Help for Heroes, an organization that aids wounded soldiers in the UK. Munro’s inspiration for the exhibit:

Two years ago I was riding my bicycle in the lanes near my workshop – it’s a very good way to keep fit. But that winter afternoon it was dark and my lights had failed, and I fell off into a ditch full of icy cold cow-poop. As I got to my feet, the idea of cycling in a warm, dry, well-lit environment seemed irresistibly attractive. Almost immediately when I got home I started sketching the Star-Turn bike. – Bruce Munro, his website. Here’s one more photo of the magnificent Star-Turn:

As a Top Plano Electrician, I know better than anyone how powerful and useful electricity is. It also makes me more aware of what most people tend to ignore or forget: electricity is dangerous. Electricians are required by law to carry insurance, and for good reasons. Electric current is capable of starting fires and destroying your property and equipment in a matter of moments. The proper safety precautions really can save lives, and there‘s always something we can do to improve home safety.

One of the most important precautions is located in your electrical panel: the circuit breaker. It is designed to keep you from using more electricity than the wiring or receptacle can handle at one time, what we refer to as overcurrent protection. This protects your wiring from taking on too much current, which can cause the coating around your wiring to melt, the leading cause of electrical fires. Circuit breakers serve another purpose as well; not only to protect from surges coming from outside your home, but from potential hazards within it as well. Current flowing through a failed piece of equipment or appliance can cause sparks, which have the potential to start fires or damage other electrical devices. A properly functioning circuit breaker can shut off the power to this device. It’s very important, however, that you use a circuit breaker of the proper size for the circuit to ensure that your wiring is properly protected.

Circuit breakers come in specialty varieties as well; the most important are ground fault circuit breakers (GFCI), for wet locations, and arc fault circuit breakers (AFCI). AFCI’s, in particular, can help prevent some of the most common dangerous situations in your home.

I’ve dealt with plenty of cases where electrical fires have started because people ran an extension cord under the carpet, so that they can power the lamp in the center of the room. Over time, people walking over the cord stretches out the wiring, making it so thin that the current overloads the thinly stretched wire, creating an arc fault; the electricity “jumps” the wire, completing the circuit in a way the cord can’t handle and generating heat that starts a fire. Arc fault circuit breakers prevent this by shutting the circuit down when the arc fault occurs.

So what do you need to know about arc fault circuit breakers? To start with, by code AFCI’s should be installed on any circuit that isn’t protected by a GFCI or directly wired into an appliance. It’s in your best interest to have your safety devices routinely inspected to maintain their optimum performance and capabilities; in particular, your circuit breakers should be inspected at least once a year. The inspection process is quick and relatively inexpensive, and something that simple really can save the lives of you and your family.

If chosen wisely, kitchen island lights take center stage and bring star quality to this multipurpose “heart-of-the-home” station.

From classic and traditional to clean and contemporary, island lighting makes a world of difference, enhancing the appeal and function of your kitchen space.  Over the breakfast bar or full service cooking station, island light fixtures and lighting controls should create balance and deliver a blend of general/ambient, task and accent illumination.

1.  Opt for energy-efficient task light with CFL (compact fluorescent) or LED (light emitting diode) pendant lamps centered over the island workstation.  Updated CFL and LED lamps are dimmable and available with improved color-rendering and color temperature.  Look for bulbs with a CRI (color rendering index) of at least 80 (100 is perfect color rendition) and CCT (Correlated color temperature) between 2700K and 3500K.

2.  Look for shielded, but focused illumination. Light sources should be non-glaring to provide even, shadow-free illumination.

Although your regular power supply is proven to be a steady source of electricity for your home, it’s also known how a major storm can knock out your electrical connections on occasion. Typically, it’s only a short time of power outage for an evening or maybe an afternoon, so you go to bed early or take a much needed nap and the power is back on when you wake up. Two situations result in situations that aren’t so cute. One, you have work to do that can’t be postponed even though your power is off for a couple of hours. Secondly, when power is out for several days so you know you need to cook all the food you kept frozen, but can’t cook it because the power is out.

Preparing for Natural Disasters

When a major storm approaches you’ve certainly seen long lines at the grocery store of people buying last minute needs in case they won’t be available over the upcoming days. A better idea is to prepare ahead of time so you have no worries should a storm take your power out for a few days. A flashlight, bottled water, canned goods, a heater with fuel and perhaps a camp stove are always good to have around in case of an emergency. Better yet is to have a generator so you can continue to run your home as a home and live your life according to how you live on a daily basis.

Generators and Solar Panels

Solar panels may seem like a perfect solution, but unfortunately they don’t work very well when the sun is blocked by the storm that knocked out your regular electric supply. Generators, on the other hand, are ready to run as long as you keep them fueled and can keep you going during a power outage. A temporary outage for thirty minutes won’t be a problem as the generator will turn on so you never know the power went out. You may need to conserve energy for an outage expected to last several days, but your basic needs of heat, refrigeration, and cooking will be met.