Are your customers getting hot under the collar about rising energy costs? If so, suggest they buy a ceiling fan.

Although ceiling fans do consume electricity, experts say the amount of money homeowners can save on air conditioning greatly outweighs the cost of running the fan itself.

“Ceiling fans provide year-round comfort and efficiency,” says Barb Wright, a ceiling fan product manager at Westinghouse Lighting.

Wright says the cost of operating a ceiling fan varies based on how often they’re turned on and how much the electric company charges, but on average, she says a standard ceiling fan costs less to operate than an incandescent light bulb.

Experts say ceiling fans reduce energy in two ways.

First, fans circulate the air in the room, preventing hot air from accumulating at the ceiling.

“A ceiling fan helps equalize the temperature throughout the room, so your air conditioner doesn’t have to work as hard to keep the room cool,” says Scot Wetmore, marketing director at Dan’s Fan City, a ceiling fan retailer with more than 50 stores in the United States.

When people are in the room, Wetmore says ceiling fans have the added benefit of making people feel cooler.

“Ceiling fans cool by evaporation, like a wind chill factor,” he says, adding that fans will make it feel like it’s about 6 degrees cooler in your home than it actually is, allowing you to set your thermostat 6 degrees higher. According to Progress Energy, an energy company that services North and South Carolina and Florida, homeowners can save 7 to 10 percent off their cooling costs for each degree above 78.

And ceiling fans don’t just save money in the summer. Ceiling fans run counterclockwise in the summer, but many ceiling fans are equipped with reverse switches which allow you to run the fan clockwise in the winter, thereby reducing heating bills, too.

“[Changing the direction of the fan] makes the air column go up toward the ceiling, and what it does is it drives air currents up on the ceiling to the wall and down the wall, and that helps redistribute heat from the ceiling. So it helps lower your heating bills by re-circulating the heat,” Wetmore explains.

If a ceiling fan also includes a light fixture, Wright says customers can maximize their energy savings by replacing the incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs.

Wright says homeowners should also consider buying Energy Star-rated ceiling fans. “They are about 50 percent more efficient than conventional fan/light units with an estimated energy savings of $15 to $20 per year,” Wright says.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency’s Energy Star Web site, Energy Star-rated ceiling fans move air up to 20 percent more efficiently than conventional models due to advanced blade and motor design, and Energy Star-rated ceiling fans that have light fixtures are about 50 percent more efficient and produce about 75 percent less heat.

Several ceiling fan manufacturers make ceiling fans that meet the government’s Energy Star requirements, including Casablanca, Kichler, Minka Aire and Savoy House.

Click here to shop hundreds of decorative and functional ceiling fans at Capitol Lighting’s 1800lighting.com and start saving on energy today!

Is your LED bulb blinking too fast? No worries—it’s an easy fix! LED lighting draws much less power and lasts way longer than standard incandescent lighting that comes stock with most vehicles. Although the reduced draw of LEDs has advantages, replacement of turn signal bulbs with LEDS will cause what is called hyperflashing. Hyperflashing is when the turn signals blink faster than your stock incandescent bulbs did. This happens because your new LED bulbs draw such little power that your turn signal relay sees the bulbs as being out.

Installing an ixing hyperflashing. These modules are economically priced and are usually simple to install. In most cases, these flasher units are little circular or square boxes with metal prongs sticking out one side that simply plug into where your stock flasher went. Our LED flashers function with both LED and incandescent bulbs, so even if you have LED turn signals in the back and incandescent bulbs still in the front, you can use our LED flasher modules with no problems. Before you order, compare the pin diagram of the stock flasher with the pin diagram of our flashers on our website.

For technical questions, don’t hesitate to call us toll free at 866-590-3533. Our customer service and technical support teams are available from 8:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. CDT Monday-Thursday and 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. CDT on Friday.

Electrical systems, regardless of how advanced the technology is or how well they are installed, can fail and require repairs from time to time. Now, the average Joe knows how to change a bulb or even check a fuse but beyond that, it’s best to leave the job to the professionals. Safety is a major reason, as you never know the risk involved in any electrical problem around the house. It is best to let a trained technician deal with the matter on hand than taking a chance by attempting it yourself. However, you might be confused when selecting an electrician to hire.

This one is a no-brainer. The local electrician will be able to reach you quicker as he has to travel a shorter distance and this can come in handy if you an electrical emergency on hand. On the other hand, any electrical service located at a distance might take a few hours to send over their personnel to you by which time the damage would have exacerbated and you could be left with a large repair bill. Regardless of the extent of the problem, having it dealt with without delay is a good idea and this is where hiring a local electrician is the best option. And you won’t have to explain the route to him either!

As mentioned above, the shorter commute and the less time taken to get to your home means the electrician will charge you less money. Generally, professional electricians charge by the hour and they include the time of travel in that bill. By opting for a local electrical service, you can lower this cost and only pay for the labor and material. Not to mention, it can be a hassle for an electrician to have to travel a long distance to get to you, especially if the project is going to take a number of days.

You might have done a fine job of explaining the problem over the phone but the real extent of the damage will only be discovered once the electrician is on your premises and examining the damage. Now, this could mean he needs supplies or tools that he doesn’t have on hand. This isn’t a concern with a local electrician as he can get the materials he need delivered right away or even go and get them himself without wasting much time. Also, he would know the area which means he knows where to buy any stuff required to get the job done. This means the work will be finished quicker.

A local electrician will do his best to impress you with the quality of work to convince you to refer him to your friends and relatives. This is one advantage of hiring a local electrician not many people consider. This also means you can ask the people in your neighborhood if they have availed his services and whether or not they are satisfied with them. Just because he is located near you doesn’t mean he will not do a competent job. His bread and butter depend on the quality of service he provides, so you can expect no problems in terms of quality.

With electrical projects, you never know when a project ends up taking more time than budgeted for due to some reason. Now, professional electricians generally don’t like to stay beyond the time they had decided for when they came over initially. With a local electrician, you have some wiggle room because of his shorter commute and the fact that he is likely to get referrals from you. So, if the work ends up taking more time than anticipated, it is likely he would stay back and finish the job without any extra charges.

So, the next time you encounter an electrical problem you feel requires a professional to deal with, call in a local electrician!

Pendant lights are popular among many home designs. These versatile ceiling pendants unequivocally fit the bill in a variety of zones where points of light and design converge. Adding ceiling pendants over the kitchen island has been a design element we’ve seen and loved for a while, but interior designers and trendsetters are taking it a step further. We are starting to see designs incorporating unique, stylish pendants over dining tables, above the bath vanity, over the dressing table, by your favorite reading chair and over chic desks.

Whether your lighting design taste sways toward sparkling crystal or rustic farmhouse, selecting the correct size and number of pendants is key to creating a space that is both functional and beautiful.