Although Christmas is now behind us, we are still deep in the midst of winter. The ground is frosty early in the morning, and the temperature throughout the day can easily fall below zero. When traversing through your daily routine this winter, be prepared for the worse and stop accidents in the home before they happen. Here are some winter electrical safety tips that could prevent serious injury and harm:

Keep away from downed power lines – A few weeks ago we discussed power line safety. This is a hot topic during the winter because roads are slippery and car accidents increase. If a car hits a power line and the electrical wiring falls down, keep at least three metres or 10 feet away. Power lines are very powerful and can cause serious electrocution if you are not careful. Keep your family and children educated, as they could come across a downed power line during their daily commute. Always call 911 when you see a power line down.

Place your space heater at a safe distance – Space heaters are a great way to keep specific rooms warm without ramping up monthly heating bills. Because of the high heat output of electrical heaters, it is important to keep them away from flammable material.  Ensure that they are not in contact with any furniture, rugs, and curtains. If you feel surrounding objects becoming hot, move the heater. Fires are easily started if the heater is unattended. Always turn off the heater when it’s not in use.

Ensure your backup generator is ready to go – As we said, dangerous road conditions can cause damage to power lines and in turn results in power outages. For those homes and businesses equipped with standby generators, it is a good time to have regular maintenance and check-ups done. Have a professional inspect the power generator to ensure that oil levels and gas levels are correct, and the connection to the home is safe and secure. If a power outage occurs, you want to be confident that it will power your home/business when it needs to.

Avoid using candles during power outages – Many people use candles to light their rooms during power outages. While this can deliver a nice ambience, it is very dangerous. If the candles are unattended or wax drips and causes build up around the candle, it can result in a fire. Instead, use flashlights or LED candles.

Unplug major appliances during power outages – During an extended power outage, unplug your major appliances (oven, fridge, freezer, television) and turn off light fixtures (You can leave on some lights so you know when the power returns). This can prevent power surges from occurring and damaging the appliances when power returns.

Prepare an emergency safety kit for long outages – To be prepared for extended power outages or even in the event of a serious natural disaster, have an emergency kit ready. The emergency kit should be readily accessible and contain batteries, flashlight, blankets/sleeping bags/warm clothes, non-perishable food, a first aid kit, and sufficient water for your family. This will keep your family warm, fed, and safe during an emergency. Check with your local safety authorities and put together a safety kit.

The winter can bring harsh weather conditions that affect our daily lives. With the proper precautions you can be prepared for the worst situations. If you have questions about your home electrical system during the winter or power generators, contact your local Expert Electric at 604-681-8338.

Weather is so unpredictable, even trained weather people struggle to accurately predict storms and the strengths of those storms. It just makes sense to prepare for anything in order to keep your life as normal as possible. Power outages and power surges are very common during high winds, heavy rainfall and of course thunderstorms. A Pasadena electrician can help you protect your appliances, computers and televisions with the installation of a whole home surge protector. If you have never heard of one of these devices, give The Electric Connection a call to discover how they can save you hundreds of dollars by preventing damage to your electronics.

Every single day, there are power fluctuations in your home. This may be caused by large appliances like a refrigerator or air conditioner kicking off and on or things that are happening around the area. These minor power surges are not always noticeable, but they are damaging the sensitive electrical components in each of your devices. This can shrink the life expectancy of certain high-dollar appliances like your refrigerator, well pump, freezer and even the stove. More sensitive devices like computers, smart TVs, and gaming systems are easily damaged by these minor power surges.

Large surges can wipe out a computer board in an instant. Every electrical device has a board. When this happens, the appliance or gadget is ruined and will likely cost hundreds of dollars to repair. All of this can be avoided with a surge protector installed at the electric panel by an electrician. Pasadena homeowners can purchase a whole home surge protector for a couple hundred dollars. The investment could save hundreds, possibly thousands of dollars in damaged electronics. Lightning and power surges are part of our world. It makes sense to spend a little money now to prevent a lot of damage and hassle in the future. Give The Electric Connection a call today to schedule your installation.

When you go through the process of buying a home there are many processes and inspections that you expect. There is an appraisal to know the value of the house for both the bank loan and the homeowner’s insurance, and then there is the general home inspection which tries to identify any possible problems with the home. Many things can come up during this general inspection from issues with the roof to problems with the breaker box. Consider the following reasons for hiring an electrician to do an electrical system inspection on a house before signing the final closing papers.

A home inspection when you’re under contract can be a really stressful process; you never know what a general inspection will find. There could be any number of hidden problems that aren’t easily visible in the home. This is definitely the case with the electrical system.

Concerns such as a recalled breaker box, non-compliant outlets, or simply the age of the house could merit requesting the services of a certified electrician. That way you will know that an expert has been consulted with and any necessary repairs made.

Unfortunately, a home’s electrical wiring is often hard to see as most of it hides in the walls. However, expert electricians have the tools and know-how to spot problems that may be overlooked. Problems in the electrical system can cause many bigger issues including being a fire hazard. Having an electrician check a home prior to purchasing can help to mitigate any risk down the line.

Don’t forget to have the electrical system thoroughly checked by a certified electrician prior to closing on a new home. Contact Electrical Gurus today!

One of the least understood terms in LED Lighting is efficacy, or in simpler terms, how efficient is the light. It is typically measure in lumens/watt. Today, efficacy is becoming more and more important because efficacy varies greatly from product to product. What the consumer needs to be wary of is that you should not be mislead into thinking that just because you are switching from HID or fluorescent to LED that you are getting the best savings available. You also need to look at how efficient the LED product is to maximize the savings.

Here is an example of how this works. Let’s look at a two USA Made competitors LED Retrofit Kit compared to our 4th generation LED kit. All three units are designed to replace 400W HID

From this table, you can see that all products produce over 13,000 lumens, with the MyLEDLightingGuide product producing the most at 14,528 total lumens. It also consumes the least amount of energy of the three units at 105 watts, compared to 130 and 135 watts. For the record, all three products come with a 10 year warranty on the head and a 5 year warranty on the driver. MyLEDLightingGuide also offers a 10 year warranty on the driver as an optional upgrade.

But what does this all mean in terms of saving you $’s. Let’s take a typical scenario. Let’s say these retrofits are installed in MyLEDLightingGuide 105W retrofit kit. Multiply this number over 10 years and by the number of fixtures you have to replace, and this is real dollars. And let’s not forget the MyLEDLightingGuide retrofit kit is also much brighter than the competitors products.

So efficacy is important. It saves you money. But a well designed kit will also produce more light. Just think, without efficacy we wouldn’t have as great of savings, nor would we have more light production from the same amount of power.

Efficacy is huge in the world of lighting, and it is only going to get better year by year. Technology improves, lights improve, and thus; efficacy improves. In 10 years, lights that will be made are probably going to be 5x improved then they are today. And since they are already super efficient today, just imagine that times 5. Now that is efficacy!