Maciej Winiarcyzk using more than two thousand digital photographs just over a month ago.

I have never had the privilege of seeing the northern lights in real life, but my sister lives in northern Canada and has told me about them. (She’s a pretty credible source: She even named her daughter Aurora.) After asking her, “What ARE the northern lights,” several times, I now understand the aurora borealis to be a visual effect of the collision of solar wind and magnetospheric charged particles with the thermosphere. Can you see why I had to ask what the northern lights were more than once? The northern lights are most spectacular near the North Pole and during spring and autumn equinoxes. (And, by the way, no. The northern lights are not Santa’s off-season hobby.) But the northern lights, if there are some geomagnetic storms a-brewin’, can be seen closer to home, too, visible occasionally as far south as Chicago or New York.

Anyway, this guy Winiarcyzk is an astronomy enthusiast who lives in Caithness, which is at the tippy top of Scotland. There’s isn’t much light pollution way up there, so it’s a good place for such a sky-minded person to live and enjoy his hobby. Wonderfully, with this time lapse video of the northern lights, we get to enjoy his hobby, too.

Take a look. Have you ever seen anything more lovely occurring in nature? You know, with all this solar wind, magnetospheric particles, thermospheres, and geomagnetic storms, it sure seems like there is a lot more going on in nature than we can readily sense.

Buying an older house always comes with a certain amount of risk. The history and craftsmanship might be appealing, but even the most attractive aesthetics can hide expensive repair projects.

Frequently, old homes will quickly prove to be in desperate need of carpentry help, re-painting or maybe even an exterminator. Perhaps the most common issue an older property will have is a badly outdated electrical system.

The average American home would've been built in the early 1980s, and many older properties are still being sold. Many of these houses still haven't been rewired to deal with the demands of modern devices and appliances. The evidence will be in sparse electrical outlets, lights dimming when you turn on other appliances or breakers that seem to trip for the smallest electrical loads. If you find yourself taking too many climbs up ladders for blown bulbs or too many trips into the basement to the breaker box, consider overhauling your electrical system

The older your system the bigger the project you'll be looking at. Old houses may lack access to spaces where the wires themselves need to be replaced instead of just rerouted.  Projects like this may have to be done piece-meal over time. Materials alone could cost over $1000.

Many people have heard about power factor correction, but aren’t too sure about exactly what it means, or is. Here is some basic information about it, in very simple words. Power factor is essentially a measurement of the effectiveness with which your commercial business uses the energy that’s supplied to your location.

In an industrial setting, you are able to reduce the amount you pay as a power bill, by cutting down the power factor surcharges that show up on various electricity accounts; these show up as the peak demand charges from your power company. This is exactly the reason why there is such a huge growth in power factor correction.

Currently, many businesses are being charged via a kVA tariff, rather than a kilowatt one. This also means there is a distinct possibility that your electricity service provider is charging you for power they are supplying to you and which you aren’t really using. In short, you end up paying for power that’s going waste. The other considerations:

Every industrial setup has different power requirements, different types of equipment and tools that run on electricity; and it’s important that you connect with a company that is able to understand your requirements and provides custom solutions. Once they help set up the right kind of power correction equipment, you can benefit in a number of ways.

As a business owner, you know you want to reduce operational costs and while you are sure to have a number of other measures in place, understanding how power factor correction will help you, is one way of making a significant change. For more information, simply speak with the experts at Allround Electrical and take their advice on various aspects of power factor installation solutions. The number to call is – 1300 169 263. You can also write to us at this email address.

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