Are you still struggling to lower your electric bill? Maybe you have made a conscious effort to turn off lights and shorten your showers and you are not seeing that big of a difference. There is more you can do that will not change the way you go about your daily routine. It is by reducing your phantom power usage. What is phantom power, you ask? An electrician in Glendale, like those at The Electric Connection is here to explain what phantom power is and why it is costing you money every month.

Phantom power is the electricity that is used by anything that is plugged in. Your toaster, your cell phone charger and even your television are all pulling a small current even when they are not powered on. Just because you shut off your television, it doesn’t mean it isn’t using electricity. To reduce phantom power, you will need to unplug things that you are not using. When you leave for work in the morning or before you go to bed at night, unplug anything you won’t be using. You may discover you don’t use your toaster for a week.

Phantom power isn’t costing you a ton of money, but when you reduce the amount of phantom power you are pulling, you can help add to the savings you have already implemented. By combining your phantom power reduction, limiting the lights and taking shorter showers, you can save more than 20 dollars a month on your Glendale electrical bill. As you know, every dollar saved counts. You can help make reducing your phantom power a little easier by using power strips in areas where there are several items that are plugged in, like your entertainment area or computer area. Unplugging a single power strip is much easier than unplugging numerous devices. If you have any questions about phantom power or would like to learn more about energy savings, give The Electric Connection a call today.

Do you find that your home’s indoor air is extremely dry? Are you frustrated by dry skin and sore throats during the winter time? Do you need something a bit more comprehensive than the small humidifiers that you can buy at the local hardware store? If you own a central air unit/furnace combo or a heat pump, then you also have a network of ducts installed in your home. A whole house humidifier may be just what you need to ensure that your air is optimized when it comes to the humidity level. Dry air can disrupt your comfort and aggravate health issues.

CaseStudy Design, has become locally popular for their unique light fixtures that are made out of … wait for it … books! If you’re as surprised as I was when I first learned about CaseStudy Design and its owner/founder/designer Chall Gray, who are engaged in the practice of upcycling old things like books into lovely light fixtures, then read on for an interesting interview with a book-lover turned lamp designer.

1. Hello, Chall, and thanks for talking with me. First, can you tell me a little about your background and upbringing?

I’m a native of western North Carolina, and grew up on a farm out in the country. Design was something that gradually became more and more central to my life and predilections the older I’ve gotten.

2. So you’ve grown up surrounded by upcyclable things. That makes me wonder: Why books? Why not make lamps out of tissue boxes, skulls, or aluminum cans?

4. What are your goals with Case Study Design? What does the future look like?

I currently work full-time as VP at Thirsty Monk, where we have a series of beer and cocktail bars and a brewery, so I’m only able to devote so much time to CaseStudy, but it’s a central passion of my life, and luckily production doesn’t depend on my schedule because our Production Manager crafts the lights in our shop in West Asheville. As of this week our lights will be on display in Downtown Books & News, a great used bookstore in downtown Asheville, and we’re also working on a design collaboration with a local audio company on a set of home speakers, actually, which is a fun side-project. I’d love to grow the business to having a larger retail presence over the next couple of years, but really, we’re having a blast just designing and building lights.

6. Who are some of your favorite designers, lighting or otherwise?

My influences are pretty varied, but a few touchstones are the architect Tom Kundig, whose work I go back to time and time again, the shoe designer John Fluevog, and watchmaker George Daniels. The great modernists of the 20th Century, Frank Lloyd Wright, Saarinen, Eames, etc. And in terms of lighting, Ingo Maurer and Ilse Crawford immediately spring to mind.

Conclusion: Chall Gray and his CaseStudy Design Firm are doing impressive things with upcycled materials and here!