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!

“Smart” technology is all the rage right now. However, it’s a bit of a disservice to call the Nest a smart thermostat. A learning thermostat suits the bill better. The Nest system learns your heating and cooling habits, and is able to incorporate the information that it gathers, and the data that it compiles, in order to help you live comfortably in a far more convenient manner. With Nest Sense, the Nest thermostat is able to learn about how long it takes your house to warm up and to cool back down, as well as how it can utilize your existing HVAC equipment in a more efficient manner. You will get monthly energy reports from your Nest, but the truth is that this system is able to help you make your home a more efficient place, without you even having to think about it.

With technology as advanced as the Nest thermostat, you may be wondering what its applications are beyond simply heating and cooling your home in an incredibly convenient and efficient manner. Well, there are many different products which are actually being designed to work with the Nest, as denoted by the “works with Nest” logo. When you see this logo, you’ll know that the products it appears on, from washing machines to lights, are Nest-ready. Contact us today to learn more, or to bring your household further into line with the technology of the future.

In our new 5th Wheel RV, we received some ceiling mounted 12VDC florescent fixtures. They were equipped with 2 each 18”, 15W tubes and electronic ballasts. The fixtures are a “Low Voltage RV Luminaire” from “Direct Sourcing Alliance” identified as “Type RVL 18RNB-W”, “2 x 15W”, “Input Rating: 12V DC, 30W”. Their performance has been dismal with operation limited to, initially 30-45 minutes before shutting down due to overheating of the ballast. The “on” time got progressively shorter over the next few weeks. The overheating was certainly not due to ambient temperatures which have been in the low 70s or cooler. On disassembly for conversion to LED operation it was discovered the ballasts have discolored due to high heat (see closest end of ballast in Picture 2).

During review of options for LED conversion I was looking for a natural light color temperature with equivalent lumen output to the two 15W florescent tubes. I settled on the SuperBrightLEDs part number RLBN-NW30*3SMD which is a 19.5 inch rigid strip with 30 each 3SMD modules. The advertised light output was 603 lumin at a color temperature of 5600K. The two 18”, 15W tubes were stated to produce 825 lumins each so I was a little concerned about light loss especially since I was going to have to cut 6 LED modules off each of the two strips to fit inside the existing fixture. I bought a 3rd strip but in the end did not use it as the light was ample.

I first started by removing the “guts” of the florescent leaving some length of the switched power wires for future use. See pictures 1, 2, and 3.

After cleaning the interior of the fixture with alcohol for acrylic tape adhesion I fitted the rigid LED strips and cut 6 LED modules from the length, then mounted the strips using 3M double sided acrylic tape. Finally, completed power connections to existing fixture switch circuit. See pictures 4 through 10.

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