Although thunderstorms are a rarity during the cooler months and you don’t have to worry about lightning causing a power surge, there are other factors that can cause an electrical surge in your home. Power surges happen all the time and are not only the result of a lightning striking nearby. You may not realize this, but your home is constantly exposed to small surges every single day. Each time your heater kicks on or your refrigerator goes into defrost, it draws additional power. Once the additional power isn’t needed, there is a bit of a surge. Your probably don’t even notice it happening, but your sensitive electrical equipment like your computer or gaming console are certainly effected. The Electric Connection has the Beverly Hills electrician you need to protect your valuable equipment from small and large power surges.

Whole-home surge protectors are an option you can choose to have installed now to prevent small or large power surges from damaging computers and other sensitive electrical equipment. An electrician will install the protector directly to the electric panel. This is an ideal option because your entire home will be protected instead of just the few items you have plugged into a power strip. It should be noted that power strips are not always enough to protect equipment from large power surges. However, when combined with a whole-home surge protector, you can rest assured your expensive computers, gaming consoles and screen TVs will all be protected.

The initial cost of the surge protector is minimal and is almost always much cheaper than the replacement cost of a single appliance. Because the surge protector will need to be installed directly in the electrical panel, you will need to call an electrician. Beverly Hills homeowners can rely on the friendly and knowledgeable staff at The Electric Connection to get the job done right.

CaseStudy Design, has become locally popular for their unique light fixtures that are made out of … wait for it … books! If you’re as surprised as I was when I first learned about CaseStudy Design and its owner/founder/designer Chall Gray, who are engaged in the practice of upcycling old things like books into lovely light fixtures, then read on for an interesting interview with a book-lover turned lamp designer.

1. Hello, Chall, and thanks for talking with me. First, can you tell me a little about your background and upbringing?

I’m a native of western North Carolina, and grew up on a farm out in the country. Design was something that gradually became more and more central to my life and predilections the older I’ve gotten.

2. So you’ve grown up surrounded by upcyclable things. That makes me wonder: Why books? Why not make lamps out of tissue boxes, skulls, or aluminum cans?

4. What are your goals with Case Study Design? What does the future look like?

I currently work full-time as VP at Thirsty Monk, where we have a series of beer and cocktail bars and a brewery, so I’m only able to devote so much time to CaseStudy, but it’s a central passion of my life, and luckily production doesn’t depend on my schedule because our Production Manager crafts the lights in our shop in West Asheville. As of this week our lights will be on display in Downtown Books & News, a great used bookstore in downtown Asheville, and we’re also working on a design collaboration with a local audio company on a set of home speakers, actually, which is a fun side-project. I’d love to grow the business to having a larger retail presence over the next couple of years, but really, we’re having a blast just designing and building lights.

6. Who are some of your favorite designers, lighting or otherwise?

My influences are pretty varied, but a few touchstones are the architect Tom Kundig, whose work I go back to time and time again, the shoe designer John Fluevog, and watchmaker George Daniels. The great modernists of the 20th Century, Frank Lloyd Wright, Saarinen, Eames, etc. And in terms of lighting, Ingo Maurer and Ilse Crawford immediately spring to mind.

Conclusion: Chall Gray and his CaseStudy Design Firm are doing impressive things with upcycled materials and here!

Roof replacement is rarely a happy job. It's messy, time-consuming and expensive. If it's time for you to install a new roof, however, you can make the best of it by including energy-saving features that can cut down on your utility bills and take some of the sting out of the expense. Check out these ideas for energy-efficient roofs that will save you money and make your house the envy of the neighborhood.

Whatever efficiency measures you choose for your new roof, you can feel good about reducing your energy consumption, meaning you're lessening your reliance on fossil fuels and the accompanying contributions to climate change. And you’ll definitely feel smart when the utility bills arrive. For more ideas about how to get the most from your roof, contact a home services professional today.

If you are upgrading your home’s electrical work for a renovation or remodel, then there are some truly simple ways you can elevate your new lighting to “wow” status, and now is the time to do so!

If your home is a bit on the older side, the best way to modernize is with new LED recessed lighting cans. The reason for this is simply due to the smaller nature of modern cans, which allow for a much higher ceiling than you may have. Areas like kitchens, for instance, very often have lowered ceilings to account for the room that antiquated fluorescent or recessed lighting needs to have. Today’s recessed lighting cans can fit in the space between the floor joists and the future drywall, allowing for the absolute maximum ceiling height, which immediately improves the feel of most rooms.

Do you have a dedicated entry to your home, such as a mudroom or enclosed patio? Nothing modernizes and simplifies these areas as easily as a motion-activated switch. In fact, these upgrades can be done after-market if your switch is positioned correctly using inexpensive switch replacements found at your local hardware store. The key here is that your switch has to be positioned correctly, often on the adjacent wall, which is often not the case. Otherwise, you will need to enter the room before the switch can sense your movement, which defeats the purpose in most applications. Planning for motion switches during the remodel can open up this possibility with ease.

Here is where we really get to go wild; a pressure switch may seem like a frivolity, but actually adds a great amount of value when used correctly. For instance, if there will be space between your upper kitchen cabinets and the ceiling, then adding in over-cabinet lighting creates an incredible effect; better still, piggybacking off of the circuit used for under- or over- cabinet lighting to create an interior cabinet lighting system is really not difficult to do at all. From there, simply add a pressure switch to your cabinet doors and voila, you’ve achieved a million-dollar home look for almost no extra cost if done when your other cabinet lighting circuitry is being installed. Similarly, if you’re able to reimagine your pantry with a closing door, simply put a pressure switch in the door frame that compresses when closed, turning off the light immediately, and depresses when opened to instantly turn on the light. It may not sound like much, but anyone visiting your home will be amazed by your ingenuity; plus, it takes almost no extra work to install, only requiring the switch box to be located on the corresponding portion of the wall and a small wire to snake through a drilled hole in the door frame.

The best way to achieve these and other inexpensive tricks for added value and usability is to partner with inspired electricians that are willing to make these types of suggestions. At Electrical Gurus, you’ll find the most skilled and dedicated electricians in Des Moines.