Our electricians have been talking to homeowners in Los Angeles about installing chargers for their electric cars — that is, when their electric cars arrive. Mostly, we’ve been working out how the installations will go and setting up appointments because many homeowners are waiting for delivery. If you anticipate delivery of your electric car and want to beat the rush, now’s a good time to get your charger installed.

Nissan has delivered about 800 Leafs since December 2010, but that’s 800 for the entire U.S., not just Los Angeles. Greatly helping with that total, one ship with 600 Leafs sailed for the U.S. the day before the Japanese earthquake and tsunami struck. And then…nothing. As you know, tragically, things just weren’t the same in Japan the next day.

But recovery in Japan is moving along. Nissan has announced the good news that a shipload of electric cars (electric vehicles or “EVs“) will be landing in the U.S. today, April 27th. This is the first shipment of Leafs manufactured since the quake. Right now, demand is way outstripping supply. Over 340,000 people have registered on the Nissan Leaf website. But Nissan closed reservations for purchases of EVs at 20,000 in September 2010. They’re planning a speed-up of deliveries and will be taking new reservations starting May 1.

Of course, there are other electric cars available for middle-income families. The Chevy Volt is an electric hybrid — it can drive about 40 miles on a single charge of its battery and then turns to burning gasoline. By the end of March of this year, over 1,200 Chevy Volts had been delivered to waiting customers. Yes, Chevy has a waiting list, too, but, like Nissan, will be speeding up deliveries as the year goes on.

If you have ordered an electric vehicle and have not yet arranged for installation of an outlet in your garage for your Level 1 charger or installation of your Level 2 charger, find a licensed electrician familiar with the requirements of EV chargers. For more about my company, The Electric Connection — all the stuff you wanted to know but were afraid to ask — . If you’re interested coupons for electrical work, for example, $50 off installation of a Whole House Surge Protector in the L.A. area, click on our electrical work coupon page.

Nearly every neighborhood has that one person who has taken the leap of faith and invested in solar panel installation. Maybe you have driven by and looked at the roof of your neighbor’s home and seen the solar panels. You have probably realized they don’t stick out like a sore thumb and they are not unattractive in the least. In fact, they blend in with the roof and in many cases you really have to look to see the panels. With rising electricity costs, now is the time to learn more about solar panel installation for your own home. An electrician in Burbank, like those at The Electric Connection, can tell you everything you need to know about solar power.

One of the hesitations homeowners have about solar power is the fear of “running out” of electricity. Fortunately, this isn’t a problem for those who still want to stay on the power grid as a backup plan. You can choose to supplement your electricity with solar power or rely on solar power for the majority of your power needs. There is no right or wrong way to use solar power. Another concern that is often brought up is the initial investment cost of solar panels. There are plenty of incentives and affordable payment plans that can be used to buy solar panels. Lease options are another possibility.

Getting on board the solar power bandwagon has never been easier with the number of companies promoting alternative power. You can supplement your current Burbank electrical system with solar energy or go completely solar. The choice is yours. There are some minor adjustments that will need to be made and there is a slight learning curve when you first switch to solar power. However, once you get that first electric bill and realize the cost savings of solar energy, you will be thrilled. Give The Electric Connection a call to learn more about solar panel installation.

The year of 2017 brings along more advancements in the commercial lighting space. And in a world in which things are changing so rapidly with lighting technology in virtually every way, it can be difficult to get everything you need to know in one place. For this reason, we’ve created this post in hopes of helping you get a rough guideline of the actual stadium lighting costs for the current year, 2017. Along with that, giving you the outlets to research more on the topic and get you one step closer to getting the most efficient and ROI focused technology illuminating your fields.

This post will be broken into two parts; the typical costs associated with the physical light itself and everything related to buying stadium lights. Secondly, the typical costs to powering your lights and how certain technologies may save you more money than others and how you can go about getting the highest return on investment when choosing a lighting technology and brand to go with.

To start off, we are going to cover the technical terminology of stadium lighting.

Firstly, stadium lighting is the simple term for high mast lighting. other technical terms, there are far too many to cover here. But, we think you should know the definition of lumens as we will be using it quite often. To explain, a Click here to view more about the pros and cons of both and which one is better for you.

All in all, it is too variable to give a definitive price to all situations. Keep in mind though, that a comparable LED fixture could cost double but, cut energy consumption by nearly 75% in some cases.

Since we seriously believe LED is the best option for stadiums and sports fields to illuminate their place, we are going to use that as our example (and recommendation).

Let’s keep it simple so you can use our example to get a rough idea what it will cost to run your lights.

Let’s say you have 10 lights. Currently, your high masts are metal halide and use 1,500 watts per fixture. Now, let’s say you are looking for a more efficient technology and you come across LED. You find a comparable light which will output the same amount of light (or lumens), and only consumes 400 watts per fixture.

In total, the metal halide lights are consuming 15,000 watts in total (when in use) and the LEDs would (if chosen) be using only 5,000 watts. That is 3 times less energy, which can lead to some great savings. This reduction from 1,500 watts to 500 watts per fixture is the exact reason fields both small and large fields are converting to LED over other technologies like metal halide and HPS.

For example, we often find that fields that convert to LED with us from metal halide or HPS high mast pole lights realize a payback of their investment in as little as 1 year. Additionally, since LEDs last much longer they get to realize these cost savings for much longer and thus; a much higher ROI over the lifespan of the light.

Additionally, since LEDs last longer they enjoy an additional benefit of less maintenance requirements. This allows more cost savings as an indirect benefit of LED high mast lighting.

Tips for Reducing Costs

We hope this post has answered your questions regarding most sports field lighting costs, if not, either use our contact information above or leave a comment below and a commercial lighting professional will personally reply to your questions and input.

Usually, around this time people are giving up on their New Year’s resolutions. We get it; it’s tough to follow through on difficult commitments, especially when it comes to altering habits. Let et us be the voice that says, “Keep going! You can do this!” Or, maybe you’re still struggling to come up with a resolution. That’s where we come in. Resolve to be more energy efficient!

We’ve come up with several New Year’s resolutions we truly think you can keep. Energy efficiency doesn’t always require a significant monetary investment; sometimes, it calls for a small change in your routine. We know that change can be scary, but once you realize your savings potential, we hope that the challenge will be worth it!