Having a detached garage or tool shed is a great asset for any Des Moines home. While many homeowners these days are accustomed to attached garages that make it easier to carry in groceries and for gathering the kids for soccer practice, detached garages provide a great deal of worth because they allow for storage of power tools, lawn chemicals, and other potentially dangerous materials that you wish to keep away from your pets and children. Additionally, a shed allows a place for messier projects to be completed as well as a spot for loud power tools to be used without disrupting the rest of your family. However, due to the complications of building and electrical codes, many homes with detached garages either do not have electricity running to the garage or have been wired in an improper way

At Electrical Gurus, we are experts in electrical installation. Whether you simply want to run enough electricity for one light or wish to have enough power to run a woodshop, a residential electrician can properly and safely get your detached garage or shed running with electricity. And in the event a previous owner took a shortcut to get power to the garage, we can properly manage your house wiring to make everything is up to code. When it comes to electrical installation, it is the best interest of you and your family’s safety to have it done the right way. Call Des Moines’ Top Rated Local ® electrician today at 515-446-7040 or contact Electrical Gurus online for service you can trust.

While it’s true that there are many different ways that electrical issues affect your home and belongings, there are four basic electrical problems that DC homeowners face on a regular basis. Each of these electrical problems must be addressed in a timely manner—otherwise a dangerous situation may occur, including electrical fire and shock. Fortunately, most of these are very easy to address, diagnose, and correct, as long as they are looked into quickly by a DC Electrician.

Homeowners throughout the DC area should immediately contact us if they observe any of these common electrical problems:

Whenever there is a sudden increase or change in electrical current, it is referred to as a power surge. This can force circuits to overload, leading to lost power and additional damage. There isn’t much you can really do—your best bet is to prevent a surge from happening by using surge protection strips and having a DC electrician install a whole-house surge suppression system. Whole-house surge protection is the best first line of protection you can have to protect your home electronics and wiring from the damage caused by lightning strikes. The cost of replacing electronic equipment in an average home is $8,000, and it may be even higher for homes in DC. Whole-house surge protection in conjunction with power strip surge protection is affordable insurance against electrical surges caused by lightning strikes and other disruptions. Contact Kolb Electric for whole-house surge protection installation in DC.

If you plug too many items into a single unit, it can cause the circuit to become overloaded. While you may be tempted to use more power strips to plug in more items, this can actually cause dangerous overloading and overheating. Whenever your circuit breaker trips frequently, you should let a qualified electrician take a look.

Whenever DC homeowners try to run their own electrical wiring, it often results in what is known as redundant wiring. Homeowners should not attempt any do-it-yourself home wiring—it is very dangerous because the wiring may not be properly capped and terminated.

Whenever you have issues with intermittent power, it usually is a warning sign that serious wiring issues are present. This is often caused by loose or improperly fastened wiring, which requires the immediate attention of an expert electrician.

These are common electrical problems DC electricians are often called in to correct. If you observe any of these problems in your home, we recommend you contact us. We are a family owned and operated business that has been serving the DC area since 1925. You can count on our electricians to provide upfront pricing and high-quality service.

In typical fashion, Sedaris humorously depicts his family in order to illustrate his point. He remarks that if his father were a talking doll with a pull cord, who spoke his most common phrases whenever the cord was pulled, he would mechanically utter “Turn the damn light on!” followed by “Turn that damn light off!” This would be, of course, in reference to the overhead lights. David Sedaris remarks that the latter phrase – Turn that damn light off! – is one that has become a standard from his own lips.

He brings us to the center of his early family life, the kitchen table. We see his father sit down to eat the meal his mother has prepared and exclaim, seconds after sitting down, that he can’t see his food, and would someone please “Turn the damn light on!” This causes dismay. His mother prefers candlelight and always has candles at dinner. Once the overhead lights blast on, everyone looks “sallow.” The colors are all washed out. The gravy stains above the buffet again become visible and unforgivable. Once his father leaves, David and his siblings flick off the lights again and sit around the table in candlelight for hours, smoking cigarettes as a family unit.

“Everyone looked better in the soft glow of a candle,” writes Sedaris.

We are then led to his teenage bedroom and his dormitory, where Sedaris shows us that, as someone particularly attuned to the lighting in a given room, one who could actually achieve “shivers” from the way that sunlight played in slats on his well-made bed, he was inherently different from “other guys.” He was very neat and very concerned with aesthetics.

What made him different in his younger years is what unites him to his long-time life partner, Hugh. They have very different taste in books and movies but both abhor overhead lighting. He writes, “it’s enough to keep us together. Every night the candles are lit and placed on the kitchen table. In their glow I can see the person I met almost 25 years ago, young again, and dashing. The effect is even better when I take off my glasses, leaving nothing between him and the eyes I have ruined with a lifetime of reading in the dark.”

I think it’s very interesting the way Sedaris celebrates dimness like it’s a comfort, something to wrap around oneself in a too-bright world. The fantastic comfort of illusion, of softening, of flattering alteration, is something you might expect to be valued by a creative writer like Sedaris. I agree completely: Candlelight is great. However, I’m not a candlelight every night kind of guy.

If you’ve never visited the DIY, home renovation blog Young House Love, you’re in for a treat. John and Sherry, bloggers extraordinaire, are renovating their home step-by-step, giving their readers a detailed look into the process. Every day they have some new clever project to write about. (And the way they tell stories gets addictive, quick).

The blog has a ton of posts on home lighting, some technical, some crazy and fun. Today, I thought I’d share with you my 3 favorite DIY lighting projects from Young House Love:

Everyone likes to save energy, right? You’re reducing your impact on the environment and saving money on utility bills at the same time – talk about a win-win scenario. However, despite the obvious benefits, the percentage of Americans who take energy efficiency steps in their lives is actually dropping, according to a recent poll. Read on to find out more.

Commitment to Energy-Saving Decisions

The survey, conducted by the Harris Poll, did contain some good news. A relatively high percentage of respondents take some actions to reduce their energy use – 75 percent of people, for example, said that they turn off lights and televisions when they aren't being used. That's a good first step. However, last year the number was 79 percent, and it reached as high as 82 percent in 2012. What gives?

One explanation is that money talks. Natural gas and oil prices have been relatively low in recent years, so people just might not be paying attention to every last megawatt.

"Even though understanding of energy sources remains at historical levels, in the last few years fewer consumers are taking steps to reduce energy consumption in their homes," Carol M. Gstalder, Reputation & Public Relations Practice Leader for Harris Poll, said in a press release. "As energy prices drop, so do consumers' commitment to energy-saving decisions from replacing light bulbs and water heaters to installing solar."

Lax Attention Across the Board

The Harris Poll laid out other areas where the survey found a reduction in consumer efficiency strategies:

Renewable Fuels Popular, Coal Not so Much

Taking another tack, Americans have some strong opinions about what types of fuels are best to keep feeding our energy addiction. Renewables are popular, with 78 and 75 percent of respondents saying that the benefits of solar and wind, respectively, outweigh the costs.

Getting the short end of the opinion stick were nuclear energy and coal. About 42 percent of respondents thought the risks outweighed the benefits for nuclear, with only 34 percent responding positively. And 46 percent of people gave a thumbs-down to coal, with 34 percent still in favor.

How You Can Do Better

If you want to uncover more ways to save energy in your home, have a home services technician conduct an energy audit to discover any waste and inefficiencies. You'll be in a knowledgeable minority: Only 11 percent of Americans have had an energy audit, the poll found.