By Clarissa Allison | August 21st, 2015

The garage’s original purpose – protecting vehicles – has been transformed. Families inevitably use their garage as an additional storage,  work stations, and hobby/entertainment areas. Proper lighting is necessary to make the garage functional and complimentary to any equipment and the overall garage design. Now we have a multitude of lighting options to select from in order to make the garage a venue for all of our needs. Read on to find out how you can turn your garage into a haven for finishing projects and family fun, simply by upgrading your lighting solutions!

Fluorescent Lights

LED pole lights provide an opportunity for businesses, industrial buildings, and other larger outdoor venues to have access to a high-quality source of light that’s energy efficient. Pole lights are the most common option for outdoor lighting of parking lots, walkways, neighborhoods, and building grounds. That is because this type of fixture creates a large amount of illumination through a beam, which the user can direct in a specific area. Before buying LED pole lights, buyers need to consider a few key factors.

Commercial, residential, or industrial uses are acceptable options for LED pole lights, depending on the specific model selected.

Key considerations when making this purchase include the following:

Comparing all of your options is important. Finding the right balance isn’t just about costs but quality of the product and long-term options.

Are your customers getting hot under the collar about rising energy costs? If so, suggest they buy a ceiling fan.

Although ceiling fans do consume electricity, experts say the amount of money homeowners can save on air conditioning greatly outweighs the cost of running the fan itself.

“Ceiling fans provide year-round comfort and efficiency,” says Barb Wright, a ceiling fan product manager at Westinghouse Lighting.

Wright says the cost of operating a ceiling fan varies based on how often they’re turned on and how much the electric company charges, but on average, she says a standard ceiling fan costs less to operate than an incandescent light bulb.

Experts say ceiling fans reduce energy in two ways.

First, fans circulate the air in the room, preventing hot air from accumulating at the ceiling.

“A ceiling fan helps equalize the temperature throughout the room, so your air conditioner doesn’t have to work as hard to keep the room cool,” says Scot Wetmore, marketing director at Dan’s Fan City, a ceiling fan retailer with more than 50 stores in the United States.

When people are in the room, Wetmore says ceiling fans have the added benefit of making people feel cooler.

“Ceiling fans cool by evaporation, like a wind chill factor,” he says, adding that fans will make it feel like it’s about 6 degrees cooler in your home than it actually is, allowing you to set your thermostat 6 degrees higher. According to Progress Energy, an energy company that services North and South Carolina and Florida, homeowners can save 7 to 10 percent off their cooling costs for each degree above 78.

And ceiling fans don’t just save money in the summer. Ceiling fans run counterclockwise in the summer, but many ceiling fans are equipped with reverse switches which allow you to run the fan clockwise in the winter, thereby reducing heating bills, too.

“[Changing the direction of the fan] makes the air column go up toward the ceiling, and what it does is it drives air currents up on the ceiling to the wall and down the wall, and that helps redistribute heat from the ceiling. So it helps lower your heating bills by re-circulating the heat,” Wetmore explains.

If a ceiling fan also includes a light fixture, Wright says customers can maximize their energy savings by replacing the incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs.

Wright says homeowners should also consider buying Energy Star-rated ceiling fans. “They are about 50 percent more efficient than conventional fan/light units with an estimated energy savings of $15 to $20 per year,” Wright says.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency’s Energy Star Web site, Energy Star-rated ceiling fans move air up to 20 percent more efficiently than conventional models due to advanced blade and motor design, and Energy Star-rated ceiling fans that have light fixtures are about 50 percent more efficient and produce about 75 percent less heat.

Several ceiling fan manufacturers make ceiling fans that meet the government’s Energy Star requirements, including Casablanca, Kichler, Minka Aire and Savoy House.

Click here to shop hundreds of decorative and functional ceiling fans at Capitol Lighting’s 1800lighting.com and start saving on energy today!

At this time of the year, the weather in most parts of Australia is perfect to spend time in the outdoor spaces of your home. You can spend leisurely hours lounging around by the pool, or have BBQ parties in your outdoor kitchen, on the patio or deck. In short, you can make good use of these areas in the daytime as well as after dark.

This also means you will end up using some or the other electrical equipment and appliances there and this brings with it a specific set of challenges. In some cases, the falling dry leaves can also prove to be an electrical hazard in the outdoor areas of your home. The best way to avoid problems is to follow these basic outdoor electrical safety tips:

Just as you get the indoor electrical equipment and installations audited regularly, you should also hire an electrician to conduct a semi-annual audit of your garden and yard’s outdoor electrical fixtures. It’s best to get these checks done some time between Winter & Spring.

The next audit should be conducted between Summer & Fall. This helps reduce the chances of electrical problems surfacing out of the blue due and to temperature and weather fluctuations. While it’s best to call in a licensed and experienced electrician to handle the job, it’s also a good idea to keep an eye out for signs of electrical problems including:

When the electrical audit is being conducted, ensure that all your outdoor electrical equipment is stored & functioning properly.

Damaged or loose electrical wiring can prove to be a major electrical hazard and can be the cause of an electrical fire in your home; this is especially true if the wiring comes in contact with dry leaves or firewood that’s been piled up in the yard. Once the electrician gives you a complete report of the condition of the wiring, you should also make it a point to replace any wiring that’s loose or damaged.

Any water pooling in the landscaped areas of your home can prove to be an electrical hazard and can put your home and other outdoor features on your property at risk. The best way to prevent this from happening is to ensure that all the electrical switches, cords and connections are stored away and that they are in weather-proof casing; this ensures they don’t come in contact with any water sources.

Every pool and spa tub installation has some electrical wiring and fixtures such as pumps, underwater lights and power points etc. Ensure your electrician checks all these fixtures and that the electrical safety requirements have been met.

It’s a good idea to opt for a preventive electrical maintenance contract. As part of this contract, your electrician will check all the electrical installations in your yard and garden spaces. These checks help ensure that all these systems are in a good condition and that if any potential problems are noticed, they can be nipped in the bud.