Is your home in need of some electrical outlet upgrades? Mr. Electric has the inside scoop with the 6 most common types of upgrades. Take a look below or you can click on our infographic at left to learn more!

LED night lights give you longer light with more available plugs. Leaving you available outlets, LED outlets also save you money with a 20-year life expectancy. Your children can sleep with more ease at night with their LED night-lights while you are keeping more money in your pocket.

USB outlets are becoming the standard for homes. Instead of dealing with bulky chargers and adapters, you can plug your electronics directly into the outlet. While charging your mobile devices, you also have access to outlets for other uses. It's convenience for less than you might think.

Unlike standard outlets that leave plugs dangling from the receptacle, recessed outlets are set deeper into the wall, preventing plugs form extending beyond the surface.

When something unexpected happens causing wiring to overheat, an AFCI is necessary to detect the occurrence and shut down the outlet before damage can occur. These outlets can be easily incorporated into your main service panel and are a must have for protection from any sudden overheating.

Tamper resistant receptacles are a must have for every home. These specialized outlets feature a barrier to prevent small children form inserting any foreign objects in them. This allows you to rest easy knowing there is no risks of any injuries caused by electrical shock or burns.

This type of outlet upgrade helps to protect you and your family form potential electrical hazards. A GFCI constantly monitors electricity flowing in a circuit and if an interruption is detected, quickly shuts off power to that circuit. Easy and inexpensive installation makes this upgrade a no-brainer for your home.

Still have questions? No problem! Contact Mr. Electric today to learn more about these and other upgrades you can make to your home!

Any building, in any industry, in any area of the world, is susceptible to having potentially hazardous and radioactive exit signs installed throughout their building.

This could mean they are in schools, near your office, or anywhere else where a radioactive setting probably isn’t a desired situation to be in.

This is why we thought it was necessary to create this post to help and guide you towards identifying, removing, and finally replacing your radioactive exit signs with new signs that are much safer and even efficient, saving you money over other alternatives.

Firstly before we can remove and replace these seemingly nuclear exit signs, you have to be able to identify if you have them or not. But before that, lets explain what exactly makes these exit signs radioactive.

How are some exit signs radioactive?

Just the same way as some exit signs are safe, it is all in the way they are built. For some reason, whether it be technology of the time or something else, people assumed it was a good idea to create exit signs with Tritium, also known as 3H or H-3. Tritium is a radioactive isotope of hydrogen, causing exit signs made with this to be radioactive by default. The only seemingly positive upside to these exit signs is that they are non-electrical, meaning they won’t rack up anything in electricity bills.

But before you become alarmed with what we have shared with you so far, tritium emits only a low-energy beta radiation, which in turn causes the sealed glass tube it is in to glow (causing the exit sign to give off the illumination it requires). Thankfully, it is rather well known that this type of radiation can hardly (if at all) penetrate a piece of paper or clothing. So while yes it is a very low level (energy wise) type of radiation, the fact that there are alternatives that will remove radiation entirely from your building is all the reason to uninstall your tritium exit signs and replace them with something more safe, like LED exit signs.

Now that you understand the technology and how tritium in exit signs work a little bit more, let’s go over how exactly you can identify whether or not you have these types of exit signs in your building.

Identifying a radioactive exit sign should be fairly easy. All of these signs are required to have some sort of “Caution of Radioactive Material” warning on the fixture.

If you do find such a warning label, it is safe to say your light is made of tritium. Another tell-tale sign is whether or not your signs are connected to an electrical source or not as tritium signs do not require any such connection.

Once you’ve identified if you have a tritium exit sign or not, if you do happen to have one, you may continue on to removing and replacing it with the alternative exit sign, LED.

As with any lighting fixture, we recommend to bring in a professional contractor to do the job. But as a general guideline, you can typically recycle your tritium signs by returning them to the manufacturer or place of purchase.

If you purchased the building with them pre-installed and are unsure of where they came from after inspection of the signs for any brand markings, you can try two things:

1: Try contacting the previous building owner or collect records of where they were manufactured

2: Recycle them with a third party. like these), buying them, then installing them yourself or with a professional (we recommend a professional).

