St. Paddy’s Day is nearly here -- do you have your green outfit picked out? Regardless of whether or not you choose to go green in your mode of dress, St. Patrick’s Day is as good a day as any to go green with your energy consumption.

For most of us, conserving energy comes down to changing personal habits, and that can be difficult. So in the interest of starting small, Mister Sparky challenges you to pick one day to go green and see how easy it can be to make a change for the good of the planet.

To help you along the way, here are several ideas you can implement to reduce your carbon footprint over a 24-hour period:

Turn your thermostat down one extra degree all day, if you’re still using the furnace. If you live in a warmer region and are already using the air conditioning, turn the thermostat up a degree or shut it off altogether and open the windows. It’s an almost imperceptible difference in terms of comfort, but it adds up to real energy and money savings.

Turn off all electronics when they’re not in active use. This includes shutting down your computer fully -- sleep mode still uses energy!

Take public transportation for the day, or if the weather cooperates, ride your bike. If you have to take your car to work, ask around the office to see if anyone will carpool with you.

Be diligent about recycling. Many areas now have curbside recycling, which makes helping the planet easier than ever. But some trash still needs to be sorted or cleaned before it can go into the recycling bin, and unfortunately, not everyone takes the time. For your day of going green, make the effort to recycle every scrap of suitable trash.

Find a new way to go paperless. If you’re still receiving certain bills in the mail, see if you can register for an email alternative. If you’ve never e-filed your taxes before, make this the first year. You can even ditch the Post-It Notes and grocery lists by storing those little reminders on your phone.

Only run your washing machine or dishwasher when you have a full load -- otherwise, save it for another day.

If it is a laundry day, hang your clothes to dry. You don’t need to string up a line outside; just pick up an affordable drying rack that allows you to dry a whole load of clean clothes in a compact space.

Try dialing the temperature gauge back a notch on your hot water heater. We all like hot showers, but if your water heater is storing water at a higher temperature than you can comfortably tolerate, there’s room to cool things down a few degrees.

These are just a few quick and easy ways you can make a change. But if you’re ready to get serious about energy efficiency in your home, contact your local electrical experts to ask about energy audits, eco-friendly upgrades and other opportunities you maybe haven’t even heard about yet.

Flush or Semi Flush?

Flush mount and semi-flush mount lighting fixtures are integral components in lighting design, adding interest and depth while providing ambient illumination and decorative lighting effects to hallways, bedrooms and bathrooms.

The difference between a flush and semi-flush light fixture is that a flush fixture fits snugly to the ceiling, while a semi-flush fixture is suspended, leaving a small gap between the ceiling and fixture.  Opting for a flush or semi-flush light fixture is based upon taste and proportional considerations, but a few standard rules apply:

♦ Semi-flush—Somewhere in between the chandelier and standard ceiling fixture, the semi-flush fixture shines with distinction.  Taking up just the right amount of space with the power to attract desired attention, the latest semi-flush light fixtures provide superb illumination with artistic excellence.

♦  Semi-flush fixtures provide an added benefit: the small gap allows for double the illumination with indirect uplight rebounding off the ceiling and downlight emitted directly from the fixture.

♦  Flush fixtures—Most often employed in homes with standard 7-foot ceilings to provide general illumination for bedrooms, bathrooms, foyers and hallways.

Novel compositions and unique finishes are available at a variety of price points and are being featured from top lighting vendors around the world, making it easier than ever to find ceiling light fixtures in keeping with your budget and style requirements.

Corbett Lighting offers outstanding flush and semi-flush lighting designs:

-CQ33 “Cirque” Semi- Flush Fixture

-120-33 “Karma” Flushmount Fixture

Cost, energy savings, maintenance and aesthetics must all be taken into account to optimize your budget and bring out the best in your home with the finest lighting design.

1.   Fluorescent and CFL (compact fluorescent) lamps work well in areas that require cooler, energy-efficient general illumination, such as undercabinet lighting and cove lighting in kitchens or flush-mount ceiling fixtures in garages and basements.

