However, when planning your display remember that the danger should be make-believe only, and take care to dodge Halloween hazards -- bloated electricity bills, as well as safety hazards to life and property. Follow these tips to avoid spending a bundle on electricity, endangering visitors or burning down your house.

You don't have to bankrupt yourself on energy bills to have the spookiest yard on the block:

 When it comes to outdoor decorating, the worst-case scenario is a fire:

And take note of these general safety tips to keep everyone happy and healthy:

With just minor effort you can make your decorations safe and efficient, then relax and enjoy the holiday. Happy Halloween!

Are you trying to think of the perfect gift to give your family? Maybe you are planning for the future and thinking about your goals for 2017. Each year, we get a chance to make a difference. In fact, we can make a difference every single day, but we often feel as if the new year is a clean slate. Whatever the case may be, this is your year to make a difference in the world. Yes, you can do a little something that will impact the environment around you. It is all about energy conservation. There are many ways to do that, but something you could consider spending your money on this year is going solar with the help of an electrician. Glendale homeowners who want to get some freedom from the vulnerable power grid can have solar panels installed and save money on their electric bill while having a positive impact on the environment. The team at The Electric Connection can help.

There has been a big push in recent years by big business and governments all around the world to find alternative sources of power. Your Glendale electrician wants you to know it isn’t all that difficult to make the transition to alternative power. In fact, you may not even notice the difference at all. Today’s systems are installed with the idea of using the solar energy for the majority of your electricity needs, but remaining connected to the power grid just in case enough energy wasn’t generated. This gives you the best of both worlds and makes the transition a little easier.

An electrician in Glendale can go over all of the basics of solar power with you. Imagine giving yourself the gift of smaller electric bills and teaching your family that every person can make a difference. A little gift that will go a long way. Give The Electric Connection a call today and talk with a professional about giving the gift of energy conservation.

An important component in your main electrical service panel is commonly known as the breaker. If you’re a homeowner, surely you have visited yours a few times over the years. But what exactly is it? And what does it do? Let’s go over the importance of the breaker and what its doing for your home.

If you read our article on the home electrical system a few months back, you will know which step the service panel comes in receiving electricity for your home. The service panel is the gateway for all electricity in your home. After electricity comes through underground or overhead power lines, it goes to your electrical meter and then to the service panel. Electricity branches off from here and travels to the rest of your home. Within the panel are circuits for different areas for electricity to travel. Shutting down a circuit can cause power loss to a part of the home, maybe a room or two. But because the home is on many different circuits, power can remain active in the rest of the house.

After electricity arrives at the service panel, it travels to a circuit. The circuit is a loop in which electricity travels from one end to the other. The breaker splits up to 100 amps or more into the circuits to distribute the power. Usually each circuit in a common residential home operates at 15 amps. The breaker is designed to “trip” if it receives an excess of electricity. If a power surge occurs on the outside of the home, for example a lightning strike, the service panel will stop the flow and turn off. If a surge happens on a circuit within your home, the breaker will also shut down that loop to protect the rest of the house.

Over time if work on a service panel is not completed correctly, the circuits could blow more frequently due to overloading. Parts in the panel can become outdated, loosen, or get burned out. If a service panel is not maintained and up to code, it also poses specific risks, making your home more susceptible to fires and electrical surges.