Question: A contractor wants me to sign a Partial Release form on a job he hasn’t paid me for yet. Doesn’t that put me at risk of not collecting the money if I’m not really paid after I sign the release form? – Greg Storn

Answer: The good news here is that there is an easy solution to this issue. There are four different legal documents that apply to contracted work: 4. Unconditional Release Upon Final Payment

The only “condition” of a Conditional Release is that the release is valid only if the money specified on the release is paid to the contractor. In other words, if you are 50% complete with a $10,000 job, you can safely sign a Conditional Release Upon Progress Payment for $5,000. If you aren’t paid the $5,000, the release is not valid and you have not given up any of your lien rights to this money.

On the other hand, if you sign and Unconditional Release, you have just given up your rights to whatever amount of money that was on the Unconditional Release from. So the rule is, don’t sigh an Unconditional Release from until the money you are releasing is in your bank account. I’m not talking about a check in your hand, either. I’m saying that you should never sign an unconditional release until that check has cleared and the funds are literally in your bank account.

Some or my company’s corporate clients always ask for a release before they will pay an invoice. No problem, we just send them a Conditional Release Upon Progress Payment or a Conditional Release Upon Final Payment. Later, after their check has cleared into our bank account, we will (if they ask) follow up with an Unconditional Release.

By the way, Conditional Release forms protect both the client and the contractor. If a client gets a Conditional Release form a contractor, they know that they are protected from getting a lien from that contractor, but only if they actually pay the contractor the money specified on the lien.

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Each kit measures 6.8″ L x 4.9″ W x 1.5″ H and weighs about 1.5 lbs. These lights come in 100-277 (Standard) | 347-480 (High Voltage), and can be installed in environments ranging from -30°C to +45°C. Three color temperatures are available: 4000K | 4500K | 5000K (Standard). MyLEDLightingGuide stocks 5000K, but can order in 4000K or 4500K.

These retrofit kits are specifically designed for smaller fixtures that have bulbs up to 400W. Three models are available to match the right output with your application. These lights fit well into wall packs, highbays, parking lot lights, canopy lights, low bay lights, flood lights. In fact, the only limitation is the fixture itself.

2 models make up the Large Series of LED Retrofit Kits, the 150W and 200W. These lights are powerful enough to retrofit and replace Metal Halide and High Pressure Sodium bulbs all the way to 400W-750W. These lights are designed to provide more than the normal 400W retrofit replacement kits. There are times when more light is needed, and these kits were designed to provide more light than our normal retrofit kits designed to replace 400W Metal Halide

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If you are looking at your electricity bill and trying to determine where your money is going you need to know what appliances are using the most electricity. This will help you make better decisions about where to cut back in your home to truly make a difference on your electric bill. A Pasadena electrician has a list of the top 10 energy users in your home. If you would like to learn more about buying energy efficient appliances or other ways to save on your electric bill, give The Electric Connection a call today.

1-The biggest electricity user in your house is your air conditioning. With the height of summer just around the corner, it is time to start thinking of better, more energy efficient ways to cool your home. You can have a ceiling fan installed by an electrician. Pasadena homeowners can still stay cool without relying solely on the air conditioner.

2-Your refrigerator is next on the list. While you can’t really do without a refrigerator, you can invest in one that is more energy efficient than your existing one.

3-Space heaters, if you use them, are also big electricity users. Consider investing in an infrared heater.

4-Water heaters use a lot of electricity. You can reduce the need for the heater to constantly heat the water by ensuring it is insulated. Reduce the temperature on your water heater a few degrees as well.

5-Lighting is your next issue to tackle. You can save money on lighting by switching to LEDs and CFLs. Making sure lights are off when nobody is in the room and installing dimmer switches are also helpful.

These are just a few things you can do to reduce your electric bill. Making a few changes today can start saving you money on your next electric bill. Give The Electric Connection a call today to schedule your ceiling fan installation.

While power outages aren’t a common occurrence in and around Sydney, there are times when you have to deal with an electricity outage due to inclement or stormy weather. Our modern day living is highly dependent on electricity and without it; our lives can literally come to a standstill. This is why it becomes important to check back and ensure that we have some proper power and outage solutions in place.

