If you live in an older home, you may notice your bathroom is missing a bath fan. While it is easy to chalk these things up to nothing more than an inconvenience, it is actually much more serious than that. Those bath fans do more than circulate the air in the small bathroom. They are an important part of your home’s construction according to an electrician. Pasadena homeowners will want to ensure the fan in each of their bathrooms is working properly and if one is not present, it is important to have one installed. The Electric Connection can take care of this for you.

Bath fans should be used anytime somebody is showering. The steam produced during a hot shower can wreak havoc on your walls, flooring and even the fixtures in the bathroom. Moisture can lead to mildew and mold. Warping of the wood in the floors and walls is also possible. A bath fan pulls the steam out of the bathroom and reduces the risk of these problems happening.

If you do not currently have a fan in a bathroom, you have plenty of options when it comes to choosing the right one for you. Of course, there are the old standards that are nothing more than a fan. But nowadays, there are plenty of options. Lights are a common addition to the fans available today along with heaters. If a person hates using the fan during a hot shower because all the warmth is pulled out of the bathroom, the heat provided by the fan will provide a warm, toasty environment when stepping out of the shower. The fan should be installed by an electrician. Pasadena homeowners can call The Electric Connection to have their new bath fan installed. Take a trip to your home improvement store and check out all of the options you have and then give us a call.

There are some home improvements we do simply because we like the look of a new light or are ready for something different. Maybe we paint the walls or replace the windows with ones that are a little more energy efficient. Each of these improvements is an investment into our homes. In many cases, the improvement will ultimately increase the value of our homes while saving us a few dollars while we live in it. One home improvement investment that can start saving you money today is the installation of a ceiling fan by a Glendale electrician. At The Electric Connection, you can count on trained electricians to do the job for you professionally and efficiently.

A ceiling fan can improve the overall look of a room as well as cut down on your electric bill at the same time. That is certainly a worthy investment! Most ceiling fans include lights. This is perfect for a living room or dining area where you need a light fixture, but want the benefit of a fan. A ceiling fan can be installed in place of an existing light fixture. This is the easiest method of installation, but an electrician in Glendale can certainly install a fan in an area that doesn’t have an existing electrical box.

Ceiling fans are an excellent way to reduce the need to run your air conditioner in warm weather and the furnace in cooler weather. The fan circulates the air in the room. In the summer, the cool air is often pushed down to the ground by the hot air. The fan will turn counter-clockwise and pull that cool air up into the room. In the winter, the fan pushes the hot air that rises back into the sitting area. If you would like to make an investment in your home with a ceiling fan installation, give The Electric Connection a call today.

Many people enjoy a fun or interesting hobby as an enhancement to daily life. Some hobby activities don't require much space while others need gear and perhaps a designated area to be performed. Collections, by their nature, need plenty of space for display and enjoyment, while conducting artwork needs specialty tools and storage space for them. Whatever your favorite hobby might be, if you've ever considered making a designated room for it there are a few things to plan ahead for.

Home Addition or Finishing a Basement or Attic Space?

With some home designs you may be able to turn a guest room or bonus room into a space for hobbies. In other houses, you may need to hire a contractor to make an unfinished garage, attic, or basement into an area for your hobbies. If you have a smaller house or a particularly dedicated interest, you may decide to build an additional room to your home which will be specifically for your hobby activities. No matter which plan best suits your needs, you'll need to make sure you have plenty of electric access for lighting and any tools you may use with your hobby.

Adding Electric

constant-current LED driver or constant-current driver is used to regulate the amount of current that is supplied to an LED or LED array to maximize LED lifetime. If current is not regulated, LED brightness can fluctuate and life span can be shortened. The constant-current driver is used for LEDs or light fixtures that require a stable output current and operate within a range of voltages. Most finished LED products already have a constant-current driver or resistors to regulate current. If you’re building an LED fixture or replacing a constant-current driver, it’s important to verify that the output current and voltage of the driver is compatible with the LEDs’ current and voltage. If your LED product already has a constant-current driver or uses resistors in the LED array, you might need a constant-voltage power supply.

If your LEDs are dimmable and you want to change their brightness, choose a Magnitude Dimmable Power Supplies. These dimmable power supplies work by varying the power on the AC input side of the power supply by means of a TRIAC dimmer. This change in power on the AC input side will vary the voltage on the DC output side and control the intensity of the LEDs. TRIAC dimmers are common hardware store and household dimmers, which include brand names such as Lutron and Leviton.

Pulse-Width Modulation Dimming: Pulse-width modulation (PWM) dimming can be used to control dimmable power supplies such as Mean Well LPF Series. This type of dimming control adjusts the output current based on the duty cycle. As the duty cycle increases, current will increase and the LEDs will be brighter. Conversely, if the duty cycle decreases, the current will decrease and the LEDs will be dimmer. Pulse-width modulation for these drivers is based on a 10-volt signal level with a frequency between 100Hz-3KHz. The MLD-5A are compatible for this application.

Resistive Dimming: Resistive dimming can be used to control dimmable power supplies such as 12-Volt Mean Well HLG-40-240 Series or 12-Volt Mean Well HLG-600 Series or here.

The efficiency of a power supply or driver indicates the percentage of power that goes toward making your LED product function. An efficiency of 80 percent or higher is recommended for operating LEDs. 

When choosing a driver or power supply, the size of an LED product’s housing or area of installation is important. If you wish to put a constant-current LED driver inside of a product, the driver must be small enough to fit in the product’s housing. Similarly, if the driver or power supply is used outside of the product’s housing, it should fit the area of installation. Drivers and power supplies are available in a variety of sizes to suit your needs.

A Class 2 driver or power supply is in accordance with limited power levels defined by the National Electric Code (NEC) and fulfills the requirements of Standard UL 1310. Output is limited to 60 volts DC and 100 watts. Because power sources with this rating have limited output, it might not be possible to power as many LEDs or lights as those that don’t have a Class 2 rating. However, these power supplies and drivers provide protection from fire and electric shock.

A Class II rating refers to a double insulation layer between AC input and DC output wires. These drivers and power supplies do not require a ground connection.