When looking for a home a lot of homebuyers flip the light switches, check the outlets, briefly look at the electrical panel, and think that the electrical system is perfectly fine. However, this is not always the case and it is important to have an expert come in for inspection.

Your home’s electrical system will age, just like your plumbing, roof,  air conditioning and heating system.  Those systems can have unexpected issues and problems, and so can your home’s electrical system.

Over ten years, the reliability of your homes’ electrical system can deteriorate greatly. Certain components can expire, like smoke detectors. Other items can wear out and not function properly like light switches, receptacles can wear and lose retention, GFCI outlets and smoke detectors may not be operable and may not be there when you need them most. Here are a few electrical components that can change over time and here is some information regarding other problems associated with older homes electrical systems.

A ten year checkup is a good idea. We always will perform a complete inspection with every service call. But if you haven’t needed to call in an electrician for a while, it’s a good idea to have one come in at least every ten years and provide a comprehensive check of your electrical systems.

Millions of dollars can be saved every year in every major or little city in this country and those around the world. This sounds like a newspaper headline but it is the actual hard truth. The amount of energy necessary for street lighting is massive. For example, Britain needs about 1900 gigawatt hours for street lighting alone, which yields 3 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions which could all be avoided and greatly reduced. Imagine cutting that down to 20%. Can it be done? Of course it can, LED street lights have been proved to have that effect.

With the economic crises, cities have started to switch off lights to save up on the electricity bill. This is one of the many solution proposed. Unfortunately, LED street lights were not proposed and that is a major mistake.  There are installation costs you might say. Well, sometimes there are, but these are equal to zero based on savings achieved over time. It means not seeing the whole picture because the lighting systems now used on the streets needs extensive costly maintenance while LED street lights will need almost none.

This is not a small fact. Maintenance means dozens of monthly salaries and costs with equipment and cars. This is only for one city but imagine the positive effect of this at a country scale or even a global scale. It will actually make a difference. In addition, these LED lamps are retrofit so there are not additional costs on that. Simply when one light burns out it should be replaced with an LED which reduces your costs by not having to fully replace your lights entirely.

There have been cases when the LED obvious benefits are:

The list can surely go on. Most people get stuck on the price but at such a big number of Street Light LEDs needed any dealer will be more than happy to negotiate a solution for the whole city so the costs will be lower than normal. In addition, the provider will stick around with advice and consultation.

In the end, it is just a matter of putting ideas into practice. Only this way we will manage to create a better world.

Out with the old and in with the new should never end with your used electronics in a landfill. A growing concern across the globe, electronic waste, or e-waste, is rapidly creating a crisis. Only 11-14 percent of electronic waste in the United States ready for disposal is actually recycled or reused, while the remainder is creating environmental and health issues worldwide.

Don’t have time to deal with your e-waste? Don’t dump it. Contact Mr. Electric today. Proper disposal and recycling is essential to preserving our environment and the health of future generations. With the help of HirePatriots and Mr. Electric, we can quickly and responsibly handle all of your electronic waste needs.

What does CAN Bus mean?

CAN Bus means Controller Area Network Bus. This system monitors your vehicle and reports operating conditions. CAN Bus systems are commonly found in European vehicles such as BMW, Audi, Mercedes, Volkswagen, Porsche, and in many American vehicles. While most late model American vehicles have CAN Bus systems, it is always good to check with your vehicle dealer to see which system your vehicle has before purchasing electrical products.

Will CAN Bus LED Bulbs Prevent “Bulb-Out” Indication?

Each vehicle has different requirements that the CAN Bus system is looking for, but in most cases CAN Bus LED bulbs should prevent a “bulb out” indication in areas such as tail, brake, and running lights. If you use a standard LED bulb that is not a CAN Bus application, you would consistently get a “bulb out” dashboard indicator because your system can’t communicate with a standard LED bulb.

Will CAN Bus LED Bulbs Prevent Hyper-Flashing?

CAN Bus bulbs will not prevent hyper-flashing of turn signals. These bulbs are communicating with the CAN Bus system, but the relay still needs an appropriate amount of load to operate correctly. Your electrical system could require load resistors or an electronic flashing relay to stop hyper-flashing. The factory relay causes the hyper-flash when it thinks there is not a bulb working. For more information, see our blog post here.