reset” buttons located on the receptacle. A GFCI outlet helps protect you from electrical hazards by shutting off the electricity circuit when it detects an imbalance. The National Electrical Code requires these outlets to be installed in water susceptible areas, such as the kitchen and bathroom. Test these outlets once a month to ensure they are working properly.

These receptacles look similar to standard ones, but the two outlets have the ability to spin 360 degrees. These outlets also allow you to use two large plugs at once.

Visit the Electrical Safety Foundation International and the National Fire Protection Association for more information on keeping your family safe around electrical outlets.

Rolling blackouts occur when delivery of electricity from a large power source is intermittently stopped in varying places across a wide area. Rolling blackouts usually occur in tandem with natural disasters or energy crises.

Rolling blackouts prevent large power sources from blacking out completely. They have been implemented in places with a high demand for electricity, such as Japan, the U.S., Pakistan, and Ukraine.

By limiting the amount of power that can be used at one time to only certain areas, power station operators can control the power output from their generators. Should a part of the generator be at risk for failure, operators can begin a rolling blackout to limit the amount of work the generators must do. From there, they can pinpoint the problem areas and find a useful fix without taking away power from an entire area.

Rolling blackouts can prevent power outages from:

In the case of power output problems like station faults, short circuits, and electrical overloads, a rolling blackout can mitigate the risk of explosion and prevent the acceleration of large scale disasters.

Since power can only be distributed over a limited area, 100% of the electricity supply to some places will be temporarily cut off. Household items such as lights, outlets, and appliances will cease operation for a predetermined amount of time. You can gather information about rolling blackouts from the radio or news before they occur.

You should have an emergency kit in your home or business that has the necessary supplies for survival without electricity. Items to include in an emergency kit are:

Be sure to lock all of your doors and windows if possible. In developed countries, law enforcement will bolster its forces to protect areas affected by a rolling blackout. You should still remain safe and prepared whenever possible.

Should a rolling blackout elevate to a blackout, don’t be afraid to use your supplies. Even if electrical generators are running at low capacity, they still have the potential to cause larger problems should they become overloaded. A rolling blackout can quickly become a city-wide blackout.

Rolling blackouts are relatively rare. Conditions must be extreme for a rolling blackout to take effect. While the climate in the U.S. varies widely across the country, devastating natural disasters don’t compromise the electric grid more than once every 20 years.