Sitting here in Los Angeles, I’ll be keeping my eye on an ingenious new program in New York designed to save energy and create green collar jobs. On June 22nd, the State of New York adopted a law which will provide billions of dollars for property owners to make energy efficiency improvements. What’s so ingenious about that? The State funding won’t be for grants, but for loans. The loans will be paid back to the State in installments whenever an energy bill like an electric bill is paid.

Install a Ceiling Fan — Save Electricity Here’s how it’s supposed to work. Let’s say a property owner takes out a loan for improving insulation and installing a ceiling fan. This should save on the electric bill for A/C in the summer, freeing up the property owner to pay an installment of the loan. The utility company will charge as much as before the insulation and ceiling fan were installed and put the savings on the electric bill towards paying off the loan. When the loan is fully paid, the property owner will start seeing a lower electric bill. This is “on-bill recovery” — the loan is repaid with each payment of a lower utility bill.

The beauty part for New York is that the State won’t have to administer these little loans. People are good about paying their electric bills so the State can expect that most of the loans will be repaid. Of course, this puts the utility company in the middle, adding to its administrative load. But in some cases, the utility company may benefit in the long run by reducing the need to build new power plants.

Save Energy and Create 60,000 Green Collar Jobs New York hopes that 1,000,000 property owners throughout the State will take out loans for improved insulation, ceiling fans, installation of more efficient Energy-Star appliances, etc. Of course, this will mean more efficient use of electricity, heating oil, etc. And also importantly, New York hopes that these loans will create 60,000 “green collar” jobs. These will be new jobs in a sector that has been particularly hard-hit by the recession, construction.

As an electrician, I’m well-aware that construction jobs and jobs in many other sectors have been hard hit in L.A., too. I’m going to be watching how this program works for New York and will keep you updated. In the meantime, if you need electrical work in Los Angeles County, please give me a call at (800) 990-9490 or click my The Electric Connection homepage.

Many of us know as the years go on families grow in number and size. Unfortunately, our homes don’t expand to make room for us all. To get that extra square footage or an extra room, a home addition is ideal. But it is important to remember that the additional room needs to be connected to the house perfectly in every way. There are many points to remember with home additions and its important that they are done right or you may need to end up redoing the room you just completed.

Whether you are looking at a kitchen expansion, a new bathroom, or a room addition, there are many things to keep in mind before you put the drywall on. The new space will new lighting, switches, outlets, and even temperature controls. Depending on the size of the space these items can require a significant amount of electricity. Adding this extra load to an existing circuit can bring that circuit over the limit. If this happens you are prone to power surges, electrical outages, and even fires. Depending on the size of your room you may need a new circuit in order to properly handle the new electrical load. This means doing an addition to your electrical panel. If not implemented properly, additions to the service panel can be messy and dangerous. Because the main service panel is the heart of your home’s electrical system you want it to be in the best shape it can be.

After reading this it can seem like a home addition is a larger undertaking than you previously imagined. That is why it is important to get professional help. There can be many code violations and hazards in your new home addition and you don’t want to close them up until you are sure you are safe. An expert electrician knows what to look for and what should be done to make everything right. And when it comes to electrical panel upgrades a professional can make sure that the panel does not become a dangerous container of wires.

If you are performing a home addition or room expansion, make sure that you are keeping your home safe and up to code. The last thing you want is to expand your home and lose most of it to an electrical fire. With an expert electrician you have peace of mind knowing that everything behind the walls is done correctly.

The little community of Victoria Park in central Florida is beating out Los Angeles when it comes to saving electricity on street lighting. Last November, I wrote a blog post about the street lighting program here in Los Angeles, which is currently yielding higher-than-expected energy savings — 60% compared to the expected 40%. Well, that’s something to crow about regardless of what they’re doing in Victoria Park.

The Nitty-Gritty in L.A.

Electricians are using LEDs to replace the conventional incandescent bulbs in 140,000 Los Angeles street lights. Maintenance costs for LEDs, though not as significant as electric bills, also take a smaller bite. Nothing to be sneezed at! LEDs are good for the City budget, good for climate change, and good for energy independence.

An LED (Light Emitting Diode) is a light created by the kind of tiny parts that are in a computer. LEDs are used, for example, in many kids’ light sabers. They’re brighter and use a lot less electricity than the incandescents that you and I screwed into sockets when we grew up. As for what Victoria Park is up to….

Electricians Retrofit Gas Lights in Victoria Park, Florida

Victoria Park is now upping the ante. Electricians are retrofitting its gas-burning street lights with special LEDs that will save the community 92% on its combined energy and maintenance bills.

Victoria Park is a planned community in central Florida. Residents enjoy the charm of real gas-lit street lights, but the expense is a concern. As the community builds out, the annual costs for gas and maintenance were being projected to top $1,000,000 a year, just for street lighting.

When residents formed a committee to look into alternatives, the committee hit upon low-voltage LEDs. While typical house current runs at 110 volts, low-voltage current can run at around 24 volts, reducing power needs.

Victoria Park is now retrofitting their existing street lights with low-voltage LEDs. The retrofits, an innovation by Solas Ray™ Lighting in Anderson Indiana, look, for all the world, like real gas lights. They mimic the look of a candle flame. The lights create charm and a warm glow, but also five times more light than each pole would create with gas. Not to mention the 92% energy and maintenance savings. In fact, the Mayor of the City of DeLand, where Victoria Park is located, awarded Solas Ray a proclamation of appreciation for saving Victoria Park residents nearly half a million dollars in 2010.

Fortunately for all of us, in the energy efficiency race, we all win as cities out-do each other to help out their budgets and help the environment.

Want to save energy in your home or business?

One of the specialties of my electrical contracting company, The Electric Connection, is energy-efficient lighting. Call us to discuss your lighting needs (800) 990-9490.

Kim Hopkins

CEO, The Electric Connection.

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CRI) of 82 to show the true colors of objects and surroundings.

A rocker switch allows for two levels of light, but the fixture can also be dimmed with an electronic low-voltage (ELV) dimmer. Up to 10 under-cabinet fixtures can be joined in a series with our interconnect cables. The low-profile white aluminum fixture has 120V AC operation and is designed to last 30,000 hours—three times longer than equivalent fluorescent fixtures.