Electrical safety is of utmost importance to keep your family and loved ones safe at home. You can be assured of electrical safety through GFCI outlets. GFCI (ground fault circuit interrupter) outlets have three holes: two of the holes are for neutral and hot wire and the third hole in the middle of the outlet serves as a ground wire. If it experiences any change in the electrical flow in the circuit, it will immediately cut off the flow of electricity.

GFCI outlets are important, especially when the electrical outlets are positioned close to water. Installing GFCI outlets in your kitchen, bathrooms, laundry rooms, etc., is a good idea. Apart from being an essential preventive measure, the law also requires you to have GFCI outlets installed throughout your home. According to National Electric Code (NEC), all homes must be equipped with GFCI protection. Initially, it was only required for you to install GFCI outlets near water only but this requirement has been extended to cover all single phase outlets of 125 volts in recent years.

Let us now understand why GFCI outlets are essential in every household.

3 Reasons to Install GFCI Outlets

Electrical shocks and electrocution are the major risks that you can be exposed to through electrical devices at your home. This becomes a bigger concern if you have kids who can unknowingly touch the appliances and get a shock. A GFCI outlet helps in preventing shocks and electrocutions as it has a built-in sensor that monitors the inflow and outflow of the electricity from any appliance. If a live wire inside the appliance comes in contact with the metallic surface of the appliance, you will get a shock when you touch it.

Once someone has discovered retrofitting as a read that by clicking here.

Let’s get started with the first question on the list, and that is what exactly is a retrofit kit?

What is a retrofit kit anyways? Well, we’ve actually reducing your energy consumption even more. Just make sure you are buying a LED retrofit kit that has the option to be dimmable, otherwise you will NOT be able to dim them.

Retrofit vs full replacement, why should you consider retrofitting with LED?

While a full replacement of an entire is fixture is very valid to do especially when they are outdated or literally falling apart; often times you can avoid that by retrofitting your fixtures. With retrofitting you get to keep your old fixture but just replace the light source in it with a new one. This will allow you to reduce the costs associated with the lighting upgrade tremendously, which will allow you to realize a much larger ROI.

Although there are benefits of both, you need to think about your facility or buildings own situation, and go from there. To recap; retrofitting is great if you can keep your old fixtures but if you can’t (due to reasons like outdated or near falling apart), then a full replacement is probably the better option.

For more info, check out this infographic (

Why should I even switch to LED in the first place?

Very good question, and this not only applies to those retrofitting but for any facility that plans to make a lighting system update. LED technology has vast benefits in almost every area of the definition “quality” for commercial lighting purposes. Here are just a few of the major benefits that more often than not win over businesses to commit to the conversion over to LED technology:

As you can see these are all some pretty big benefits, and that’s only the start. These reasons are why many companies are making the conversion over to LED products from other outdated technologies such as metal halide, HPS, and even fluorescent. Why not convert to LED with a retrofit LED kit and realize all of these benefits and more? It just makes sense!

Is it difficult to retrofit an existing light fixture?

Well, that can depend. To someone who has no knowledge about lighting fixtures and electrical wiring, then yes this will seem like an extremely difficult task. On the other hand for someone who is a professional, this isn’t a difficult task at all.

The process, in theory, is simple because all it consists of (for the most part) is a replacement of all the existing lamps, ballasts, sockets, and brackets with new ones to fit your retrofit kits. If you have no experience doing this, and even if you do, it is always recommended to bring in a licensed electrician if you can to ensure it is done right and to safety standards.

Are LED retrofits that are compatible with existing ballasts a good idea?

You need to consider the age of the ballast that is currently installed. In most cases, it will be nearing the end of it’s life and thus it won’t be the most up-to-date ballast that you could have. This adds for an additional point of failure, which could cost you more down the line in maintenance fees to replace them when they die out.

You have to consider that since you are considering the switch over to LEDs through retrofitting, you most likely haven’t recently upgraded you lighting system or replaced much. This means that the ballasts currently installed are most likely, at best, as old as the lights in your fixtures currently. But more often or not, they are even older than that which can definitely mean they are nearing the end of their lifespan.

Taking this all into account, it’s impossible to tell you if using existing ballasts is a contact us. We will gladly answer any question you may have!

As a Dallas Electrician with over 27 years of experience, ElectricMan Inc. has seen many of the dangers of DIY Electrical first hand, and has often been called in to make repairs after a DIY home improvement project has gone wrong, or the home owner realized that they were in over their head. The experience to take on any electrical home improvement project is something that is obtained by years of professional training and experience under a Licensed Master Electrician. That kind of experience isn’t something that the average Do-It-Yourselfer has, even if you do consider yourself a Jack-Of-All Trades.

One of the biggest dangers of DIY Electrical work is simply the fact that electricity can be deadly when not handled properly. Many DIY home improvement projects are often done in a hurry, and without proper planning. Something as simple as forgetting to switch off the breaker, using the wrong tools for the job, or even accidentally brushing up against the wrong wire can send high voltage coursing through a human body, easily causing burns, ventricular fibrillation (uncontrolled movement of the heart muscles), and death. We are so accustomed to being able to flip a switch and use electricity in our daily life that we often forgot how powerful it truly is.