Here are a few things you should remember and keep in mind when dealing with a building that has radioactive exit signs:

One of the easiest ways to dress up your space and update the style is by changing your chandelier. Before you run out the door in search of the perfect chandelier, make sure you know the dimensions of your space. An appropriately sized chandelier should serve as a beautifying focal point that fits seamlessly into your overall design scheme.

For a room without furniture: Add the length and width of your room in feet, and then convert that number to inches. For example, a room that is 12 feet by 14 feet (12 + 14 = 26) would require a chandelier this is approximately 26 inches wide.

For a room with furniture: If you already have a dining room table in the space, the width of your chandelier should be about a foot smaller than the width of your table. This will leave a 6-inch clearance from the outer edge of the chandelier to the table’s edge.

The bottom of your chandelier should rest at least 30-34 inches above the tabletop. Adjust according to personal preference, fixture style and ceiling height. It is okay to hang your chandelier a bit higher in dining rooms with cathedral ceilings.

Chandelier height should be about three inches for each foot of ceiling height, so for a room with a standard 8-foot ceiling (3 x 8 = 24), choose a chandelier with an approximate height of 24 inches.

Shoddy electrical workmanship can pose a threat to the safety of your family and home as a whole. Additionally, faulty work done by an unprofessional or unlicensed individual can leave you open to liability for injuries that could possibly earned by others. Hence, it is vital to choose the right Trenton electrical contractor for the job.

Before you hire or contact someone, write a description of the kind of work you would like to be done. It is a good move to consider your electrical needs for the future if you are adding a new room or simply improving your home. For instance, with the abundance of electrical devices and appliances available to businesses and consumers, it may be a good time to have electrical home improvements as well as to have more electrical outlets at home too.

Starting your search for the right contractor can sometimes be a challenging task but you can begin hunting by checking the Web. These days, there are so many electricians who have their own sites. But before you hire someone, make sure to do a little background check. You may see some forums regarding what people say about a certain contractor or you may ask your friends what they know about the contractor or person. You may also ask your friends and officemates if they know a good contractor.

You should enlist the services of a licensed Trenton electrical wiring professional. While this may not assure you will get excellent workmanship, a licensed professional can possibly meet your needs. Make sure the contractor is insured too. See to it to clearly describe to the contractor what you need to be done and what you expect from him. You and the contractor you are going to hire should be on the same road regarding the proposed work. Once the contractor has reviewed the list of jobs that you would want to be done, you can then gain agreement.

If the contractor proposes something different or not related to what you want to be done, ask for an explanation and see if additional work is really needed. If you think his explanation is not clear and something you cannot seem to agree, move on to your next prospect. Having an electrician should not be a risky endeavor.

Electrical safety is of utmost importance to keep your family and loved ones safe at home. You can be assured of electrical safety through GFCI outlets. GFCI (ground fault circuit interrupter) outlets have three holes: two of the holes are for neutral and hot wire and the third hole in the middle of the outlet serves as a ground wire. If it experiences any change in the electrical flow in the circuit, it will immediately cut off the flow of electricity.

GFCI outlets are important, especially when the electrical outlets are positioned close to water. Installing GFCI outlets in your kitchen, bathrooms, laundry rooms, etc., is a good idea. Apart from being an essential preventive measure, the law also requires you to have GFCI outlets installed throughout your home. According to National Electric Code (NEC), all homes must be equipped with GFCI protection. Initially, it was only required for you to install GFCI outlets near water only but this requirement has been extended to cover all single phase outlets of 125 volts in recent years.

Let us now understand why GFCI outlets are essential in every household.

3 Reasons to Install GFCI Outlets

Electrical shocks and electrocution are the major risks that you can be exposed to through electrical devices at your home. This becomes a bigger concern if you have kids who can unknowingly touch the appliances and get a shock. A GFCI outlet helps in preventing shocks and electrocutions as it has a built-in sensor that monitors the inflow and outflow of the electricity from any appliance. If a live wire inside the appliance comes in contact with the metallic surface of the appliance, you will get a shock when you touch it.