The type of in-wall wiring and cables you choose for your home will largely depend on what kind of signal you need to carry, where you’re going to route the wire, and how far the signal will have to travel between your various peripherals. Whatever type of wiring you choose to go with, you want to be sure you get one that’s rated for in-wall use by the Underwriters Laboratory (UL). This is usually going to be indicated with a CL2 or CL3 rating when it comes to speaker wire and audio/video cables. A good number of Ethernet cables are rated for in-wall use as well, usually indicated with a CM, CMR, or CMP rating. When choosing the right rating for each specific type of wiring, the UL looks at a range of different factors, including the heat being generated from current flowing through the wire, how quickly the cable will catch and spread fire when exposed to flame, and the wire’s vulnerability to damage from external stresses.

It is also important to look for a cable that’s rated for your specific needs. For instance, you are going to want cable that is rated as CL2P or CL3P if you are planning to run it in your heating ducts, or if you are looking to run your cable underground to connect to your outdoor speakers, you will want to make sure your cable is rated for direct burial. It should also be noted that when you are making the decision of what custom wiring you will need for your home, you need to be aware of your local fire codes and make your selections accordingly.

When you are looking for the right type of speaker wire for your home, there are two things you need to factor into your decision: the gauge and number of conductors. The gauge of wiring you choose should depend on how far the wire is going to have to travel from the receiver to the speaker. Significant power loss can occur over long runs of wiring, reducing your system’s performance. This might not be a significant issue in a single-room setup, but it is something to keep in mind if you are looking at a multi-room system. In terms of conductors, speaker cable comes with two or four. Two should be all you need for wiring a single speaker, but if you are looking at doing a multi-room setup, or a system with volume controls, you will mostly likely want four.

No home wiring setup would be complete without a solid Ethernet setup, but knowing which type of wiring to use can be a little confusing. When you are looking to create a wired computer network in your home, or carrying audio/video and control signals all across the home, CAT-5 cables have been the standard for a long time, but a better option these days might be to look at CAT-5e or CAT-6 cables. These newer cables are able to pass more data along the wire at a much faster rate than the older wires. The CAT-5e and CAT-6 wiring options are also backwards compatible with devices that were designed to work with the older CAT-5 wiring, meaning you won’t have to buy all new equipment. Ethernet cabling actually stands up to interference better than almost all audio/visual cables, which is a large reason it has become so popular in recent years for whole-house audio/video systems. It can also be a more cost-effective option to run long lengths of Ethernet cabling than it can be to run the same length in audio/video cable.

You are searching for a local electrician.  You Google local electrician but find hundreds of search results.  Rest assured if you are reading this and you live in the Des Moines Iowa metro area and surrounding communities you have found a highly qualified local electrician.  We are central Iowa’s primer local electrician and are ready to help you with your residential or commercial electrical project.  Go with a trusted local electrician.  Go with Custom Electrical Services, we are a local electrician and open 24 hours per day.

When choosing a local electrician there are important things to consider.  You want to make sure you are getting the most qualified and rebuttal local electrician for your project or electrical repair.

We will only send a trusted and local electrician to your home.  Only choose a local electrical contractor that uses independent third party verification of its employees.  We only employ local electricians that receive the technician seal of safety.  Your safety is of the up most important to us!  Call Custom Electrical Services today and have one of our trusted local electricians provide you with the best customer service experience possible.

Go with an local electrical contractor that never closes!

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Energy Efficient Lighting Solutions for Aging Eyes

As people get older there is more time to really enjoy the homes they have built for themselves. The kids have grown and moved away, and being physically comfortable has, perhaps, become more important than it once was.  Knowing that aging eyes need a better kind of light and more of it to be comfortable, remodeling the lighting in your home improves comfort threefold.

“Baby boomers are finding that they need three to four times as much light and that glare is hard on the eyes,” says Norm Brown, CLC, of Norburn Lighting & Bath Centre in Burnaby, B.C., and a consultant for the American Lighting Association (ALA). “Fluorescent light bulbs are easier to see by than regular light bulbs. LED lights are being used more for their reduced glare, as well as Halogen, for their white light quality. You can choose energy-efficient bulbs in many styles for redecorating your whole house.”

Capitol Lighting offers ceiling, wall-mounted and portable fixtures, and recessed and track lighting in energy efficient compact fluorescent bulbs as well as light-emitting diode (LED) lights to help aging eyes. Shop from thousands of fluorescent lights and energy efficient lighting solutions when remodeling your home’’s lighting at 1800lighting.com today! Aging eyes can see more clearly with energy efficient lighting solutions from Capitol Lighting.

The electrical enclosures may be one of the simplest electrical components but it is important that you design it properly. While it may be a simple component to specify, the extensive choices available in the market might overwhelm or confuse you. The most obvious choice might not always be the best in terms of reliability and long-term profitability. At the same time there may be under-rated choices that might turn out be great buys.

Let’s see how to approach enclosure design.

Critical Design Aspects to Keep in Mind

• Material Selection

Plastic or metal are the most popular choices. These groups can be further categorized into polycarbonate, ABS, aluminumpolystyrene, steel or cast iron. Select the material that can withstand the surrounding conditions of the location it will be installed in. Understand your needs and make a decision accordingly.

• Internal Design & Size of Enclosure

Consider the internal design of the enclosure. The design must meet with your requirements. Note the internal and external dimensions to make better use of the space inside, for housing your component. It is also important to take mounting options into account.

• Choosing the Right Metal

Popular choices include:

Cold winter months bring opportunities for cozy moments indoors  — but also some potential hidden dangers. More than 45,000 electrical fires occur in homes each year, according to thea licensed electrician update any damaged or two-prong outlets.

Sometimes it’s hard to tell if you have old and unsafe wiring because electrical work is mostly hidden behind the walls of your home. Remember, however, that wiring problems are a major fire threat. Pay attention to these signs of hidden electrical issues and then get safe by

Lamps and other light fixtures provide necessary illumination but can also pose a risk. Placing a bulb with a higher wattage than a fixture can handle poses a risk for igniting a fire. Heed the maximum wattage allowed for all fixtures and decrease the wattage or replace ones that seem to get excessively hot when lit.

Never decorate a lamp with paper or cloth that could ignite, and keep fixtures away from textiles, like bedding or curtains. Replace cords that are frayed or damaged.