One of the major causes for DIY Electrical accidents is unfamiliarity with the electrical circuits in your home. Due to shoddy electrical workmanship in many older homes, it is often difficult to tell which outlets, appliances, and lighting fixtures are on a given circuit, especially if your breaker box was improperly labeled, or if the labeling has faded over time. Most home owners will simply switch off breakers until they see the lights turn off in the area that they will be working, and assume it is safe to start working. This is an incredibly dangerous practice since it is not always the case that all outlets and lighting fixtures in an area will be on the same circuit. A Licensed Dallas Electrician will be familiar with standard wiring practices and will know the proper way to test the circuit that they will be working on to ensure that it is safe.

Another huge benefit to using a licensed electrician for your home electrical work is that they will be well versed in all of the building and safety codes required to make sure the job is done right. The reason that this is important is two-fold. First, it is legally required to adhere to all building and safety codes, and if you ever intend on selling your home or having it inspected for any other reason, a DIY Electrical repair or addition will cause your home to fail inspection if building and safety codes are not followed to the letter, generally costing you more money later down the line to have an improperly performed job repaired. Secondly, and even more important, is the fact that building and safety codes are put in place for a reason. If you are not familiar with these codes or do not follow them, you are putting yourself and your family at risk of electrical shock, electrical fires, and injury or death due to a faulty repair.

A reliable Licensed Dallas Electrician such as ElectricMan Inc. will ensure that any home improvement project involving electricity in your home is completed correctly, in compliance with all of the proper safety and building codes, and will guarantee their work to ensure a successful outcome, and the safety of you and your family. If you would like to learn more about the capabilities and experience of ElectricMan Inc. or discuss a project or repair that you are planning for your home, reach out to us today by phone at 972-792-7270, or visit us at our website at www.electricmaninc.com!

We love to decorate our landscaping with various ornamental trees, gorgeous flower beds, fountains and various statues. Unfortunately, with the daylight hours already getting shorter, it isn’t always easy to showcase your hard work without adequate outdoor lighting. Homeowners have several choices when it comes to finding the perfect way to highlight various areas in the landscaping. An electrician in Santa Monica has some tips for you to use when choosing the right lighting for your yard. You can call The Electric Connection to learn more about outdoor lighting options.

Solar Lighting

Solar lights are great for those areas of your yard that need soft lighting and get at least 8 hours of full sunlight a day. They are easy to place and are free of wires. Outlining a flower garden or pathway through the backyard or from the driveway to the front door are great ways to use solar lights. However, this particular type of light is not a good idea for areas that are shady or close to the house where they will not get full sun exposure.

Electric Lighting

Electric lights come in a variety of styles and sizes. They can be placed throughout the landscaping, but it will be necessary for you to pay close attention to the Santa Monica electrical requirements. Electric lights in the landscaping are perfect for shady areas that the solar lights are not ideal in. You will need to bury the wiring and have it wired into your home’s main power. A switch can be installed that allows you to turn the lights off and on manually or you can opt to have a timer installed that will take care of everything.

If you would like to have electric landscape lighting installed around your home, give The Electric Connection a call today and schedule your installation.

By Maddie Ogletree

What goes on behind the scenes of March Madness often goes unmentioned. The action is up front, while the lights and cameras are working hard in the background. Some major aspects of the March Madness experience happen without a hitch, and sometimes they’re the hardest to manage. No wonder there was a lighting mishap during the Super Bowl in 2013.

Amidst all the madness this March, take a moment to notice the electrical components powering the stadiums, such as:

The music and sound effects heard during the event can all be attributed to the thousands of cables running throughout stadiums across the country, linking the AV control rooms to the speakers above the court. When stadiums are built, every single cable is intricately installed to enable you to experience the sights and sounds of March Madness the way you’re able. Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, host of the Final Four and championship games, reports about 764,000 cables in their audio and video setup alone!

To ensure that the arena doesn’t go dark mid-play, backup generators are a must to make sure everything runs smoothly during the games. It might not be the first concern to pop into your mind, but in an emergency or accidental power failure backup generators are the heroes of the game. Most arenas are prepared for these events and have multiple generators ready to go in the event of a power failure.

How the stadium stays perfectly lit is not often considered, but it’s a necessity for these games that can be tough to power. Recently, NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas updated their lighting to a more sustainable system. The new system draws 337 kilowatts of energy at full power – 60 percent less than their previous system. That’s huge, especially when their stadium now houses more than 65,000 LEDs. Imagine keeping all of those lights functioning properly during the entire South Regional game.

Keeping up with the scores at games is easy with the giant screens present at every modern sports arena. But most people don’t realize the energy that is needed to show those replays on the big screen. While it does take quite a bit of energy, arenas are starting to focus on using sustainable sources of energy. The Moda Center, which will be hosting second and third round games for this year’s March Madness, purchases 100 percent renewable energy programs.