Rats and mice are quite common house pests; once they find your home to be a safe place to live in and that there are different sources of food there, they will be reluctant to leave. Not only do they pose a health hazard, they also tend to cause a lot of damage to various features on your property and will chew through the insulation of your electrical wiring.

This can affect the system and impact the supply of electricity throughout your property and can be a fire hazard as well. Here are some effective tips to prevent rodent damage to the electrical wiring in your home:

Since rodents are nocturnal creatures, you won’t really see them running around your home in the daytime. However, if you are wary, you will surely hear scratching and chewing sounds in the walls of your homes. You may also hear scurrying noises coming from the attic. You should look out for nesting material or droppings and will typically find these in enclosed spaces.

It’s important to check the wiring’s insulation with regularity to ensure that it’s intact and that it hasn’t been chewed by rodents. The unfortunate part is that this isn’t something you can do for wiring behind walls. However, if you are undertaking any repairs, renovation or upgrades, take that as an opportunity to check the wiring for signs of rodent damage.

If you notice any flickering or experience power fluctuation in a certain room or part of the house, or if you find that a certain circuit breaker keeps tripping for no specific reason, get the system checked for rodent damage.

If you notice any signs of a rodent infestation, it’s important that you act without delay and take some steps to get rid of them. Buy some spring traps and rat poison from your local hardware store and set these at different places where you have seen rat droppings or heard noises. Even as you do this, it’s equally important that you also identify where these pests are entering your property from. Place the bait or poison at these points along your home’s exterior walls.

If you find the infestation to be too severe or if you aren’t too confident about using DIY rodent control measures, call a licensed electrician to inspect the wiring and check it thoroughly for damage. If they confirm that the damage has been caused by rats, it’s a good idea to call pest control professionals to handle the rodent control for you. They will provide solutions and give you advice on the steps you can take to prevent these pests from entering your property.

While the rodent control professionals will ensure that the rats are eliminated from your property, they will also advise you on how to seal all the possible rodent entry points in your home. Aside from very evident points such as doors and open windows, these pests can easily squeeze their way into the indoor spaces of your property through holes and large cracks. If the cracks are too small, they won’t shy from chewing their way in through the loose concrete of the walls.

If you have noticed any rats or mice on your property, do not hesitate to call us to get the wiring checked. We handle all types of commercial and residential electrical installation, repair and upgrade jobs. For more information, contact the AllRound Electrical team at this number – 1300 169 263. Alternatively, you can write to us at our email address.

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No matter how you choose to celebrate, there’s a lot to look forward to in the coming weeks! But while fun and friends are great, and we are really looking forward to some holiday eats, our experts would like to take a moment to point out some critically important details regarding the holidays. Namely, electrical safety.

At Hoffman Electrical, the safety of our patrons in Tampa and St. Petersburg, Florida is of the utmost importance. And while the holidays are pretty awesome, they also open up some opportunities for unique dangers that you’d do best to avoid. Follow along to learn our quick tips for a safe and happy holiday season!

One of the least understood terms in LED Lighting is efficacy, or in simpler terms, how efficient is the light. It is typically measure in lumens/watt. Today, efficacy is becoming more and more important because efficacy varies greatly from product to product. What the consumer needs to be wary of is that you should not be mislead into thinking that just because you are switching from HID or fluorescent to LED that you are getting the best savings available. You also need to look at how efficient the LED product is to maximize the savings.

Here is an example of how this works. Let’s look at a two USA Made competitors LED Retrofit Kit compared to our 4th generation LED kit. All three units are designed to replace 400W HID

From this table, you can see that all products produce over 13,000 lumens, with the MyLEDLightingGuide product producing the most at 14,528 total lumens. It also consumes the least amount of energy of the three units at 105 watts, compared to 130 and 135 watts. For the record, all three products come with a 10 year warranty on the head and a 5 year warranty on the driver. MyLEDLightingGuide also offers a 10 year warranty on the driver as an optional upgrade.

But what does this all mean in terms of saving you $’s. Let’s take a typical scenario. Let’s say these retrofits are installed in MyLEDLightingGuide 105W retrofit kit. Multiply this number over 10 years and by the number of fixtures you have to replace, and this is real dollars. And let’s not forget the MyLEDLightingGuide retrofit kit is also much brighter than the competitors products.

So efficacy is important. It saves you money. But a well designed kit will also produce more light. Just think, without efficacy we wouldn’t have as great of savings, nor would we have more light production from the same amount of power.

Efficacy is huge in the world of lighting, and it is only going to get better year by year. Technology improves, lights improve, and thus; efficacy improves. In 10 years, lights that will be made are probably going to be 5x improved then they are today. And since they are already super efficient today, just imagine that times 5. Now that is efficacy!

Normally the only reason you would call for electrician services, is when something goes wrong… sometimes even horribly wrong. But, shouldn’t you be thinking about your electrical system and the electricity you’re using a little more often than that? Here at Electrical Gurus, we’re always happy to help when you need us most; but when it’s not an emergency, consider these ways in which you can save electricity and reduce your carbon footprint.

You may have recently done some upgrades to your lighting system, or perhaps, you’re thinking about it. That’s one of the best times to stop using incandescent bulbs and make the switch to CFL or LED lightbulb options.

We’re all guilty of it; leaving cell phones or laptops plugged in after they’ve finished charging. Once a battery hits 100 percent, they won’t be able to absorb any more energy. But that doesn’t stop the wall outlet from trying. Energy is slowly wasted this way. Additionally, appliances can be another culprit. If you only use an appliance occasionally, don’t leave it plugged in or else it will cost you money on your utility bill.

It’s easy to know that you should turn off lights when you leave a room. Remembering to do so can be a little trickier. But doing so can really add up. Additionally, after you’ve had a ceiling fan installed by your local electrician, remember to turn that off as well. Fans cool people, not the air in the room, so you would be wasting electricity allowing a fan to run in an empty room.

LED Lighting Kit. This complete LED strip lighting kit is designed to permanently install on canopy tents, sun shelters, instant canopies, pop-up shelters, or E-Z UP Instant Shelters. A variety of colors are available—including “Bugs-Away” yellow—and the strip lights provide up to 360 lumens of illumination.