Any time of the year is a good time to save money, especially when it comes to the issue of one’s electricity bill. However, it is very understandable that the summer season is when one’s electricity bills tend to go straight through the roof because of the increasingly hot weather! This summer season, make sure that you end up saving some money on your electricity bill with the following energy savings cost cutting tips.

For starters, make sure that you keep your TVs and also your lamps quite a distance away from your thermostat. You see, both TVs and lamps emit heat, therefore prompting your air conditioning to actually run excessively and more than it really has to! Instead, place your TV and lamps across the room and think hard about switching to compact fluorescent bulbs.

Insulation is yet another thing you should do properly if you want to attend to your energy savings and your summer electricity cost cutting steps. You ought to insulate in an intelligent manner, for one thing. This means that you should look to insulate in some areas more than others, such as the attic. When you insulate your attic, you actually lower the negative effects of the heat that stem from the scorching rays of the sun. If you do this correctly, you are going to stop the heat that tends to build up on top of your home from actually filtering down to the rest of the residence.

Sometimes, your summer electricity cost cutting measures are so simple that they may even seem deceptively…simple! Take for instance the issue of your windows. When days get really, really hot in the summer months, just remember to close either your blinds or your curtains prior to leaving for work in the morning. This will minimize the effect of the sun’s blistering rays from beating down into the various rooms of your residence, thereby warming up your home to unbearable levels. As a sweet bonus, the fading effect of the sun’s rays to your rugs and your furniture will also be minimized.

Finally, you should use your microwave more than the oven for when you are preparing dinner. If you utilize your microwave, you can efficiently get your dinner ready in just a few minutes rather than an hour, and you will also be generating a lot less heat than if you utilize your oven!

So as you can verily see, there are a lot of things that you can do with regard to saving some money on your electricity bills over the summer. All that matters is that you have to be committed to adopting some of these money saving tips over the summer.

Bring a bit of Henri Bendel’s “Hirschfeld Spectacular” into your home this holiday season. Join in the fun and enter Capitol Lighting’s Chandelier sweepstakes, and you could be the lucky winner of the magnificent Swarovski chandelier that is currently being featured in the holiday window display at Henri Bendel’s Fifth Avenue store in New York City!

Crystorama provides the lighting; Swarovski showcases the Elements; Henri Bendel creates the most dazzling holiday window displays; and Capitol Lighting presents the opportunity for a lucky winner to bring it all home for the holidays!

A lighting industry leader, Crystorama has teamed up with Swarovski to provide 16 chandeliers for the famed Henri Bendel holiday window display on Fifth Avenue. This year’s display, the “Hirschfeld Spectacular,” honors the late Al Hirschfeld, an American caricaturist best known for his black and white portraits of celebrities and Broadway stars.  

Adding to the enchantment—Crystorama and Capitol Lighting/1800lighting.com are hosting a holiday sweepstakes for a Crystorama chandelier featuring Swarovski Elements.

Hirschfeld Spectacular at Henri Bendel  

The main window of the Henri Bendel flagship store has been transformed into the formal dining room of a classic New York townhouse in the midst of a holiday party.  The celebrated party guests-all Al Hirschfeld’s line drawings translated into three-dimensions—include: Carol Channing, Whoopi Goldberg, Sarah Jessica Parker, Liza Minelli, Marilyn Monroe, Audrey Hepburn, Bernadette Peters, and Woody Allen.

At the center of the window hangs a large gold-plated Crystorama chandelier sparkling with Swarovski Elements.   The centerpiece of the atrium is Henri Bendel’s iconic two-story tree, covered in malachite.  Atop the tree is Al Hirschfeld’s Charlie Chaplin, also sculpted in three-dimensions, looking down at all who enter the store.

Fifteen Crystorama chandeliers with Swarovski Elements adorn the tree’s many branches.

The display will be up through January 2, 2014 and can be seen at the Henri Bendel flagship store located at 712  5th Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10019.

