Has it ever happened that you noticed an inexplicable rise in your electricity bill in spite of using the same appliances for the same amount of time that you generally do? No, the neighbor’s bill didn’t get delivered to you accidentally and neither is it the fault of your electrical services provider. There might be a number of other reasons behind a rise in your bill amount, which generally aren’t taken into account by a majority of people. Let’s take a look at them –

1. Faulty Appliances If your domestic appliances like washing machines, air conditioners, dishwashers, etc., are faulty, they will consume more energy than normal. Also, faulty wiring can damage the appliances in the long term, lead to electric fires or even get electrically charged, which may give you life-threatening shocks if you come in their direct contact.

The Internet of Things is arriving in a big way. Smart thermostats, smart refrigerators, smart home security systems and more are all moving toward one integrated home system. One day soon, all your HVAC equipment, electrical work and appliances will be connected and in communication with each other. The next leap forward in smart homes is coming to your kitchen – the smart stove. Before you know it, your range top and oven will be sending you text messages when it's time to pull out the roast. Really.

Texting and Tweeting from the Oven

Smart stoves are quickly on their way to the marketplace. General Electric recently announced an initiative to bulk up the internet integration capabilities of its appliances. Stoves, for example, will soon be able to send you a text message once they've preheated, or cooked a meal for a specified amount of time. Not paying attention to your phone? The stove will also be able to flash the lights of whatever room you're in to give you the alert, if your other electrical work is hooked into the smart system.

The benefits don't stop there. If you leave the house and forget to turn the stove off, it can shut down automatically. It can also do this if the smoke detector goes off, potentially saving you from catastrophe. The smart stoves will also be able to interact with social media applications like Facebook, Twitter and Dropbox. That's right – soon your oven will be able to tweet out a photo of your perfect apple pie and you won't even have to lift a finger.

A New Way to Interact

Smart stoves are just the start. "Owners can create recipes that suit their lifestyle and integrate GE's connected appliances into the rest of their Internet-connected lives," Logan Garrett, a member of the Wi-Fi connected appliances team at GE Appliances, said to the Motley Fool. "We think this is the beginning of a new way for consumers to interact with their home appliances."

One day, smart kitchens could even come up with suggested recipes based on the ingredients you have on hand, which it would already know via inventory software. All you'd have to do is gather the items and mix them together. Technology already exists to determine when a dish is cooked properly, so the oven could handle the temperature and time settings all on its own.

If you need advice on how to get cutting edge technology into your kitchen to take the guesswork out of cooking, or need any other help with your electrical work, call an expert electrician today.

This modern living/dining area designed by This award-winning kitchen designed by The last thing you want in home lighting design is for your house to look like you just stepped into the lighting aisle at Home Depot.

Honestly, there is no hard and fast rule about how much is too much.  Generally we’d say to be careful not to over-do it in open areas that flow into other rooms (like kitchen/dining/family rooms). Space the lights appropriately and alternate between recessed & pendant lighting. The last thing you want is for your home to look like a lighting store.

The bottom line is that there really is no one way to do lighting, and at the end of the day if it makes you happy, then it’s perfect.  Experiment with your style and create Pinterest boards to develop your look.

Do you find it effortless to incorporate a wide variety of styles into your home design or do you struggle with the need to keep it consistent?  We’d love to hear about it!

With Valentine’s Day edging past and Random Acts of Kindness Day coming up this February 17th, have you given any thought to how helpful your recent actions have been to your bottom line?

Lighting accounts for approximately 5-10 percent of total energy use. Simply turning off the lights in unoccupied rooms can save a great deal. Multiply that savings times thousands of households, and you’re taking part in a huge random act of kindness for planet earth.  

One of the simplest energy savings tips is caring for your water heater by wrapping it up in an insulated blanket, and it can help you save $20 for gas and $50 for electric heaters annually. Setting it to 120 degrees also boosts energy savings and improves safety.

When temperatures are extreme, be thoughtful about your thermostat settings. Adjust accordingly: 68 degrees in the winter, 78 degrees in the summer. Turning your thermostat down 10-15 degrees for 8 hours a day can save you up to 10 percent on heating and cooling costs. Upgrade to a programmable thermostat to make it a simple, automated task.

Another one of the simplest energy saving tips - turn off computers and other devices when not in use. Leaving your PC constantly running could be unkind to your wallet – to the tune of over $100 a year.

Many of the devices we use daily ruthlessly consume electricity, even when they’re switched off. This vampire power consumption can be curtailed with the help of point-of-use surge protection. Rather than unplugging each item individually, with the flip of a button, power to every device plugged into a surge protector is simply and easily terminated. A perfectly humane way to cut off unnecessary power consumption.

Surge protection can also safeguard your checkbook from the hazards of excess energy. Whole house surge protection adds an integral layer of security against budget-busting power surges that can quickly zap your expensive electronics. Be considerate of your wallet. The cost of replacing a single large home appliance such as a TV or hot water heater could cost you twice the expense of an investment in whole house surge protection. Find out how much professionally installed surge protection can save you from getting zapped with a free in-home quote from Mr. Electric®.    

Looking for a few more energy saving tips to protect your pocketbook? Treat your home and your budget to a little kindness with the loving care of Mr. Electric today.