I grew up in the 90’s, back when thrift store shopping was considered alternative and grunge.  While I tooled around Goodwill listening to Nine Inch Nails on my Walkman, my more sophisticated friends were at the mall, looking adorable & stylish in the latest trend from The Limited.

But that was the 90’s.

Thrift-store shopping, dumpster-diving, and hand-me downs deliver a new parlance that has clever DIY’ers quaking with excitement for Saturday yard sales and obsessively scouring Craigslist for the Next Big Find.  This elegant new term for taking used items and making them new = REPURPOSING.

Also commonly referred to as recycling, upcycling, reinventing, revitalizing and/or reusing, entire boards are dedicated to this subject on Pinterest. Everything – and I mean everything – can be repurposed.  So why not the light bulb?

With a few basic tools and a steady hand, a light bulb can be hollowed out and transformed into a unique gift or decorative project.  Prepping the bulb, however, is not a task that we recommend for the kids.  Before you undertake any of these projects, take a moment to read a tutorial on how to safely hollow out a light bulb.

1. Witches Brew

CCT indicates the hue and tone of white light emitted from a specific bulb or fixture. It’s measured in Kelvins (K), which is similar to degrees in Celsius. Different temperatures on the Kelvin scale represent different colors. For example, light at 2000K-3500K looks more orange/yellow and is called ultra warm or warm white, and as temperature increases in Kelvins, color changes to more of a “paper white” known as natural or neutral white (between 3500K and 5100K) and finally into a bluish-white known as cool white (5100K+).

As a light source’s color temperature increases, brightness often increases. While shopping for LED lights, pay close attention to the color temperatures that are available for any one bulb or fixture. Choosing a warm white bulb with a color temperature around 3000K might mean sacrificing some brightness. Whereas, if you choose the natural white version, it’s likely that it will have a higher output.

Any room can benefit from light strip, globe bulb,

In order to understand nanometers, you must first understand the electromagnetic spectrum and wavelengths. The electromagnetic spectrum is the entire range of invisible and visible light, and a wavelength is the distance between peaks of light waves. Wavelengths are measured in nanometers, which are simply units of length that indicate colors of light within the spectrum. Nanometers will tell you how red, green, yellow, purple, etc. a light source really is. These measurements start lower at ultraviolet and increase from green to blue, yellow, orange, and then red. The wavelength of a colored light can be found in the light’s specifications table.

MR16 beam angle in degrees (left to right): 36, 24, 15

Fixtures or bulbs that emit wide beams, such as BR LED bulbs for can lights are great for areas that require a lot of light, such as basements, kitchens, or living rooms. Narrow beam angles like those from can lights with MR LED bulbs are best for highlighting decor or small areas. Globe bulbs, such as G30 LED vanity bulbs, have 360-degree beam angles, which means that they throw light in all directions. Globe bulbs are the perfect choice for centralized light fixtures.

Wouldn’t you like to keep your hard earned money in your pocket rather than pay it out on excessive electric bills? Californians get used to mild weather, but when those cold temps blow in, they are a real shock to the system. Your first reaction is to reach for the thermostat and crank it up. Unfortunately, if your home isn’t ready to ride out a cold snap, you could be paying double or triple what you really need to be to keep your home warm. These are some tips from your local electrician in Los Angeles to help retain the heat from your furnace in the home and save you money on your electric bill. The team at The Electric Connection is here to help.

• Spend some time adding weather stripping around your doors or windows. It is sold in a roll with self-sticking tape on one side. Simply peel and stick. This one little thing can block cold drafts from coming in as well as prevent your hot air from seeping out. During the summer, you can keep your air conditioned air in and the hot air out.

• If you have sliding glass doors or French doors, consider investing in heavy curtains. Again, these are great for the summer and winter months. You can block the cold by covering large windows with heavy curtains.

• Have your furnace or heat pump maintained. Keeping filters clean and the unit in good working order can save you a lot of money in repair costs as well as keep the unit operating in prime condition.

You don’t have to pay a lot for your Los Angeles electrical bill when you do these three simple things. You can reduce your heating and cooling bills by taking care of the little things around the house. If you have any more questions, give The Electric Connection a call today.

When you want a relaxing evening after a long day at the office, or when you want to throw a party for your closest friends and family family members, we hope that you’re able to look to your home as a place of safety, comfort, and peace of mind. If you’ve been experiencing electrical troubles, such as tripping breakers, outlets that emit a foul odor, defective lights, or frayed wiring, it’s difficult to love where you live. You can restore the affection you once had for your home by enlisting the help of a licensed professional to complete an electrical safety inspection.