Chandelier Sweepstakes with Capitol Lighting

During Capitol Lighting’s “12 Days of Giving” social media campaign, the grand prizewinner will receive a Crystorama chandelier from the Maria Theresa Collection featuring Swarovski Elements.

Capitol Lighting will be announcing the contest on its Facebook page on December 12 with a photo featuring the chandelier prize. To enter, fans must “like” both the Crystorama and Capitol Lighting Facebook pages and “share” the announcement photo from Capitol Lighting on their own page and tag both companies; the winner will be announced on December 20, 2013.

  About Swarovski

Swarovski delivers a diverse product portfolio of unmatched quality, craftsmanship and creativity. Founded in 1895 in Austria, Swarovski Crystal Business is famous for natural and created gemstones, fine jewelry and accessories, and dazzling light fixtures.

Now run by the fifth generation of family members, Swarovski Crystal Business has a global reach, with over 2 350 stores in about 170 countries, 25,135 employees and revenues of 2.38 billion Euros in 2012. Together with its sister companies Swarovski Optik (optical devices) and Tyrolit (abrasive), Swarovski Crystal Business forms the Swarovski Group.

About Henri Bendel

Famous for his signature brown and white striped hatboxes and shopping bags, Henri Bendel became the first retailer with an upper Fifth Avenue storefront.  Henri Bendel continues to excite as a  “ A Girl’s Playground,” offering amazing gifts for the holidays and showcasing Crystorama and Capitol Lighting’s chandelier sweepstakes.

Henri Bendel, the “fearless innovator,” was a true pioneer in the world of women’s fashion.  He opened his first shop in Greenwich Village in 1895, supplying the city’s elite clientele with the peak of luxury.

The original townhouse façade of the Bendel Fifth Avenue building, including the Lalique art glass windows, has endured for over 100 years.  Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis petitioned the city of New York to grant the Henri Bendel Fifth Avenue store official landmark status in 1991.

About Capitol Lighting and 1-800Lighting.com

For more than 89 years, the lighting experts at the award-winning Capitol Lighting/ 1800lighting.com have helped customers find the perfect lighting fixtures and decorative accessories.   Capitol Lighting showrooms and their website 1-800LIGHTING.com satisfy all lighting needs, from contemporary wall sconces and traditional crystal chandeliers to table lamps, outdoor light fixtures and energy-efficient lighting – all at the guaranteed lowest prices.

For more information, visit Capitol Lighting, like them on Facebook and follow them on Twitter.   Join in the celebration with Capitol Lighting during their “month long” social media event December 2-20. Enter the sweepstakes to be a contender for the Grand Prize.

One lucky winner is entitled to part of Henri Bendel’s “Hirschfeld Spectacular”:  Crystorama’s Swarovski Maria Theresa chandelier is the final prize and give-a-way for Capitol Lighting’s  holiday sweepstakes!  Like them on Facebook and be a contender.

When we talk about reducing energy use around the house, it’s frequently in the context of saving money on monthly utility bills. It makes sense — money plays a role in so many decisions that we make, from where we work to what kind of car we drive to where we go shopping. But it turns out that people are actually more motived to save energy because it’s better for the environment and their health than because of money, according to a recent study by the University of California Los Angeles. The result is contrary to the expectations of even the test participants themselves.

Money vs. Pollution, Health

The study broke up households into two categories — one of which received weekly reminders about how much money they could be saving by cutting back on their energy usage, while the other was told about all the air pollution they were creating, and how it could play a role in children contracting asthma and cancer. The researchers gave both groups analytical tools to track how and when they used the most electricity, as well as comparisons to their neighbors to give them benchmarks to shoot for.

In the end, the group that was nagged about money failed to change their habits to include any efficiency measures. The health and environment group, on the other hand, slashed their energy usage by an average of 8 percent — and families with children cut back by 19 percent.

Won’t Somebody Think of the Children?

Before the study, participants were asked what message they thought would be effective in persuading them to cut back on their electricity usage, and most of them said that money would be the prime motivating factor. The results proved otherwise.

