Some electrical repairs just can't wait. If you discover loose wiring, a faulty circuit or other problem in your home electrical system, it is essential to call an electrician immediately. At best, electrical problems can be annoying. At worst, they can damage your appliances or even start a fire in your home. That's why it's so important to have savings on hand so you don't feel compelled to delay emergency electrical repairs. Unfortunately, far too many families are not prepared financially to cover this type of emergency.

Emergency Savings Not Cutting the Mustard

The savings profile of the average American family leaves a lot to be desired. A recent report pointed out that 25 percent of homeowners in the United States don't have any money at all saved to protect themselves in case they need an emergency electrical repair or other home service. What's more, about half of the families that do have savings have less than $1,000, which might not be enough to cover a major bill.

And you never know when you might need help. In fact, nine percent of households said they had a problem with a circuit, switch or outlet in the past year, according to the report. Unless you are already an accomplished electrician, these are not problems you can address by yourself – you need to hire a professional in order to protect the safety of your home and your family. If you don't have any savings, that means borrowing money or putting off a repair – a dangerous prospect.

Make Sure You Have Money When You Need it

Follow these tips to increase the odds that you have cash on hand when you need it:

Expert Electricians Keep You in Safe Hands

Maintenance and repairs on your wiring and circuits are tasks you simply cannot put off. Whether the electrical work you need is routine or a true emergency, call upon a professional electrician to get the job done safely and promptly.

With the evolution of energy-efficient LED lighting came an endless source of creative costume ideas. Small, cool & colorful lights now come in portable, battery-operated packages where the only thing stopping you is your imagination! This Halloween season, we’ve rounded up a handful of our favorite costume creations using a variety of light sources.

Mutant Cyborg Halloween Pumpkin

Part robot, part pumpkin, this crafty mutation is all ingenuity.

Glowy Zoey 

When Royce Hutain filmed and published this short clip of his daughter in her new home-made costume, it was an overnight sensation, even generating a call from the Jimmy Kimmel show. Hutain didn’t invent the LED light costume, so why the sudden fame? Maybe it’s the toddler waddle, all lit up in it’s glory. Or maybe it’s the chuckle of the gratified parents trying to keep the camera steady that just makes us crack up. Whatever it is, it’s absolutely brilliant. You can So Sew Easy

Any little girl can feel like a Princess with this delightful little light-up dress by light-up fairy wings! 

Jawa Costume

The poor Jawa, always back burner to the cool Jedi costume with LED Lightsabers, finally gets his turn in the spotlight in an adorable get-up complete with glowing eyes made out of orange LEDs. Make your own with this via via string lights.

Littlest Firefly

Nearly every single person living in the United States relies on the electrical grid. It's how electricity gets from the power plant to your home, powering your devices and appliances. With no grid, none of the electrical work in your home will function – no television, no air conditioning and no electric lights. Our grid is changing, however, taking advantage of evolving technology on both the distribution and consumer side of the equation. Read on to learn more about how our electrical grid will evolve to meets the needs of the 21st century.

How to Balance Supply and Demand

The electrical grid is not a single object, but rather a giant network of power plants and transmission lines that spans the entire nation. In order for electricity to flow from the generating stations into your home’s electrical work, the grid needs to be able to meet the demand at any given time and place. This can be an enormous challenge – if there is too little production, consumers can be subject to annoying and damaging brownouts. Ramping up generation to meet variable demand is expensive and inefficient, however.

Some utilities solve the problem with time-of-day pricing, charging more during the day and less at night to smooth out demand. Smart technology, however, will allow us to fine-tune the grid even further to increase efficiency, improve communication and mitigate blackouts or other power outages.

Smart Meters and Dispersed Generation

Smart meters are one of the first steps toward our new grid. These meters track residential electrical consumption in real time and can communicate with the utility company instantaneously. They can allow producers to better predict demand, respond immediately to dips and spikes, and further refine variable pricing structures that incentivize people to use less electricity during peak hours. Smart meters also give homeowners the power to see where and when they are putting the most stress on their electrical work, allowing them to adjust their behavior strategically.

Changes are coming to the generation side as well. Traditionally, the electrical grid is powered by large, centralized power plants, but residential solar installations mean that generation is becoming more widely distributed. Wind generation is also becoming an ever-larger factor in our nation's energy supply. This means that the grid needs to be updated to become more flexible and adaptable, but there is a large payoff in sight – the more dispersed that power generation becomes, the more resilient the grid will be in the event of an outage, with smaller regions able to supply themselves with emergency power if they are cut off from the centralized system.

Makes Tomorrow's Energy Grid Work for You

No one knows exactly what the power grid will look like 100 years from now, but the nation is well on its way to updating its electrical infrastructure to meet the needs of this century. If you have any concerns about how your electrical work will interface with the power grid of the future, or need any other work done on the wiring and circuitry in your home, call an expert electrician today.

Enjoy Capitol Lighting’s Monthly Webinar: “Blogging for Business” sponsored by Quoizel Lighting premiering on Tuesday, January 15th at 10 AM EST.

Learn from the experts how to increase your design capabilities and attract clients.  Blogging opportunities for sharing your passion and expertise are at your fingertips.  Join elite interior and exterior home design professionals, decorators, and lighting consultants for inspirational highlights and proven techniques to expand your professional appeal, gain insight into the lighting industry and increase profits.

Beating the Winter Doldrums is Just a Click Away.  Here’s What You Will Learn:

Ceiling fans are sometimes looked over when decorating a home. Besides of freshening a room, fans complete a room design and composition. It’s important to understand how size and height affect the fan’s efficiency and overall look of a room. A ceiling fan that’s too big will overpower the room’s design and visually pull the ceiling downwards; a fan that’s too small won’t properly circulate the air.