There are plenty of things you can do to breathe new life into your home. One of the things that can really change the way a room looks and feels is by changing up the lighting scheme. As technology advances, lighting options do as well. No longer are we forced to endure the boring lights of yesteryear. We have lots of options to use light to open up a space. Hallways, entranceways, and dining rooms can all benefit from the addition of a chandelier. This is a job for an electrician in Burbank to handle. You can rely on the friendly staff at The Electric Connection to help you infuse your living space with light.

A beautiful, glittering chandelier in your dining room can add a touch of elegance without redoing the entire space and buying a new dining set. Lighting is everything and a new chandelier handpicked by you can make a room feel warm and inviting. Shabby chic, vintage, modern and antique are just some of the options a homeowner has to choose from when it comes to picking the perfect light. There are numerous sizes of chandeliers as well. Do not assume the fixtures would be too big for a small space. Take your time to do some browsing and pick the chandelier that best fits with the theme of your particular room.

Because of the electrical work involved with installing a new chandelier, you will definitely need a licensed electrician. Burbank residents will want a dimmer switch installed with the chandelier as well. This is especially true for larger chandeliers with numerous light bulbs. While the additional light is great for some things, it can be a bit overpowering for an intimate meal. If you are ready to have your new chandelier installed, give The Electric Connection a call today.

Do you have working smoke alarms? It could mean the difference between life and death. Smoke alarms are the first line of defense in a house fire. They act as an early warning sign, allowing you enough time to evacuate the premise. While these devices are small and often unnoticed, they could save your life. If you can’t recall the locations of your smoke alarms or when they were last tested, now is the time to act.

Crystal chandeliers have come a long way from the days as traditional, stately pieces only enjoyed in the most formal of spaces and positioned to impress guests in the dining room or the foyer. Crystal’s are found in various lighting applications of all shapes and sizes and their sparkling, elegant affect is energizing areas of the home from powder room and office to kitchen and bath.

More crystal means more cleaning, but it does not have to be too taxing. A few simple guidelines will help to keep your crystal chandeliers looking their best.

How to clean it

If you do not wish to remove the crystal components from the piece, you can use a spray. After the piece is sprayed, wipe off the solution with white cotton gloves. Crystal chandelier manufacturer Schonbek recommends a solution of one part isopropyl alcohol to three parts distilled water, while Waterford’’s chief lighting designer Billy Canning says hot soapy water will do the trick. Both agree that special cleaning formulas aren’’t needed.

“A real no-no in the area of cleaning chandeliers: …If the chandelier is adorned with a traditional polished gold finish or polished silver finish but it i’s not stainless steel, people will use these sprays that you can buy,” says Eileen Schonbek Beer, Creative Director for Schonbek Worldwide Lighting. “Basically, what the manufacturers say is you spray the chandelier and let the stuff drip off, that cleans the crystal. But in fact what it does is ruin the frames of the chandelier.”

If more aggressive cleaning is needed, the crystal parts will need to be removed from the frame. The crystals can then be hand-washed in soapy water, rinsed clean and dried with a cloth. Schonbek provides trim diagrams that detail reassembly of the chandelier.

For dusting between cleanings, Schonbek recommends using a feather duster, lambswool duster or a make-up brush.

How often to clean it

In general, crystal should be cleaned every two to six months. The frequency of cleaning required depends on where it is used and how easy it is to get to the piece.  According to Canning, extremely large pieces like 20-foot chandeliers can get away with being cleaned only once a year.

Since crystal lighting is being featured in virtually every room of the house these days, some pieces may need more frequent cleanings based on their location. Chandeliers used in kitchens will need more detailed cleaning due to oil and grease buildup, as well as dust sticking to the components due to moisture from sinks and stoves.

“The beauty of crystal, of course, is the prismatic refraction of the light passing through the crystal ornament,” says Beer. “So the minute it’s got any kind of residue of dust or even moisture — like in moist climates in Florida — the humidity will cause dust to adhere to the crystal and the salt in the air will kind of make it cloudy. So you actually have to clean crystal pretty regularly.”

Maintaining a regular cleaning schedule for crystal will always keep it sparkling. Yet if a piece is neglected, all it takes is a little extra effort with the methods listed above to make it shine like new.

“In my personal experience, I have been asked by many auction houses to identify Waterford products many times,” says Canning. “In most cases the difficulty with identification would have been that the chandelier was allowed to get dirty and the crystal would appear dull. But in all cases, when properly cleaned, they can look as good as the day they were bought.”

For the Chore-Challenged

For customers who aren’t ready to get into the nitty gritty of cleaning their crystal by hand, suggest the Da Vinci chandelier from the Geometrix collection by Schonbek. The crystals stay attached to a stainless steel frame that can be placed directly in the dishwasher. The Da Vinci is available in a 10-inch or 36-inch diameter. The only Da Vinci that will not make it to the dishwasher is the dramatic 5-foot model.

When you are a homeowner, there seems like there is always something you can or want to do around the house to make it a little better. It is part of owning a home. Home improvement projects are fun and rewarding whether you are tackling them yourself or hiring a professional team to take care of the heavy lifting so to speak. There doesn’t ever seem to be an end to the things you can do to make your home a little better, safer and more valuable. One of the things that people tend to overlook because it isn’t always obvious is the electrical system in the home. An electrician in Santa Monica will tell you that despite it’s relative anonymity, it is probably one of the most important elements of your home. The team at The Electric Connection has been making homes a little safer for decades and they can help you as well.

You may not have any obvious problems, but unless you have an inspection, you truly don’t know what hidden dangers may be lurking behind the walls. Once you have an inspection by a Santa Monica electrician, you will be given a list of minor or potentially major fixes you can make to make your home a little safer.

Your upgraded electrical doesn’t have to be all about safety standards if your home is already in good electrical shape. It can be something as simple as adding a couple of outlets to a room so you can make it into a home office or gaming area. Maybe you want to change up the lights or add ceiling fans. This can all be handled by your electrician. Santa Monica homeowners will appreciate the promptness and professionalism they will receive when they call The Electric Connection to upgrade their home’s electrical.

Before you deck the halls and transform your Florida home into a festival of lights this holiday, consider how your lighting display will affect your winter electric bills. Monthly bills can be especially expensive when you and your neighbors beautifully decorate your homes with holiday ENERGY STAR® qualified LED light strands you will save on your utility bills this holiday. And that’s not their only advantage—Use a timer to automatically turn on your holiday lights at dusk and turn off in the middle of the night. By limiting the amount your lights are on to times when people can appreciate them, you will reduce your energy bills.

There are plenty of ways to decorate your home for the holidays—ways that don’t impact your electric bills! Make use of other decorations like tinsel, wreaths, and jingling bells! Instead of decorating the front of your St. Petersburg home with strands of lights, consider buying a solar powered spotlight with different color filters. There are many ways to enjoy the beauty of the holidays without raising your electric bills exponentially.