As a homeowner, you tend to notice electrical issues like flickers, breaker flips and outages. But keeping an eye on your electrical meter is important too! Without the occasional peek, you could find yourself with higher than average bills, or even a completely unexpected shut off.

The certified electricians at Kolb Electric naturally have spent loads of time with electrical meters, and we’ve got plenty of good information to share this week. Follow along to learn about issues that may arise with your meter, what they mean, and whether or not they indicate a faulty electric meter.

Hard to find a problem if you can’t find the meter, right? Electric meters are most commonly located on an outer wall; usually near where your power line runs. In some homes, particularly older ones, the meter might be found in the basement or a utility closet.

If you live in an apartment, the meter is almost always found near your building (or on it) in a cluster. The cluster houses meters for every unit, and all of them should be clearly labelled with the apartment number on them.

Do be aware that the chances of your meter being outright faulty are fairly low. The machines have exceptionally long lifespans, and are built to endure. It’s more likely you have one of many other electrical concerns, however, it is always best to check with a certified professional electrician if you have any questions or problems. While uncommon, a faulty meter is a pretty big issue, and you don’t want to leave it to chance. Just don’t be surprised if the issue turns out to be something else!

Whether you’re worried about your meter, or you’ve got any number of other electrical problems, the experts at Kolb can help! We provide our consumers with only the absolute best, both in service and skill, and we’re confident in our ability to meet your unique needs. Contact Kolb today to learn more!

Fun Fact:  “To talk turkey,” means to speak candidly, directly, plainly and/or bluntly. There are several possible explanations to the origin of this phrase.  Some support a link to uncensored familial conversation around the Thanksgiving dinner table; Others say the phrase is linked to the actual sounds a turkey makes, because the male turkey’s “gobble, gobble” is a basic, unadorned, matter-of-fact kind of vocalization.

Wherever your holiday “turkey talk” may lead, Capitol Lighting’s Thanksgiving feast is sure to please everyone with custom designed lighting at unbeatable prices.  The lighting experts at Capitol will help you to illuminate your home for the holidays…elegantly, efficiently and affordably.

A little light goes a long way to bring charm and soothing illumination to the home environment.  Crystal mini chandeliers, mini table lamps, and other mini lighting fixtures create the stylized finish to designer decorated home interiors.  Feast your eyes on Capitol Lighting’s most outstanding selection of the season!

Add to your Thanksgiving holiday with the latest lighting designs from American Brass and Crystal Lighting.  Capitol Lighting invites you to take advantage of promotional pricing on ABC’s masterful works of art, including mini table lamps and crystal mini chandeliers available in a myriad of finishes including Antique Pewter, White Nickel and True Brass with crystal options ranging from Golden Teak Strass Teardrops to colorful Strass pendoloques.

Give Thanks for the Little Things

Capitol Lighting Highlights the “Mini Strass”

Warm up the room.  Instantly create elegance. Provide your home with charm! The mini chandelier has become an increasingly popular lighting fixture and accessory in home decorating schemes due to its versatility and small size. With extraordinary styling and imaginative design motifs, mini table lamps, too, are gracing more homes than ever.

Capitol Lighting’s Top 5 “Mini Must-dos” for a Superb Finish

To view the latest in home lighting and accessories and for more designing ways to put the mini on your menu this Thanksgiving, visit with the lighting professionals at Capitol Lighting.

Enjoy designer discounts on the best from American Brass and Crystal Lighting available this week at Capitol.

American Brass & Crystal (ABC Lighting) has built a reputation as one of the premier manufacturers of the finest quality cast brass and crystal mini chandeliers. All crystal chandelier and cast brass frames are molded in Italian casts by some of the finest metal craftsman in Europe and are then adorned with genuine Strass crystal from Swarovski. Each crystal mini chandelier from American Brass & Crystal Lighting is available in any of their 17 custom finishes and a multitude of different crystal grades, shapes and colors.

Visit a Capitol Lighting showroom or shop on-line at 1800lighting.com to custom designs your holiday illumination.  Enjoy promotional values on the latest mini lighting fashions from ABC.  The options abound; with American Brass & Crystal you create a design in a crystal chandelier that is uniquely your own and each one is hand made by American artisans with meticulous care.

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Strips with more LEDs per foot will consume more power.

In short, if maximum energy efficiency is what’s most important to you, choose a light strip with smaller LEDs and fewer LEDs.

In order to ensure your LED power supply doesn’t overheat and fail prematurely, we use this general rule of thumb:

Make sure the total wattage of your LED strip lighting is at least 20 percent less than the power supply’s rated wattage.

For example, if you have an LED strip light that requires 80 watts of power to run, you’ll need a power supply that’s rated for at least 96 watts.

The vast majority of our strips include wattage per foot right on their product pages.

power supplies range from six watts to 1,500 watts for compatibility with a wide variety of LED strip lights.

Let’s take a look at an example:

It’s important to verify that the voltage of the power supply you choose is compatible with the voltage of your LED strip lighting. Also, be sure that the power supply’s input voltage matches that of the location it will be installed in. If you have an LED strip with 12-volt DC operation that you wish to use in a 120-volt AC home wiring system, you’ll need a power supply that includes 120 volts in its input range and has 12-volt DC output.

Another factor to take into account for longer runs is voltage drop. A significant voltage drop is present after a certain distance of LED strip. After this distance, there will not be enough voltage present to light the next length of strip. This varies depending on the type of strip and length being used. Usually, a single-density strip (nine or less LEDs per foot) will need to run back to a power source every 32 13/16 feet (10 meters). A high-density strip (18 or more LEDs per foot) will need to run back to a power source every 16 3/8 feet (5 meters). Please refer to “Max Run” in the specifications table of the strip light to determine how many can be run continuously without a parallel run back to power.

3) the 4) if you want your strip to be dimmable

power supply calculator on the product pages of all of our LED strip lights!

There are a few steps involved:

Step 1: Select your strip and the length you need.

Step 3: Click the green “Power Supply Calculator” tab, and select your product by choosing it from the list OR by pasting the exact part number in the search bar.

Step 4: Enter the number of strips at the desired length you’ve selected and voila! You’ll see a list of all compatible power supplies with the best match at the top of the list!

When dealing with electronics, safety is paramount, and you want everything to work like it’s supposed to. So if you’re still not sure which power supply to use for your LED strip lighting project, just reach out to our technical support team or customer service department at 866-590-3533. Our teams are available from 8:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. CDT Monday-Thursday and 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. CDT on Friday.