“We’re finding that you have to bundle the public good with the private good,” said Magali Delmas, the study’s principal investigator and an environmental economist at the UCLA Anderson School of Management, said in a press release. “Our message about health and the environment reminds people that environmentalism is also about them and their kids.”

Researchers speculated that the amount of money at stake simply wasn’t high enough to prompt people to act, but when homeowners were motived by a combination of benefiting their own families and being good citizens, they did take action.

“The message reminds you that you’re hurting people and the planet,” one of the study participants reported afterward. “It made me more conscious of the energy I was using.”

Go Beyond the Pocketbook

The study can be a lesson for officials and utility companies who seek to encourage people to cut down on their energy consumption. While everybody likes saving money, sometimes you need to appeal to more than just their pocketbooks to get people to act.

Why not take advantage of all three benefits? By taking simple steps to lower your energy usage, you can cut back on your bills, help the environment and protect public health all at once. If you aren’t sure how to get started, call an expert to give your home an energy audit and put you on the path to a cleaner, healthier and more frugal lifestyle.

From island lighting to crystal chandeliers, 2015 marks the International Year of Light.  Make your home a haven for relaxation and a haunt for partying it up with your best friends–the right lighting design dictates the mood, so spend a little extra time mapping out your lighting plan and selecting the right light fixtures and light sources.

Ceiling fixtures from Quoizel Lighting add a festive finishing touch to this handsomely tailored den.

Never underestimate the power of a great lighting design.  For personal assistance in customizing your lighting plan, visit with a professional lighting consultant at a Capitol Lighting showroom or 1800lighting.com.

Your lights and appliances are working fine, so that means your wiring is too, right? Not so much. Seldom inspected after installation, the wiring in your home may need an update, especially if your home is more than 40 years old.

Installing sufficient wiring goes beyond safety. It also means enhancing your home’s functionality, reliability, and safety to keep up with today’s ever-increasing power needs. This applies not only to the installation of current electrical wiring, but wiring for your phone, Internet, cable, and more.

According to the NFPA (National Fire Prevention Association), faulty wiring is the leading cause for residential fires. The National Electric Code (NEC) updates electrical codes and standards for outlets and wiring every three years. Their mission is to keep up with technology designed to keep your home and family safe. Has the wiring in your home gotten any attention since the 2014 NEC code updates? Chances are it’s been far longer than that.   

Aluminum wiring used in the 60s and 70s, non-metallic wiring installed in the 40s and 50s, and knob and tube wiring in pre-1930s homes are well-known safety hazards, as are loose connections and frayed wires resulting from wear-and-tear.  

These are an enormous safety hazard – for you and your electronics. Without proper grounding, electrical excesses have nowhere to go but into your devices – or you – even if you have a surge protector. Reduce shock risks by rapidly addressing this sign of wiring that is way behind the times.

Identified by the “TEST” and “RESET” buttons on receptacles, GFCIs protect you from shock in high moisture areas. They are currently required in bathrooms, kitchens, laundry rooms, utility rooms, garages, spa/pool areas, unfinished crawlspaces/basements, and any areas outside of your home. If you are lacking these inexpensive, easy-to-install devices in any of these areas, you may be in for a shocking experience.

AFCIs prevent fire by acting as a circuit breaker, which disconnects in the event of a potentially dangerous arc. They are required in bedrooms in all 50 states, though some states require them in all circuits throughout the home.

Childproof outlets require equal pressure in all prongs simultaneously for electricity to flow. They cost pennies more than traditional outlets and are required in all newly built homes.

How many amps power your home? While 60 amps may have been sufficient in the past, today’s homes often need 100 to 200 amps to successfully operate the glut of large and technologically advanced appliances you use simultaneously, from mobile devices and flat screens to your refrigerator and air conditioner. Without an adequate power supply, you could end up damaging these sensitive items beyond repair.

Protect your family and home, ensuring the smooth, efficient operation of all things electrical while boosting the value of your property. Contact Mr. Electric® for an electrical safety and wiring inspection today.