Competition is a wonderful thing. It makes us want to strive to be better, and keeps us working hard.  But competition isn’t perfect; there’s always another option, and you can’t always tell right away what option is the best deal or the highest quality. It is easy to determine the quality when it comes to something inexpensive; if you don’t like a brand of motor oil or breakfast cereal, you can always buy something different next time. But what happens if you pick a bad electrician?  Failing to spot bad electrical contractors, could mean you’ll wind up paying way too much for your service. Paying too much might actually be the best-case scenario; shoddy electrical work done by “electricians” is a safety hazard, and one you might not even know about until it’s too late.

So how do you find quality electricians? As a Dallas electrician myself, I’ve learned over the years how to make sure the electrician you use is knowledgeable and high-quality:

There is a very dangerous myth floating around, one which could actually result in severe injury and even death – “Electricity always follows the path of least resistance”. This is one of those myths that results from a general fact being blown way out of proportion.

Forget colleges and engineering schools, most high school students learn that electricity does behave this way, as a part of the basics of electricity and resistances. Worryingly, this myth isn’t just stated as a fact, it’s a commonly followed practice in many electrical circuit designs, especially when it comes to grounding.

Walk into any industrial plant that uses motors or pumps and you’ll find they’re all connected to ground rods. Ask anyone why that’s done and you’ll likely get the same response everywhere (even from the people in charge of the electrical maintenance) – It’s to eliminate the potential differences.

Although most electrical fires start very small, they can quickly spread into almost unmanageable proportions. This is especially true if the fire starts behind your walls. This can lead to a fire becoming very large before you even realize that it is there. Your best protection against an electrical fire is to prevent it from happening in the first place. If you must deal with one, however, you should always be prepared to take the proper course of action. Whenever faced with an electrical fire, your own personal safety is the number one priority. If the fire is too large for you to contain, or is growing too quickly, evacuate everyone out of the home immediately until a fire crew can make the area safe again.

If you are in a position to control the fire, start by shutting off all power to your building. Simply go to the electrical panel and shut off the main breaker until the fire is under control. If you do not already know where this is, find its location and make sure that it is never blocked or obstructed. Once the power has been shut off, you can attempt to smother the fire with a Class C fire extinguisher or baking soda. Do not ever throw water on an electrical fire. Water conducts electricity, which can result in you or someone else becoming electrocuted. Whenever the fire has been controlled, do not turn your electricity on until an electrician in Pasadena has inspected your wiring for safety. The last thing that you want is for a second fire to occur in the same place.

When it comes to using electricity in your home and businesses, your safety is more important than any other factor. Learn how to use your electrical system safely so that you can avoid any electrical fires, shocks or other mishaps. For more tips and information on fire safety and services, visit The Electric Connection website at www.theelectricconnection.com/.

We are very proud of our LED Retrofit Kits – DesignLights Consortium came out with a new standard, Version 4, that allowed the most efficient LED Retrofit Kits a higher efficiency category. So be careful, there is no need to purchase DLC Standard LED Retrofit Kits when there are DLC Premium Qualified LED Retrofit Kits available. And this is important, because the more efficient the product is, the more you save. And the savings don’t end there. The whole reason for the more efficient standard was to offer larger utility rebates at time of purchase.

So you save 2 ways: potentially at time of purchase and over the life of the product. Let’s do the math, because the numbers don’t lie.

If you’re searching for a way to control your lighting from anywhere and without flipping a switch, Wi-Fi LED lights are the perfect products. With a Wi-Fi LED Controller Hub, you can control compatible LED bulbs, LED flood lights, and LED strip lights with your Android or iOS-enabled smartphone or tablet. The Milight 3.0 app, along with a Wi-Fi compatible controller when necessary—allows you to power lights on and off, control multiple zones of lights, select from thousands of colors, choose from various single-color and color changing modes, and control brightness and speed.

Wi-Fi compatible flood lights are great for landscape lighting, tree uplighting, architectural wall washing, and other outdoor applications. These LED landscape lights are available in 30- and 50-watt versions and have separate LEDs for either white or colorful illumination. They plug into a standard 3-prong outlet and can be easily connected to a Wi-Fi hub. Connect multiple lights to the hub, and synchronize their color, brightness, or mode with your smartphone or tablet.