As you go through your home and do some spring cleaning, you are probably doing some needed updates to your home. While you are taking care of jobs that have been stacking up for months, you should also consider evaluating the safety of your home. Things like smoke detectors are often overlooked. We are so used to seeing them in the corner of the room, you rarely give them much thought, that is until you need them. An electrician in Pasadena can install hard-wired smoke detectors that really can be forgotten about, but will still work. That is important. You can rely on The Electric Connection to send out an experienced electrician to complete the installation for you.

Smoke detectors are typically out of sight, out of mind, until they start chirping to remind you the battery is low. If the chirping is ignored, the battery will die and the smoke detector will become nothing more than a fixture on the ceiling. With hard-wired smoke detectors, you don’t have to worry about the batteries going dead and your home left vulnerable. The smoke detectors are wired directly into your home’s main power. As long as your home has power, your smoke detectors will work. There is also a spot for backup batteries in case of a power outage.

When the Pasadena electrician installs the smoke detectors, you will get the added safety feature of all the smoke detectors being interlinked. When one detector goes off, every detector that is hard-wired will sound. This can add several seconds to your alert time. If you have ever seen a house fire or been involved in one, you know how fast it can go. Every second counts. If you are ready to add an additional layer of safety to your home, give The Electric Connection a call today and schedule your installation.

Image via DollarStoreCrafts.com

2. Ghosts in the yard.

If you have handy lights lining a path or driveway at your house, this idea will take no time at all. You just need to collect a bunch of old plastic milk jugs with the tops cut off or white paper bags (I suggest making the decision after you get the weather report for All Hallows’ Eve). Simply draw eyes on the jugs/bags with a black marker, and slip them one by one over each Image via MarthaStewart.com

Here’s an ultra affordable Halloween lighting project, if your preferred poison is the frightening beyond of unexplained extraterrestrial phenomena. Just fill your house (or yard) full of anchored helium balloons containing green glow sticks. Add faces with traditional alien eyes or something even more creative! If you really want to play it up, you and your family could dress up like extraterrestrials and pretend the real you has been abducted.

4. Mini mummies.

If you prefer cute décor over the more macabre, a quick project to make mini mummy candles holders only requires a jar or glass cup, some white gauze, and some googly eyes. Simply scrunch up the gauze around the jar to look like the mummy’s linen wrappings. Add the eyes, and ta-da, you’ve got a precious little mummy come back to life with candlelight. They’re a crowd pleaser, trust me.

Anyone who has undergone a home inspection on an older home has likely heard the term “GFCI” in regard to outlets. For many people this is a “huh?” or a “smile and nod” type of moment. If you did rudimentary online research and still don’t really understand what the heck GFCI is, why it’s important, or why you should care, then read on for an understandable explanation, courtesy of our residential electricians.

Ground-fault circuit interrupter (GFCI) outlets may sound foreign, but they are actually very recognizable; have you ever noticed a couple of buttons on a power outlet? That is a clear sign of a GFCI outlet, and those buttons are made to test the integral function that differentiates this type of outlet from the standard version. Basically, GFCI outlets can very quickly perceive when power that was put out is not going to the correct place and can very quickly trip the breaker to shut off the outlet, potentially preventing injury, fire, etc.

These protective outlets can go pretty much anywhere, and they used to not be required to go in any particular places. Now, they are typically required in bathrooms, kitchen counter areas, in and around swimming pools, on external outlets, and many more specific residential areas. Basically, GFCI outlets are required anywhere that appliances used can come in contact with water (ie, kitchen counter, bathroom, in the event of snowfall piling against an external outlet, etc). These outlets are becoming more and more standard throughout the home and could potentially become necessary for all outlets in new construction in the near future.

If your home was requested or required to comply with GFCI outlets, or if you are concerned that your family or home is at risk, please give us a call. As Des Moines’ Top Rated Local® residential electricians, we would be happy to help make your home a safer place.