For some reason, some homeowners seem to think that their ceiling fans are more fashionable than they are functional. This could not be further from the truth, though. While your ceiling fans are not going to actively cool the air in your home, as an air conditioner will, they are able to help distribute cooled air throughout the house more effectively. This can help to make your home feel more comfortable, allowing you to raise the temperature at the thermostat a bit. They also use far less energy than ACs, so put them to use, rather than your air conditioner, on stuffy nights that aren’t quite intolerably hot.

Not only will ventilating your home when the sun goes down help you to boost the quality of the air in your home, but it can also take a serious amount of strain off of your air conditioning system. It sounds simple, but simply shutting down your AC and opening up the windows when the air outside cools down can make a big difference. Close the windows early in the morning when you wake up in order to trap cool air therein.

While there are many ways in which you may go about cooling your home more efficiently, the best is simply to dial our number and to schedule routine air conditioning maintenance service. Our professional technicians will thoroughly inspect your system and tune it up as needed. This will allow it to cool your home with as little energy consumption as possible. Contact us today to schedule maintenance with professional technicians you can trust.

Rewiring an old house can seem like a big challenge. Older homes often need comprehensive rewiring especially when their existing wiring no longer meets building codes. Yet, no matter if a home is 50 years old or 150, it’s important to work closely with a licensed electrician throughout this process. A small mistake or a forgotten area of the home could lead to costly mistakes later.

Older homes can be full of electrical hazards. Many times, the need to rewire comes from two areas. First, you need to be sure the home is safe and electrical systems are working as they should. Second, you need to upgrade the home’s existing electrical system to meet modern needs and electrical capacity requirements. That’s not always easy to do.

To upgrade old house wiring, there are several key considerations. This is where you need to start with the help of a licensed electrician. Here’s the process:

5-pin SPDT (single pole, double throw) automotive relay.

Relays are essentially two parts in one package. The first part is an inductive coil (pins 85 and 86). This coil is the “trigger” function of the relay. By applying both a positive (+) and ground (-) to the contacts, current passes through the coil. When current passes through the coil, a magnetic field is generated and moves the switch (the arrow in the diagram). This is where the second part of the relay comes into play.

The second part of the relay is the “switch.” The switch has three interface contacts—common, normally closed, and normally open. “Normally” refers to the state of the relay not being energized.

While relays can be used for virtually any task, there are some very useful, simple applications for adding LED lighting to a vehicle. Please note that this wiring only pertains to the relay—not the wires in the vehicle. Before interfacing with a wire in a vehicle, always ensure you test the wire with a digital multimeter first to confirm circuit function.

Positive Switching

Positive switching is used for applications where the “trigger” for your switch or circuit is positive. This could be an ignition, brake, or reverse light wire for example.  This could be used for applications such as off-road light bars, work lights, additional brake lights, and other exterior lighting.

Negative Switching

Negative switching is used for applications where the “trigger” for your switch or circuit is negative. Negative triggers are often found in door, hatch, and trunk triggers as well as many interior switches. This could be used for applications such as footwell lighting, truck bed lighting, under-hood lighting, and other interior lighting.

Switch Activated With Ignition Override

This is useful for applications where you want to turn your light on or off with a switch but only want the light to remain on when the car is running or key is in the “ignition” position. The main advantage to this is—even if the switch is left on—the light (or output circuit) will shut off when the key is turned off so that the battery will not be run down.

For technical questions, don’t hesitate to call us toll free at 866-590-3533. Our customer service and technical support teams are available from 8:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. CDT Monday-Thursday and 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. CDT on Friday.