Over the last several years, a variety of electric cars have come to market that provide consumers with an energy-efficient, environmentally friendly alternative to your standard gasoline powered vehicle. If all of this is true, why haven’t they caught on? One of the biggest reasons why electric cars have been accepted so slowly is because many people believe a wide variety of myths and misconceptions about how the vehicles work. Here are a few of the most common misconceptions that are encountered by your electrician in Santa Monica.

They Don’t Go Far

Most people view electric vehicles as a limited range, low-power option to their traditional vehicle. Although this could have once been true, it is not always the case today. With the current advancements in battery technologies, electric vehicles can go fairly far distances. Because most U.S. workers drive about 40 miles each day, an electric-only car can be a viable alternative for their driving.

They Aren’t Actually Green

Many people believe that electric cars are just as polluting as their gas-powerd competitors. Although electric vehicles will have a certain level of emissions, they are much lower than even the most efficient gasoline and diesel competitors.

Batteries Are Dangerous

Many people believe that the batteries used in electric cars are dangerous, toxic or just environmentally unfriendly. This is typically due to the fact that most people just aren’t all that familiar with electric vehicles and the batteries that they use within them. Although some battery chemicals can be hazardous, it is very rare that these chemicals ever escape into the environment. To make this even better, most newer batteries can be recycled at a rate of around 99 percent.

If you are considering an electric car, give us a call at The Electric Connection to talk about your options for electric vehicle charging stations and other power necessities to ensure that you can always charge your vehicle. You can also learn more at visit The Electric Connection (Click Here) .

It's no mirage – energy efficiency is gaining traction. Whether people are concerned about contributing to climate change by burning fossil fuels or saving money on their utility bills, there is rising demand for homes that can do more with less. Home builders are paying attention, and the new house of today is demonstrating different priorities from the residential construction of the past few decades. Among the ways that efficiency trends are playing out are an increase in low-maintenance yards, modern lighting and multi-generational living.

A Watershed Year for Efficiency

People really are paying more attention to their energy consumption these days. A study by Johnson Controls found that interest in energy efficiency had risen across North America by 116 percent between 2010 and 2014. The report called 2014 a “watershed year for energy efficiency” and that “strong improvements in key indicators signal major commitments to energy efficiency, high performance buildings, distributed energy systems and smart building technologies.”

Contractors are taking note of the heightened focus on efficiency and are adjusting their building components accordingly. "Being more energy efficient is extremely important to our home buyers,” Anthony Natale, co-founder and president of Grenadier Homes in Texas, said in a press release. “They're fiscally and environmentally responsible – savvy, sophisticated buyers who want to save money on utility costs while helping to save the planet for their children, grandchildren and beyond."

Keep an Eye on Water and Electricity

One aspect that Natale highlights is a move toward low-maintenance yards that need little in the way of irrigation or other care. A key component of these yards is using native plants, which are accustomed to the local climate and don't need much help to thrive. Another strategy is to integrate rain collection systems so you have water on hand when you need it without breaking out the hose. Also, efficiency-minded homeowners design landscaping in a way that reduces runoff and takes advantage of plants' natural preferences for shady or sunny areas.

In addition to conserving water, homeowners are also reducing their electric bills with LED lighting technology. LED lights last up to 25 times as long and only use 25 percent as much electricity as those old-timey incandescent bulbs. Initially, some consumers shied away from LEDs because of their high initial cost and limited utility, but technological advances mean that you can now find affordable LED solutions to just about any lighting setup you can think of.

Sharing Space with Grandma and Grandpa

One more recent trend in efficiency is a bit more surprising – a rise in multi-generational households. A 2014 study by the National Association of Realtors Home Buyer and Seller Generational Trends found that households that included some combination of parents, adult children, adult siblings and grandparents comprised 14 percent of sales.

The savings are clear – fewer homes means less redundancy in heating, cooling, lighting and other energy-consuming necessities. New homes built to take advantage of this trend can offer separate entrances and suite-like setups in different areas of the house so residents can maintain their privacy while still sharing the structure.

If you want to cut back on your own energy usage but aren't prepared to invite grandma and grandpa home just yet, have a home services professional conduct an energy audit and create a tailored efficiency plan that's right for you.

Recently, Digital Trends profiled a Paolo di Trapani, and his work has a lot of people excited. For all the rapid progress that has been made with LEDs, no one else has made this important step towards recreating natural light.

The article explains how lighting innovations have allowed people to use artificial light in a number of amazing ways. We can change the color temperature of a light bulb with a smartphone, and we can grow food indoors, but we haven’t yet been able to mimic the way the atmosphere scatters the sun’s natural light…until now.

According to Digital Trends, di Trapani’s technology scatters the light of a panel of white LEDs with “a clear plastic panel studded with nanoparticles that are invisible to the naked eye.” What’s a nanopartical? A nanoparticle is what it sounds like: A really small particle. Nanoparticle research is currently hot because there are tons of ways that nanoparticle research could be applied in biomedical, optical, and electronic fields.

When you flick on the light switch, what happens? If you’re thinking “the room lights up… hopefully,” then you’re probably missing out on an opportunity for breathtaking lighting to do so much more than just let you see in the dark.

Your home should look intentional and deliberate, not just functional. Lighting is one of the best, easiest, and most easily ignored ways to make your home go from “nice place,” to “oh wow.” Seriously! Think back to the first time you saw under-cabinet lighting, for instance. Wow, talk about a way to get the most out of a space, while still showing off the best aspects out of the kitchen. That is exactly the effect that an inspired electrician can create, simply by optimizing your layout to handle some really nifty things with lighting. Even if you don’t decide to pull the trigger on the uplighting for your soon-to-come artwork, having the ability to add that in with little effort later thanks to a box hidden in the wall (just in case) takes almost no effort on our part, but can make a tremendous difference in your home’s perception, and value, down the road.

Light doesn’t just shine from one direction. Even sunlight is seen in the form of reflection, direct contact, and general ambient lighting. These simple principles are the same that should be used and recreated in your home. Your home should mirror that breathtaking view you saw on your favorite vacation, when the sunlight shone just so; conjure up that image, then imagine the architecture of your home and how it could be better illuminated. If you’re drawing a blank, don’t worry, that’s what our experienced electricians are here for. We’ll happily handle the up lighting, room lighting, and ambient lighting to create the effect that you’re looking for, even if you don’t really know how to explain it or where the circuits need to run. While all of this sounds expensive, creating a couple of extra lighting lines is simple when you’re already committing to work on your home, but becomes much more difficult later; always take advantage of the opportunity to bring an electrician and find out what is possible – 9 times out of 10, we find that homeowners who do this thank themselves for it later.

One of the biggest mistakes that builders and general contractors make is doing the bare minimum for lighting, leaving the home with nothing but a few can lights either dimly lighting the room or blinding everyone inside. Don’t let your lights let you down, or you’ll find that all your painting and furniture efforts just seem to fall flat of that wow factor you’re looking for.

Contact Electrical Gurus in Des Moines for the inspired, experienced service you need to create artistically inspired lighting for your home. When done right, you’ll find an incredible amount of value in a couple of lighting changes.