While most electrical outages don’t last for over a few hours, it’s best to be prepared for the situation. We have listed a few tips that will help you prepare for a power failure or a power outage:

There is no point in running around in frenzy when there is a power outage; and it is important that you create a plan in advance for this type of a situation. It doesn’t have to be a very complex one, but should include some basic things such as being able to locate where the candles and emergency lights are kept, so you can access them easily. You should also know where the emergency kit and the additional supplies are kept. .

It is very important that you have an emergency kit that can be used in case of power failures and power outages. You have the option to purchase a ready kit from the market or put together one yourself, with all the essentials such as:

These are just the basic things your kit needs to contain. The items and quantity of the items would be dependent on the number of people in your household.

Whenever any power outage or failure occurs, it is a good idea to check the utility service provider website. The companies generally post updates on the scale, probable duration and size of the outage. If you find that the problem isn’t at the utility company’s end, you should check with your neighbours to know whether they too are facing the same problem.

This will give you a clearer picture about whether the power problem is exclusive to your home or your entire neighbourhood has been affected by it. It’s important that you keep the freezer and refrigerator doors shut till the power problem is fixed.

Getting a standby generator installed on your property is one of the best ways of dealing with a power failure or outage. You would be able to use the generator to power the basic appliances in your home and maintain the indoor temperature on your property at comfortable levels. Speak with your local electrician about getting a good capacity generator installed.

While some might think of a garage as simply another room where you park your car and use as storage, it’s still part of your home and could be the cause of a higher energy bill. Helping make your garage more energy efficient will in turn lead to higher energy savings for your home.

Find out how to keep your garage energy efficient while saving money with our simple tips.

By insulating your garage and garage doors you can help keep the use of your HVAC down during the cold months. Garage doors tend to have several openings from which cold air can go through, causing the HVAC system to kick in more frequently than usual.

Turning down the temperature of your water heater to 120° F helps keep the water comfortably warm while reducing on unneeded energy waste. Lowering down the heat while on vacation also results in lower energy consumption.

Other tips for your water heater include purchasing a unit with a high Energy Factor (EF) rating that is more energy efficient, and routinely draining a bucket of water to help remove sediment that could cause issues.

Using warm or cold water instead of hot water to wash your clothes helps save energy up to $50 per year. Consider also investing in a front-loading washing machine, which use less water on average than traditional models.

When using the dryer, make sure to add a dry towel to help reduce the drying time. Keep yourself from running an additional cycle by not overloading your washer and dryer, which will cause your clothes to not be cleaned properly, and take significantly longer to dry. Cleaning the lint screen after every load helps keep the exhaust clean while reducing drying time and energy usage.

With the rise of energy efficient electric cars comes the need to keep a steady supply of fuel at home. Electric vehicle charging stations are a good choice, but oftentimes a faulty installation could lead to more serious problems down the line if installed incorrectly.

Having a professional and qualified electrician install EV chargers helps ensure that the correct voltage is being used and that the amperage will work best for your needs. They will also help you choose the correct model so that the installation location fits the length of the charging cable.

Garages are the perfect place for a handyman’s work station or home office and as a result, many might have power tools and various other electronics connected at all times.

As we mentioned in our energy guide for the living room, vampire appliances could result in wasted energy and time on standby mode. So if you’re using power tools or any other electronics, make sure to unplug them after use to help keep the costs down.

Light bulbs usually consume more electricity than an LED so replacing them is a wise choice. LEDs not only help reduce your carbon footprint, but they also need to be replaced less frequently and consume less energy making them a perfect energy efficient option.

Often times, the lights will be left on as you forget and move to other rooms in your home so consider investing in a light timer which can automatically turn the light off after a set amount of time.

While having a spare refrigerator or freezer in your garage might be a good idea for keeping spare food safe, it’s often wiser to get rid of it or replace it with a more energy efficient model.

If you’re not ready to get rid of the appliance, at least unplug it to help keep unneeded energy from being wasted.