You've done everything you can to conserve energy in your house -- purchased the latest Energy Star appliances, insulated your walls, and turned your thermostat down to 68. But the next thing you know, your kids are leaving lights on in rooms they aren't occupying. Or staring into the refrigerator for minutes on end while all the cold air escapes through the open door. Or nudging the thermostat higher when you aren't looking. How can you convince your kids to help, not hinder, your efforts to cut down on energy usage?

Knowledge is Power

Your children can't make the effort to save energy if they don't know how. Help them start building good habits early, and make sure they’re aware of simple ways they can help lower the utility bills:

To save electricity:

To conserve water:

To keep your heating and cooling bills low:

What if They Don't Wanna?

Of course, every parent knows that telling your kid to do something doesn't mean it's going to happen. The trick is to get them to buy in. While one reason to conserve energy is to save money on your utility bills, children have a habit of taking mom and dad's money for granted, so that might not be your most persuasive argument.

Instead, try teaching them about how human reliance on fossil fuels is harmful to the environment -- but they can help make a difference. If your children have particular interests, like animals, you can tie the themes together -- tell them they can help protect animal habitats by doing their part to conserve energy.

Another trick is to give them a green light to correct you if you make a mistake like leaving the water running. That gives the kid some fun responsibility, and encourages them to be vigilant about your behavior -- which increases the likelihood they will be about their own.

Check out the Energy Star Kids program for more ideas on how to persuade your kids and get them excited about conservation, and for child-tailored activities to increase their knowledge and motivation. And remember, the best way to teach your kids how to conserve is to set a good example by doing it yourself.

The term “arc flash” is used to describe low impedance connections in an electrical system, which allows movement of unwanted electric discharge through the air from one voltage phase to another, or to ground. This leads to a rapid rise in temperature and pressure in the air between electrical conductors, causing an explosion known as an arc blast.

Arc blasts and the resulting heat can lead to fires, pressure waves and flying shrapnel that result in serious damage to life and property. These explosions typically occur without any warning, destroy electrical equipment completely and lead to severe injury or death of personnel present within the boundary of the arc flash.

What Are the Main Causes of Arc Flash?

Arc flash occurs when several electrical conductors are placed close to each other, with significant fault currents flowing through them. In this situation, ionization of the air can take place as a result of various factors – such as differences in potential – which leads to a low resistance path and allows current to flow through the air gap between conductors.

Many people assume that low voltage equipment is safe from arc flash, but arc flash hazard levels may be higher at low voltages, due to the high fault currents. Most incidents that occur in low voltage systems are caused by human error, e.g. a tool slipping while a technician works on electrical equipment.

Arc flash can also be caused due to:

Like upgrades in the cell phone industry, the electrical industry has developed great new ways to serve and protect home owners. One of the best inventions of the past few decades is the GFI outlet.

What is a GFI outlet?

GFI stands for fault circuit interrupter. In layman’s terms it is the little button that sits between the two outlets in a double wall outlet. Some of these have a red test button and white set button and others have two white buttons.

What this means for those who have these new breakers is that instead of blowing a fuse or tripping a circuit breaker during an overload, the button will pop out and there will be no electricity in that outlet. It also will react if an electrical device comes in contact with water eliminating the possibility of shock.

You will find these safety devices around areas that may be subjected to damp areas like bathrooms, kitchens, hot tubs, swimming pools and outside plugs.GFIs are installed on electrical outlets to regulate power and direct currents. In most areas they are required by code to be placed in strategic areas.

What could be wrong?

There could be several different issues. However, we need to inspect a unit. It is not an answer we can readily answer over the phone. It could be the actual receptacle and it could be wiring leading to the receptacle. It is not a DIY job. This is a job for someone who knows how to cut the current so there are no live wires and investigate wall deep.

Underwriter’s Laboratories, LLC says, “By installing GFCIs in every home in the United States, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission estimates that more than two-thirds of the approximately 300 electrocutions occurring each year could be prevented.”

A working unit could save your life or the life of one of your family members. You want a license, bonded professional to handle this repair.

Things to tell your electrician

There are things you can check prior to the arrival of your service professional which may give him a head start on repairs. Are all other outlets in the area active or not? Have you checked your circuit breaker to see if it has not shut down the zone?

There is another thing to keep in mind. If you have an older home or condo you can have new GFI’s installed where you need them – in the bathroom, kitchen or wherever. It is an investment in the value of your home and your peace of mind.