Sometimes the biggest challenge in saving energy is knowing where to start. Your monthly gas and electric bills come in big lump sums, so how can you identify the best opportunities to reduce your consumption? One of the smartest ways to get a clear idea of your energy consumption is to break it down appliance by appliance.

Disaggregation Technology

You can get a general idea of how much electricity your household devices use by reading the wattage labels and tracking how much time they are in use. However, to get an accurate picture of your household energy consumption, you need advanced technology that can break out and analyze exactly how much energy is being consumed by each appliance and device.

That's the gist of a recent report prepared by the energy startup Bidgely in cooperation with Pacific Gas & Electric. They teamed up to study 850 customers who were given a device that provided real-time readings on how much electricity their various appliances were using. The device used information it pulled from the home's smart meters to break down consumption for things like air conditioners, refrigerators and clothes dryers.

The data then allowed homeowners to make changes as to how and when they used their equipment, and the results were dramatic – households reduced their consumption by an average of 7.7 percent.

More Savings to Come

Most impressively, those gains came solely through behavioral changes. There remains much room for improvement if homeowners use the system to identify energy hogs in their households and replace inefficient appliances with newer, more efficient models.

Furthermore, the test was limited to people who already use time-of-day energy pricing, who tend to be savvier consumers when it comes to energy use.

“By definition, these people have already optimized some of their energy consumption in the home,” Bidgely CEO Abhay Gupta said to Greentechmedia. “We were able to demonstrate 7.7 percent energy savings on this time-of-use customer base. Imagine what we could do with a non-optimized home.”

Make Disaggregation Work for You

Bidgely is not the only company getting into the energy disaggregation game. Greentechmedia identifies others, like PlotWatt and Smappee, who are pushing into the market to provide the technology to help people save.

If you're interested in learning more about disaggregation or to find out if any of the companies are offering programs in your area, contact your local electrician, who can steer you towards the option that works best for your family.

A power surge is something you never expect, but can have drastic consequences for your home or place of business. A surge can be so small you do not notice it all, it can cause a flicker in your lights or it can cause damages as great as that from a lightning strike. An average claim from a surge-damaged house costs thousands of dollars. However, there is a solution. An electrician in Beverly Hills, like one of the experts from The Electric Connection, can install a whole house surge protector. Understanding these surges, and how a surge protector works, can save you thousands in damages and possibly save your life.

Causes of a Power Surge

The main thing people think about when they hear the term power surge is a lightning strike. Oddly enough, this is far from the most common. According the Surge Protection Institute, an estimated 80% of power surges start inside the house—often from a major appliance as it cycles on and off. These small surges can affect other sensitive electronics such as Plasma TVs and computer equipment. A Beverly Hills electrician can help you identify which of your devices may be susceptible to such damage.

Surge Protectors

You may be familiar with a small surge protector in which you plug a computer or other item to protect them from surges. This is a great solution as it is affordable and something you can do on your own. However, there is an even easier way to protect all your equipment. Contact a Beverly Hills electrical contractor and ask about the possibility of installing a whole house surge protector. A whole home surge protector will protect against up to 50,000 amps of current. It diverts the excess current and diverts it via the house’s grounding.

If you think a whole home surge protector may be the right choice for your house, search for electrician Beverly Hills and visit The Electric Connection’s website today.

If you understand how drastic a serious electrical emergency can be, then you won’t take this post for granted. A lot of people ignore common factors that could start a serious problem, and our job is to remind you to keep a look out. You can reduce the odds of injury and property damage when you’re more aware of your electrical system. Those who take the time to identify any potential threats not only are able to save their home from an electrical fire but are also more prompt to stopping the problem before it even becomes a concern. Never hesitate for energy eating appliances and other devices throughout your home. Do not just assume that your neighbors are also experiencing similar outages and instead take action. If the problem continues, ask an electrician to come in to check your electrical system.

By Spencer Cutright

Let’s face it: no summer vacation is complete without plenty of pictures. With the invention of the “selfie stick” and apps like Instagram and Snapchat, taking pictures has never been so user friendly, and photography has never been more prevalent than it is today.

However, this would not be possible if flash photography had never been invented. It’s hard to believe, but flash wasn’t always as common or safe as it is today. Here is a brief look at the history of flash photography.

Flash photography originally began as an unsafe and incredibly intricate device known as the flash lamp, which was invented in 1899. Photographers would fill a pan with flash powder, which was then ignited, leading to a small explosion that produced a quick flash. The flash lamp is known for being very unsafe, and many photographers who used it were either killed or injured in the process.

Around the 1930s, flash bulbs replaced flash powder. Oxygen-filled bulbs were electricity ignited, producing a quick bright flash. However, the bulbs could only be used once, and they were often too hot to handle right after the flash.

Thirty years after the flash bulb, the cheaper and more efficient electronic flash was invented. Electronic flashers are often attached to a camera and produce an instantaneous and very bright flash through a flash tube when a picture is taken.

Found on camera phones as early as 2000, LED flash uses high current LEDs to produce a quick flash when a picture is taken. LED flash makes flash photography efficient and miniaturized.

So next time you pull out our camera or smartphone to capture a special moment this summer, keep in mind all the inventors who made modern photography possible.  The future of photography is certainly bright with many possibilities ahead.