The majority of contractors and building owners are creating networks that interconnect all the components. These provide a single point of monitoring and control the different types of devices, sensors, and equipment.

While wiring the building during the construction phase is the ideal situation, modifying or upgrading existing systems can be challenging.

As the building gets bigger and more complex, so does its automation, making it a real task to interconnect all components. It may require hybrid systems consisting of the UTP, RS-232/RS-485, wired and wireless networks, and a variety of protocols. However, there is still a need to unify all these. It’s best to have a single point of managing and controlling the devices regardless of the style, location, function, and type of network.

As building automation evolves, there are now industry standard network protocols that allow people to interconnect components from different manufacturers. The three most commonly used interoperable protocols in use today include:

Building automation enables efficient control of the various systems and conditions in the building. This allows the occupants and owners to save costs, while improving comfort and living conditions. It adds the ability to automatically monitor and adjust the lighting, air conditioning, heating, ventilation, security and other parameters. Specific benefits include:

Building automation offers several benefits to the owners and occupants of the facilities. It allows the savings of resources such as energy and water while improving the conditions and comfort of the space.

As building automation networking evolves, equipment and applications from different manufacturers are able to work together via standard interfaces and protocols. This allows consumers to benefit from the latest technology and decreases our ecological footprint.

For decades, ground fault circuit interrupters (GFCIs) have saved thousands of lives and have helped significantly reduce the number of home electrocutions by about fifty percent. Many homes and business on Kauai do not have proper electrical protection in outdoor or wet locations. With our wind and heavy rain, you need to make sure that you are guarded from the hazard of a shock.

GFCIs are electrical safety devices that trip electrical circuits when they detect ground faults or leakage currents. A person who becomes part of a path for leakage current will be severely shocked or electrocuted. These outlets prevent deadly shock by quickly shutting off power to the circuit if the electricity flowing into the circuit differs by even a slight amount from that returning.

A GFCI should be used in any indoor or outdoor area where water may come into contact with electrical products. The 2008 edition of the National Electrical Code currently requires that GFCIs be used in all kitchens, bathrooms, garages, and outdoors. GFCIs should be tested once a month to confirm that they are working properly.

How to Test Your GFCI:

GFCIs should be tested often to make sure they are working properly. To test your GFCI:

If the light does not turn off when the test button is pushed, then the GFCI may have been incorrectly wired or damaged and it no longer offers shock the protection it was designed for.

Contact us at Blue Sky Electric to check the GFCI and correct the problem:

Call 808-647-0599

Generators make an important line of defense against natural disasters and power outages. With a generator, you don’t have to worry about keeping the food in your refrigerator cold, or powering your heating system when the temperatures drop. When installing a new generator, it’s important to select one that is the right size for your home. By size, we mean the power it’s capable of creating, not the physical size (though that can enter into the equation depending on where you plan to put it). In Lynnwood WA, electrical repair services can often advise you on how to size the right generator for your home, but it pays to know the basic before you give them a call.

The first step is to perform an energy audit for your home, determining how much power each appliance or electrical device uses, and then prioritizing them for use during an emergency. Medical devices usually come first on the list, followed by refrigerators and freezers which store your food. Next is your home HVAC system, followed by the lights in your home. Computers, radios and entertainment systems are usually on the bottom of the list: useful for keeping connected with the outside world, but otherwise non-essential in an emergency.

Once you have that list, you can determine two things: how much power is required to run your whole house and how much power is required to run the bare essentials during an emergency. The former number is preferable and if you can afford a generator of that size, then you should probably purchase it. The latter is less ideal but can do in a pinch if you’re on a budget and still want to keep your household running when the power goes out. In that case you need to carefully monitor which appliances are hooked up to the generator so you don’t overload it when the time comes.