We’re proud to announce the arrival of new high-CRI architectural retrofit LED downlights. The LED lights are available in a variety of sizes and wattages for applications ranging from retail, commercial, grocery store, hospital, and auditorium lighting to bathroom, basement, and kitchen lighting. Can light replacements have integral junction boxes with round and square knockouts, and architectural downlights are equipped with driver enclosure boxes. These energy-efficient LED lights can be easily wired to code and are IC rated for safe contact with insulation.

You may think of a fan as something you would only use in the summer time. It stirs the air and provides a nice cool breeze. You probably already know it is cheaper to run several ceiling fans then it is to lower the thermostat on the air conditioner a couple of degrees. But, did you know, a ceiling fan can also help reduce the workload of your furnace in the winter? An electrician in Santa Monica will explain why a ceiling fan is a valuable addition to any home no matter what the weather is like. The Electric Connection has been installing fans for happy customers for years.

Just like in the summer, the fan rotates the air around. In the summer, it rotates the cooler air ensuring a room is at a somewhat even temperature. This tells the thermostat the room is cool enough and the air conditioner does not need to turn on. In the winter, it is essentially the same idea. Hot air rises. If you are sitting in your chair or lying on the couch, you may feel a bit cool. When you stand up, you can feel the change in temperature. The trick is to push that hot air down to where you are relaxing without adjusting the furnace up a couple of degrees. All this does is create more warm air to rise to the ceiling.

During winter months, the ceiling fan blades should be reversed to run in a clockwise motion. This creates a downdraft. All that warm air will be circulated throughout the room thus taking some of the work off the furnace and saving you money. If you do not have a fan, but would like to have one installed, call your electrician. Santa Monica residents can call The Electric Connection to have one or more ceiling fans installed.

Visitors, potential customers, and employees shouldn’t have to be in fear while going shopping, parking for an event, going to the beach, or even going to work. For this reason, we find that the parking lot can lead to many potential hazards.. if the parking lot owner allows for such vulnerabilities.

The number one cause of crime in a parking lot is caused by low security, and unlit areas contribute heavily to this. A dark parking lot doesn’t allow for cameras to pick up all the activity as clearly as it should, and criminnals know this. Additionally, unintentional accidents can occur simply by not being able to see everything that is going on. Thus, we think it is up to the parking lot owner and manager to prevent accidents (both intentional and non-intentional) from occurring and the first part of the equation to doing so is by ensuring the parking lot is properly illuminated.

As we briefly described above, here are all of the potential dangerous that a dark parking lot can potentially cause:

1. Car accidents. Whether it be with another car, an object, or a human; the odds of crashing are much more likely if you are unable to properly see. For obvious reasons, this is not a desirable outcome for a parking lot; especially if it could potentially bring the lot owner liable to the accident.

2. Crime. Think about it, if you are unable to detect movement due to lack of light; it is much easier for people to hide and move around without you, or even the security team, to know about it. For this reason, having adequate light in every corner of your property that visitors will be in is paramount to the safety and security to all of your visitors. Additionally, car thefts and break-ins can be higher when underlit areas are an issue. To resolve this, you need to improve your parking lot lighting design which will, if done right, will allow you to meet the lighting requirements for parking lots.

3. Personal injury incidents. Not only are other people a potential hazard to your visitors, but your property may be of hazard to them as well. By maintaining proper parking lot lighting levels, you can cross this one potential liability off of your list.

For those of you reading this who own a parking lot, here we will explain a little bit about some benefits you will gain, along with how to start the process of getting proper parking lot light fixtures in your car lot. (Note: If you aren’t an owner of property with a parking lot, don’t forget to share this with someone who does!).

For starters, we recommended a lighting technology that will provide proper lumen output throughout its entire lifespan. For this, LED is the technology to go with. Reason being? It maintains high lumen output throughout its life, unlike other technologies such as metal halide which output much less light near the end of their lifespan. So while LED does slowly depreciate in light output too, it is much slower and overall less. Here are some other main benefits that you will realize by converting to LED parking lot lights.

1. Less energy usage. LEDs are known to be virtually the most efficient lighting technology around. And since parking lot lights typically use a lot of lumens, and thus wattage, by converting to LED you will be able to use much less wattage to achieve the same (if not better) light output. In fact, you can realize a reduction in energy by up to 75% in some cases.

2. Longer lifespan. Since parking lot lights are typically high up in the air, it can get expensive to change them out every time they burn out. With LED you will be able to realize 2-3 times longer lifespans, which will allow you to stop buying so many replacement lights. In addition, you will be able to stop paying someone to change them out as often, which is another commonly overlooked benefit of LEDs.

3. Lower lumen depreciation. Like we discussed earlier, lumen depreciation is an especially important topic in regards to parking lot lighting more-so than with any many benefits of LED car lot lights, but these are certainly the main ones that most parking lot owners have told us were the biggest benefit that made them make the switch.

While the physical conversion process is out of the scopes for this post, we hope you take a look at more information regarding over on our blog!

Electrical rewiring in Fairfax, VA may be the best decision you make this spring. After all, with the weather finally making the switch from snow and sleet to sun and heat, now is the time to start making some positive changes around your home. There’s no better way to start changing with the times than by improving your home’s electricity and with improved rewiring, you can live more comfortably in your home than ever before!

Improving your home energy efficiency is a worthy and admirable goal. You can help reduce your impact on the environment while saving money with savvy decision making. However, the up-front investment for some efficiency upgrades is substantial, so always do your due diligence before you find electrician services and commit to buy. Read on to clear up some misconceptions about home efficiency and make sure your money is being put to good use.

You Don't Have to Sacrifice Your Comfort: It's true that the best way to conserve energy is to use less of it with strategies like turning off the lights or keeping the temperature lower in the winter. But that doesn't mean you have to sit shivering in the dark. The key to efficiency is to get the same amount of utility for less energy input. That means replacing old incandescent bulbs with LED versions, or investing in better HVAC technology like a smart thermostat. That way, you can keep your home environment tuned to your comfort while reducing consumption at the same time.

Don't Rush into a Big Ticket Item: The most dramatic way you can upgrade your efficiency is with a brand new heating or cooling system. Equipment efficiency has improved drastically in recent years, and new technologies like geothermal heat pumps, biomass boilers and solar panels can all reduce your bills dramatically. However, they aren't risk free. You’ll often face a significant up-front investment when you find electrician services for these installations, and the actual savings that you will realize can vary widely based on factors like the price of fuel. You could also see a loss if you make a big purchase and decide to sell your home soon after; there’s no guarantee you’ll recoup the cost in the selling price.

That's not to say you should avoid large efficiency investments – just look before your leap. You will get the best return from these items if you already need to replace outdated equipment anyway, and if you plan to stay in your home for many years. To reduce some of the upfront costs, you can also look for federal tax credits that refund up to one third of what you spend, as well as options to lease solar panels so you don't have to put any money down at all.

Don't Forget the Insulation: On the other side of the coin, new HVAC technologies won't do you much good if all that treated air just leaks into the outdoors. One of the biggest ways you can improve your efficiency is by plugging leaks and upgrading your insulation, which is typically a much cheaper fix. With a leak detector, some caulk and spray foam insulation, you can seal up your house with minimal investment, saving you money in the short term as well as preparing the house to get greater efficiency out of newer technologies.

For more straight shooting about how to get the most value for your efficiency investments, find an electrician to conduct an energy audit on your house. Your local Mister Sparky® is always available to help!