If the lights in your business are on their way out, making a change to your ballasts or bulbs may offer you tremendous opportunity. There’s a lot to consider when selecting the right ballast and bulb combination, however, and the decision you make today will affect your business for years to come.

The right lighting can result in substantial savings on your monthly energy costs, of which lighting accounts for nearly 35 percent. The right lighting can also reduce maintenance needs, improve productivity, and reduce your carbon footprint.

Watts measure the amount of energy required to light a bulb. Today, however, bulbs are measured in lumens, or the amount of visible light produced. Why? It all boils down to efficiency. Opting for ballast and bulb combinations that are more efficient than yesterday’s incandescents offer a superior return on investment.

There’s more to upgrading your lighting than simple bulb and ballast replacement, however. According to the SBA (Small Business Association), technology plus effective design equals performance and energy savings. Screwing in more efficient bulbs are a great start, but not enough if you want the whole package. Ballast selection and lighting design are essential to getting the most bang for your lighting buck. For this, you’ll need the help of a Mr. Electric® lighting professional to coordinate:

Finding the most efficient technology to meet your application needs and/or style.

Including taking into consideration ceiling height, spacing, glare, light distribution, and task plane height.

Including taking into account room finishes - paint colors and types that will improve lighting quality.

From safety considerations to integration with other building systems

No matter what type of lighting your business utilizes, from LED indoor lighting solutions to landscaping and security lights, Mr. Electric has your covered. Contact Mr. Electric and discover the many ways new lighting can brighten up your business today.

When you are purchasing a home, it goes without saying that you want to be sure the house is structurally sound, and that there are no lurking problems that will surface later and burn a hole in your pocket. It’s why many people get a building inspection and pest inspection done before they sign on the dotted line. While all of this sounds good, what most people aren’t aware of is that they can and should get an energy audit done too.

An electrical audit analyses the major components of the house structure; this includes:

In short, it gives you a very detailed picture about how the buildings works as a whole. For a couple of hundred dollars, you can get an energy audit done from a professional. This audit can save you a significant amount of money in the long term; it identifies the features in the house that require correction to enhance the energy-efficiency. At times, the energy audit results can play a pivotal role in your decision of whether you should invest in a particular property or not.

If you find that a house lacks in energy efficiency, but you still want to buy it, the audit results can become a bargaining tool; it may help you get the seller fix the problem, or you may be able to get the property at a much lower price. No matter which way you look at it; getting an electrical audit is a very good idea. In addition to the ones mentioned above, there are a number of other benefits to getting an electrical audit done, such as:

The simple fact is that spaces that are energy-efficient are also more comfortable to live in. Energy-efficiency upgrades will ensure that the heat will be evenly distributed across the home and your home will be warm in the winter and cool in the summer.

If the indoor air quality in your home is poor, it can cause allergies as well as other health problems. When you choose to get an electrical audit done, the professionals that are conducting the audit, carefully analyse the ventilation in your home and also recommend what can be done to improve the indoor air quality.

Energy efficiency may seem like an isolated aspect in the sustainability of your home. But when discrepancies in the building structure come to the fore during an energy audit, it’s indicative of the fact that many features are constructed poorly and that they will fail before their time. Once you have the audit results, you will get a clearer idea about what will have to do be done to improve the building envelope as a whole.

When you are hiring the services of an electrical/energy auditor, you should keep in view the fact that not every one of them uses the tools and follows the required processes while the audit is being conducted. Ideally, the auditor should use tools such as a duct blower, an infrared camera as well as a blower door.

The blower door is essentially a fan that has to be mounted on the doorframe. It efficiently depressurises & pressurises the home to measure what the air leakage is like. The duct blower performs the same function, but is attached to the ducting in the house. The infrared camera helps detect air leakage in the walls and the heat losses too.

For more information about electrical audits and the best electrical solutions, call Allround Electrical at 1300 169 263. You can also drop us a line via email or by filling out this contact form.

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Fixing the wiring in your home is not something that you want to trust to just anyone. The possibility of shocks and electrocution as well as the danger of electrical fire presented by a poor wiring job are too serious to risk doing your own electrical work, and an inexperienced electrician can provide shoddy work that impacts your safety and your wallet.

For all things electrical, from installing a new outlet to rewiring a new addition, you need the skills, training, and experience of a licensed electrician. There are many good reasons for narrowing your search to only include local electricians.

An electrician who works and lives in the area is most familiar with local building codes, material vendors, and the procedures necessary to get the required licenses. What’s more, electricians are licensed by individual states (and the District of Columbia) and are only permitted to work in those state(s) where they have passed the licensing exam and where they meet the continuing education requirements.

Another good reason for working with a local electrical contractor is that when you work with a local small business, the dollars you spend stay in the community rather than going to the corporate offices of a large company or big box retailer. Local electricians are your neighbors and will spend the dollars you give them at local restaurants, retailers, and community service programs.

Lastly, though possibly most importantly, local electricians rely on their reputation for their livelihood. They’d be out of business quickly if satisfied customers didn’t recommend them to their neighbors, co-workers, church members, and friends. For that reason, a local electrician has an extra incentive to do quality work on your project.

At Kolb Electric, we’ve been helping Maryland, Northern Virginia, and Washington, DC homeowners with their electrical needs for more than 90 years. We live right here in the communities near you, shop in the same stores, and support the same businesses. We’re familiar with the houses in this area as well as the local building codes and licensing requirements. We also know where to get the best prices for you on quality electrical supplies.

To learn more about how Kolb Electric can help you with your next electrical project, large or small, call us at 877 287-1179 or contact us online today.

‘Tis the season to be jolly with thousands of colorful lights glowing from your trees, gutters, front door wreath, and bushes. Billions of lights will be used to dress up homes and businesses throughout the country during the final months of the year. As festive as the light-up Santa and Rudolph may look on top of your roof, you have to make electrical safety the focus of your holiday lighting festivities.

Following are five tips to help you avoid common holiday lighting problems others will experience this year. Commit them to memory so electrical safety does not pull the plug on your merry-making décor this year:

1. If you are putting up a live Christmas tree, make sure it is well-watered and use LED bulbs for all decorations placed on the tree. Dry trees and heat from non-LED bulbs create home fires every holiday season. Do not place candles where they may be knocked over on a live tree. LED bulbs should be used when decorating trees in your outdoor landscape as well.

2. Thoroughly inspect every string of lights and plug-in points before using them indoors or outdoors. If you notice any of the following at even one point on the string, toss it out or repair the damage before use to ensure electrical safety for your home:

3. Power cords should be used to connect strings of lights, but pay attention to how many strings you are connecting per cord. In general, more than three strings of lights could be too much.

4. Avoid hanging your lights with tacks, screws, or nails. You do not want to crack, tear, or otherwise damage the electric cord. You can use insulated hooks instead.

5. Make sure you are plugging outdoor lighting features into ground fault circuit interrupter outlets. These outlets reduce the risk of electrical shorts or dangerous shocks if water, wet leaves, and other outdoor elements get into the sockets.

6. Do not use indoor-only holiday lights outdoors. There are clear differences in how these types of lights are made, even if they look the same. For instance, outdoor lights are created with more insulation so they are not as easily affected by rain and snow.

Do not allow electrical safety to cut the cord on your holiday lighting festivities. Light up the house and allow the big snowman to wave at the neighbors from your front lawn. Just make sure your snow globes, trains, and twinkling tree lights present no danger to your home, your family, and your neighborhood.

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!