From your cell phone to your washing machine, you’ll find all kinds electronics in your home.  Entertainment, lighting, comfort, and even cleaning can be electrically powered.  Most people know that it’s a good idea to disconnect electronics during an electrical outage or lightning storm.  This is due to possible electrical surges.  Electrical surges are sudden increases in current that can damage connections and electrical components throughout your home.  Most devices have some protections, but strong surges can overpower these protectors, leaving you with a very expensive paperweight after the surge is through.  Fortunately, surge protectors exist to stop this from happening.

A sudden increase in current occurs when more power is being delivered to the same system.  If a lightning storm strikes a transformer or relay that’s connected to the same grid you’re on, excess power is diverted to your home and creates an increase in current.  This sudden surge is what damages components.  But, it isn’t just limited to sudden electrical discharges either.  When power is applied to a system, it has substantial initial current.  This is known as inrush current and is the reason that you’re advised to disconnect electronics whenever there’s an outage.

Once power is restored to a system, either because you turn on a switch or the power grid is reconnected, initial current surges into the system.  Disconnecting devices helps to decrease that inrush current.  The electrical panel in your home is also designed to handle inrush current, which is why your breaker system doesn’t automatically trip whenever power is restored.  On a smaller scale, any sudden call for extra power pushes a small surge into the system.  When you power up an electric vacuum cleaner or portable space heater, there’s a small surge.  The more powerful the device, the larger the surge.  These are the types of surges that common surge protectors guard against.  For lightning strikes you’ll need something better.

While the majority of surges are protected against by those tiny power strips, because most surges originate inside your home, they aren’t strong enough to protect against the dangerous surges that will irreparably damage your in-home electronics.  Most homewoners prefer the power strip surge protectors because they’re inexpensive.  But, while a whole-home surge protector can cost over $200 to add on to your home, they don’t suffer from many of the drawbacks found in the tiny in-home protectors.

Whole-home surge protectors guard your entire home from outside surges.  They’re installed near and wired to the electrical service panel for your home.  Any power surge that travels to your home is immediately shunted away, preventing disaster from ever reaching your home.  You’ll find that whole-home surge protectors are also not as fragile as standard home surge protectors.  They’ll last for years and are less likely to be burnt out by a single surge.  A quality surge protector is capable of shunting tens of thousands of amps without burning out.

If you want the best in electrical protective devices, a whole-home surge protector is the right choice.  Compared to most safety installations, they’re relatively inexpensive and you only need to install one device to protect your home for years.  It’s still a good idea to use power strips to protect in-home devices from smaller surges, but you need a quality surge device to protect against lightning storms or substation surges.

For the best in quality electrical repair work and installations, contact the professionals at Custom Electric!  Be sure to check back here each week for helpful advice, news, and guides or follow us on Facebook and Twitter!

Categories: Business, commercial electrical, Residential« 3 Reasons You Should Hire a Professional Electrician  |  Mood Lighting for Romance »

Stay cool as a cucumber this summer without running your electric bill sky high and your finances into the ground. Summer is such a fun time of year that we all look forward to those hot days spent at the beach enjoying the warm ocean breeze. Sometimes, the heat is just too much. We all need a break. We don’t want to be warm all the time, especially when we want to relax or sleep. It is natural to turn the AC down a bit so you can cool down after a long day in the sun. unfortunately, every degree you lower the thermostat is more money you are going to be spending. An electrician in Santa Monica wants you to stay cool and comfortable, without breaking the bank. The team at The Electric Connection has been helping customers like you for years and is here to help.

There are some things you can do this summer to help stay cool without taxing the AC. Your Santa Monica electrician says these are tried and true methods.

Stay cool this summer without having to pinch too many pennies. Give The Electric Connection a call today to schedule your ceiling fan installation.

Did you know that your outdoor lighting installation needs maintenance every once in a while? It’s true! To keep your outdoor lights shining bright, there are a few things you should master.

Whether you’ve already got a bunch of outdoor lighting or if you’re a first-timer, there is plenty to learn in this checklist. And it’s really quick and easy, too!

Check Exterior Bulbs

The biggest headache for a homeowner is a bunch of burnt out bulbs. If you’re not prepared, it can really eat up time to get the right bulbs. But the solution here is to be prepared! When you first get your outdoor lighting installation, be sure to write down the bulb type for the fixture, and go grab some spares for later use.

After that, it’s all about anticipating need. But how can you tell if a bulb is about to blow out? There are some easy tells! Your bulb is close to bringing out if:

Keeping an eye out for these issues can be a huge time saver, and ensures your bulbs burn beautifully all year long. Just do a quick walk around once a week to check for these common signs!

Check Your Outdoor Lighting Wiring

During your light bulb check, do a quick look over for your wiring. If there are cuts, cracks, or missing bits of wiring, get them replaced with the help of a professional! Faulty wiring can be pretty dangerous when left alone, particularly if it gets damp or if the wiring is coming into contact with flammable materials. Damage is easy to spot, so as long as you’re looking for it, you’re gonna find it.

And that’s pretty much it! Any other issues should be handled by a professional for safety reasons, but these two things are the most common causes for exterior lighting failure. Feeling more confident about an outdoor lighting installation now? Contact the certified electricians at Kolb Electric to learn more about how outdoor lighting can benefit your home!

When you’ve got a camera, and you’ve got action, but you’re missing the lights, you’re at an extreme disadvantage as a videographer. Or a photographer, for that matter. Don’t worry. I’ve been there. In fact, until yesterday, I was just like you. Not anymore. Now I have lights! Check out this video to see how I made a DIY lighting kit on a budget.

As you can see, it doesn’t take much to improve the lighting so you can shoot great-looking video. If, like me, you’re on a mission to make professional videos in an apartment or at home, this simple project will give your media game a boost. Yep, with a DIY video lighting set up, you can take your photography or videography to the next level, even if you’re just seeking the best lighting for iphone photography.

Hey professional videographers out there! What else should I add to my DIY photo lighting set up?

The year 2012 marked one of the hottest summers on records. Interestingly enough, this also corresponded with one of the best years for the solar industry. Although the solar power industry is still relatively young, meeting milestones frequently, these milestones are getting to be more and more substantial each year.

A great example of this was a California utility company placing into operation a solar generating station that was able to generate the same level of energy as a large coal or nuclear power plant. In addition to the gigawatt being generated by this utility-scale facility, there is also another gigawatt of solar power being generated by the rooftops around the state.

Another great sign of growth for the solar panel industries is the statistic that nearly 742 megawatts were installed by solar panel installers in the second quarter of 2012. This is greater than double the amount that was installed in the first quarter of 2011, 343 megawatts. For an industry that has been skating by in the background for so many years, such exponential growth is incredible. Not only does this mean cleaner, renewable energy for many homes across the country, but also countless jobs generated to help support this quickly growing industry.

What does this mean for you? As the demand for solar panels rises, so do the options for purchasing, installing and generating solar electricity. Because of the immense land required to operate a utility-scale solar generation facility, the number one method of generation remains on the rooftops of the average consumer. Because the cost of solar panels has been going down, and smart options such as financing and the solar lease have become more popular, it is easier than ever before to go solar. Take a few minutes to check out all of our resources at solar-panel-info.com. We specialize in solar leasing, rebates and locating solar panel installers near you. (Visit our Home Page)