I grew up in the 90’s, back when thrift store shopping was considered alternative and grunge.  While I tooled around Goodwill listening to Nine Inch Nails on my Walkman, my more sophisticated friends were at the mall, looking adorable & stylish in the latest trend from The Limited.

But that was the 90’s.

Thrift-store shopping, dumpster-diving, and hand-me downs deliver a new parlance that has clever DIY’ers quaking with excitement for Saturday yard sales and obsessively scouring Craigslist for the Next Big Find.  This elegant new term for taking used items and making them new = REPURPOSING.

Also commonly referred to as recycling, upcycling, reinventing, revitalizing and/or reusing, entire boards are dedicated to this subject on Pinterest. Everything – and I mean everything – can be repurposed.  So why not the light bulb?

With a few basic tools and a steady hand, a light bulb can be hollowed out and transformed into a unique gift or decorative project.  Prepping the bulb, however, is not a task that we recommend for the kids.  Before you undertake any of these projects, take a moment to read a tutorial on how to safely hollow out a light bulb.

1. Witches Brew

Security lighting is a great way to protect your home from intruders at night—but only when it’s working properly! Malfunctioning security lights may stay on longer than they’re supposed to, not turn on when they should turn on, or face a number of other problems that prevent them from working effectively. The following is a guide to troubleshooting security lights for some of the most common issues people face. Here’s what to do if you have the same problems!

Motion sensor lights are designed to come on when they detect movement and shut off after a few minutes when everything stops. But sometimes, motion stops and the lights stay on—usually as a result of a spike in current.

The first step in troubleshooting security lights with motion sensors that won’t shut off is to check if the time interval has been changed. Most motion sensors allow you to set a length of time for the light to stay on, usually anywhere between 30 seconds to 10 minutes. If the interval has been changed and the lights are staying on for too long, change it back to the time you want.

If that doesn’t work, go outside during the day and see if there’s anything in range of the motion detector that might be constantly moving, like a flag or even an animal nest (you might even look outside at night and see if you can see anything). If you don’t see anything, try shutting the lights off at the breaker, then restarting them.

Lights that won’t shut off are bad enough, but what about lights that won’t turn on? One common reason this happens is that artificial light is coming in from another source and is mimicking daylight, preventing the sensor from activating properly. Try to find where the light is coming from, and cover or change the direction of the sensor to avoid the light.

The underlying issue behind constantly flickering lights may vary depending on a number of factors, including whether the problem is only occurring with a single bulb or more than one at a time. If it’s only a single bulb, carefully check it to see if it’s secure in its fitting. If it is, try replacing it with a new bulb. If that doesn’t work, call an electrician for a security light repair.

This one isn’t as common as the others on our list, but in the past we’ve had customers whose security lights have been faulty when the weather was damp, rainy, or snowy. This is usually the result of low quality motion sensors, which can be temperamental in very hot or very cold weather. The certified, DC-area electricians at Kolb Electric recommend spending a little more upfront to get a quality product that you’ll be able to rely on for years with little need for security light repair.

As a Plano TX electrician, I can tell you that the year 2011 was a dramatic and eye-opening experience for those of us who realized that our electrical grid is unreliable when it attempts to function in less-than-ideal situations. Any Plano electrician can tell you that without viable solutions to the problem of an easily weakened power grid, North Texas runs into difficulties which can be both costly and potentially dangerous.

North Texas Electricity: A Year In Review

Let’s take a look at the last year’s power grid problems and how they affected our North Texas population.

Indoor Generator: Taking Matters Into Your Own Hands

Given all the difficulties we experienced last year as a result of an unreliable power grid, isn’t it time for us to consider solutions that would put reliable power back in our homes? One of those solutions that is worth taking a look at is an indoor generator. Having an indoor generator in your home can:

Consider talking to your Dallas electrician today to find out more about indoor generators and how you can be prepared in 2012 for any blackouts and outages that come our way.

Dallas Electricians You Can Trust

With over 27 years of electrical experience, Electric Man Inc. has seen too many families in danger as a result of careless and unnecessary oversights in the use of lighting and electronics. With a little care, a lot of caution and some common sense, your family can enjoy the candy and the costumes and not have to be worried about fires.

For more information on electrical safety and how you can protect your home and your family, or if you need a local Dallas electrician to help you with any electrical issues you may have, check out our other blogs at www.electricmaninc.com and connect with us…