2.  Low-voltage halogen lamps are best for accent lighting and to provide luxurious illumination in areas of the home that call for a more up-scaled look, such as living rooms, bedrooms, dining rooms and master bathrooms.

3.  For task lighting, choose LED (light-emitting diode) desk lamps, reading lamps, track lighting and mini-pendants. Bulbrite’s Generation 3 dimmable LED lamps provide great color rendering and light output, perfect for track and recessed fixtures. 

 4.  LED lamps are becoming the standard for outdoor lighting, too, due to their low-maintenance and high energy-efficiency. Although the initial cost for LED lamps is considerably higher, you will find tremendous long-term savings in energy, maintenance and replacement costs—especially in areas where illumination is frequently needed such as outdoor security lighting.

5.  Incandescent lamps are still popular for portable lighting and ceiling fixtures to provide pleasant general illumination.  Aim for energy-efficient incandescent:  Bulbrite’s Eco-Friendly Halogen A19 standard bulb is energy-saving, fully dimmable and available in clear or soft white.

Note:  Do not skimp and buy bulbs of lesser quality, because substandard bulbs may emit a poor quality of light and may burn out prematurely.  Purchase your lighting from a reputable dealer who will stand behind the quality of their merchandise.

For more information on updating your home with quality, energy-efficient lighting, visit a Capitol Lighting showroom and meet with a professional lighting consultant.

In the quest to stay comfortable and combat escalating temperatures in our area, many homeowners turn to fan installation to bolster the results of traditional HVAC cooling. Our Washington, DC electricians install them all, from ceiling fans, to mechanical attic fans. When choosing for your home, do you know which fan installation is giving you the best results? You might be interested in what our Washington, DC electricians have to say on the topic!

No matter the fan type, they can assist in reducing energy costs and increasing comfort in the muggier months. They don’t actually reduce the temperature of the room, so how do they help? Well, fans assist in removing moisture from your home, keeping humidity under control somewhat. Additionally, moving air naturally feels cooler on the skin, helping to reduce body temperature; thus, you need to run your AC a bit less.

Additionally, in the case of a ceiling fan, they can provide a unique and interesting way to add some style. Another layer of design, or an additional fixture can do a lot for the beauty of your DC home.

While ceiling fans are a slightly more direct cooling method, an attic fan can do just as much for your home, if not more! An attic fan is installed in ,where else, the attic. This fixture can assist in reducing your cooling costs by up to twenty percent! How? Well…

Think of your attic like a big envelope, or bubble. It tends to hold onto its temperature, and because it is exposed radiant heat (sun) and collects remnant heat from your home (heat rises), it tends to be much much hotter than the rest of your home. If the inside of your home is seventy, your attic could be up to one hundred! This basically boils down to you having a massive natural heat source directly above your home. Not good for business when you’re trying to cool things down!

Attic fans mitigate and reduce attic temperatures, and by extension, the temperature of your home! They do this by improving ventilation, and increasing cool airflow throughout the attic. The difference can be huge!

Honestly, our Washington, DC electricians would suggest both. With a proper attic fan installation augmented by ceiling fans, you can find yourself relying on your HVAC system so much less. This is drastically less expensive, and keeps your cooling system from overworking (which makes it last longer, and need less repair) to boot!

Looking to begin relying less on your cooling system? Or maybe you just want a little more comfort for your DC home. Either way, our experts can provide the installation services you need! Contact our specialists today to learn more!

Rewiring an old house can seem like a big challenge. Older homes often need comprehensive rewiring especially when their existing wiring no longer meets building codes. Yet, no matter if a home is 50 years old or 150, it’s important to work closely with a licensed electrician throughout this process. A small mistake or a forgotten area of the home could lead to costly mistakes later.

Older homes can be full of electrical hazards. Many times, the need to rewire comes from two areas. First, you need to be sure the home is safe and electrical systems are working as they should. Second, you need to upgrade the home’s existing electrical system to meet modern needs and electrical capacity requirements. That’s not always easy to do.

To upgrade old house wiring, there are several key considerations. This is where you need to start with the help of a licensed electrician. Here’s the process: