2015 Holiday Gift Guide Series. Last week we looked at great ideas for the custom bobble heads designed to look like the recipients are a fun gag gift that is guaranteed to be one-of-a-kind.

If your active grandparent hasn’t discovered the outrageously fun sport that I can only describe as a cross between tennis and ping pong, then gifting them with their own bluetooth tracking tag that hooks onto your keyring (or anything you find yourself losing often) solves the problem brilliantly. Use this little gadget to locate your phone with the push of a button. Or, locate your keys using an app on your smart phone. 

But what if your grandparent doesn’t have a smart phone or device? Get them one! My parents love to sit down with their tablet and look at photos of my children that we send them digitally. You can find tablets and e-readers for less than $100 these days.   

As we age, eyesight diminishes and adequate lighting becomes more important than ever. If your grandparent enjoys curling up with a good book, reading the morning newspaper, or knitting sweaters, a stylish night lights that match their decor or motion activated this one in the shape of a tree ring. There are a number of online resources that will help you uncover your ancestry. Once you’re finished, a battery operated Blurb.com or head down to your local drugstore to have your book made.

Do you have an epic entertainer in your family or circle of friends? Come back next week to get great ideas on holiday gifts for your favorite host or hostess.

*Prices and availability are subject to change.

The best lighting jobs are the ones that aren’t noticeable. Have you ever walked into a room and just felt warm, comfortable and at home? It was probably the light placement and selection in the room that gave you that unforgettable feeling. With the right tools and tips in mind, you can also have that within each room of your home.

In order to effectively use your lighting to enhance your home’s décor, you must first consider the function of your room, the natural light source and the mood you are looking to achieve in your room. With this in mind, you can transform the look and feel of your home!

Knowing the function of your room will allow you to select the appropriate type of lights and placement in the room. For instance, a reading room will have soft lights with intentionally placed reading lamps whereas a kitchen will be a lot brighter and will be equipped with a number of task lights – each room can have very different functions therefore using different light sources and equipment.

Once you have determined the function for each room, you should then discover the natural or ambient light provided throughout the day. In the morning, afternoon and evening, take the time to turn off all your lights and see where the natural light source may come from and how it can be appropriately supported. You may have a street lamp right outside your living room that still provides a considerable amount of light, meaning you may not need to add as much light as you would have assumed for the evenings.

Lastly, you should determine the specific mood you are looking to achieve for your room. Romantic, bright, warm, calm, energetic – there is a number of different effects you could be searching for based on your room and décor. In a living room, we generally recommend a central light to add to the ambient light in the room and then use small accent lights to highlight main decorative objects in your room like a painting, mirror or even a plant.

With the function, natural light source and mood of your room in mind, you can transform your home with simple adjustments to your lighting. For more tips on how to improve the lighting of your home or to have a professional help with the installation, contact Expert Electric at 604-681-8338.

Ceiling fans are sometimes looked over when decorating a home. Besides of freshening a room, fans complete a room design and composition. It’s important to understand how size and height affect the fan’s efficiency and overall look of a room. A ceiling fan that’s too big will overpower the room’s design and visually pull the ceiling downwards; a fan that’s too small won’t properly circulate the air.

Solar Farm

From science fiction to massive solar plants in the American West, solar energy has fascinated and tantalized scientists and writers for generations.  The promise of easily-accessible, virtually free energy from the large fusion reactor at the center of our solar system (the sun) is enticing and we’re getting closer to harnessing its power effectively every day.

Solar power is interesting because it’s one of the few electrical energy systems that does not use a turbine to generate energy.  Photoelectric cells contain a material that releases electrons when hit by a photon, generating electrical power.  There are no moving parts, no fuel to burn and pay for, and only occasional maintenance to keep the system performing optimally.

So what is holding back the proliferation of solar energy?  Space and storage.  We can generate large quantities of energy from solar, but we do not, at present, have the right method to store that energy for periods without sunlight (night time and storms).  So far the best response has been homeowners installing solar cells on their own homes with battery storage systems linked into their own neighborhoods.  By splitting up generation and storage within the neighborhood itself, enough solar cells can be installed to generate energy both day and night.

Space is at a premium when it comes to energy generation.  Solar power plants take up more space than traditional plants, while generating less energy per square foot.  Because solar cells need to be placed over large areas to maximize sunlight, installing power plants in urban areas can be difficult.  Though installing solar cells on your home can be done simply.

We mentioned self-starting or “œblack-start” energy systems.  These systems can be started without power applied to the system, a huge benefit to fuel-fed power plants, and necessary in the event of major blackouts and power losses.  True, we can supplement with gas turbines or nearby power generation, but we also want black-start renewables.  Fortunately, hydroelectric power plants require no off-system power to function.

Hydroelectric plants are special because, while they also have a somewhat variable energy source, they also have one of the best energy storage systems available: potential energy.  Hydroelectric dams use flowing water to spin turbines, typically generated from lakes and rivers.  Rather than storing generated electricity, hydroelectric plants can store water at a higher altitude.  By storing water in special tanks, they have access to electrical generation potential by simply releasing the stored water and allowing it to spin the turbine.  Hydroelectric power is perfect for energy storage, but they’re limited to specific areas.