Low-voltage landscape lighting is a simple improvement that can make an enormous impact on the beauty and appearance of your home after dusk, as well as its safety and security. Installed along walkways, steps, and driveways, or directed up at trees, garden objects and walls, the typical low-voltage lighting system requires just three components: a transformer, low-voltage electrical cable, and the fixtures.

What’s all the buzz about? Through smart-tech and general technology improvements, modern homes are getting safer and safer every year, which we can all be happy about. But that doesn’t mean we as homeowners should let our guard down! Electrical safety is still a big, big deal, and tons of fires are reported every year due to electrical failures or misuse. Some of the causes are even really odd, or something you might not expect. Do you know all of the dangers potentially lurking in your home?

At Kolb Electric, your safety and the electrical safety of your home is our absolute priority in all cases. Superior electrical service may be our pride, but safety will always come first and foremost! Today we’re here to talk about some hidden home threats, and what you can do to avoid them.

Looking for electrical services for your Bethesda home? Contact Kolb Electric today!

We all know that there are risks with say, outlets, or a damaged appliance. But there are plenty of problems that can come right out of the woodwork (sometimes literally!). Be aware of these potential problems, and prepare your home accordingly:

Need some trustworthy service from a certified electrician to shore up the defenses in your Maryland home? Contact Kolb Electric today! We’ve been putting the needs of our consumers first and foremost for nearly a century, and our experts are always ready to assist!

If you are planning on renovating or sprucing-up your kitchen, it’s probably a good idea to map out a detailed lighting plan as well. Most people find this a little strange as they feel that lighting in a kitchen isn’t something that needs too much of consideration or planning. It’s just a place where you cook and probably where you have an informal meal after all.

However, the fact is that it’s important to plan kitchen illumination well if you want to make optimal use of your kitchen spaces. Here, we would like to share some basic lighting ideas to create the right balance of functionality and aesthetics.

If you want to get a better idea about what type of lighting would work best for your kitchen, it’s vital to understand how your kitchen spaces relate to the different type of lighting. Let’s start off with understanding what type of bulbs you can use for the best effects:

These bulbs emit a yellowish light and you will now find many artistic versions of these on the market today.

These bulbs throw off a flat, cold light that has a bluish tinge, which lends a very harsh effect to the room.

These have a warm light that makes the place look very inviting and comfortable

These are the latest in light bulb technology and are available in a range of effects including white, cool daylight, warm light, yellow and a range of other colours and hues. Aside from this, LED bulbs are also 80% more energy-efficient than standard bulbs; and most property owners are now opting for these fixtures.

In addition to the types of bulbs used, the style of lighting or the lighting effects are what impact the ambience and appearance of a room. With this in view, here we discuss the different lighting effects that can be used in your kitchen:

This is one of the simplest ways to create the right lighting effect in your kitchen. This type of lighting is designed to help you move comfortably around the room. In most instances this type of lighting comes from grid-style can lighting, widely-spaced, wall and ceiling lamps, semi-translucent skylights or even the natural light that streams in through glass windows and doors. This is the base layer of any lighting plan.

In your kitchen, task lighting would be required to illuminate kitchen counters and food preparation spaces. Since you will be cooking in your kitchen every day, it’s important that the task lighting be planned and installed well. If you have only recessed lighting fixtures in your kitchen, you will feel the lack of focused light when you are cleaning, cooking or prepping in that space.

If you install one-dimensional lighting in the kitchen, it creates unsightly shadows in different areas of the room, while ceiling lighting is ineffective in illuminating spaces like sinks, under counter or cabinet areas etc. On the other hand, if you add special pendant lamps over the counters or even your kitchen island it can prove to be a more practical solution. Under-cabinet lighting can also help in illuminating the cabinets that are positioned there.

This effect doesn’t seem as necessary as ambient or task lighting does in a kitchen space, as the illumination it provides isn’t as functional as the first two. However, it can have a significant impact on the way your kitchen spaces look. If you want to enhance the appeal of your kitchen (regardless of whether you are getting it entirely renovated or are opting for a lighting upgrade), it’s important that you plan your accent lighting well.

Ever considered utilizing solar energy in your Maryland home? If not, you might give it a glance. Not only is solar energy tech really quite cool, it boasts some unique benefits as well. But, of course, like any decision you make about the home, it all really boils down to its effectiveness, and possibly more importantly, the cost.

At Kolb Electric, we want to bring you all of the latest information and tech! Our team is excited about the advent of solar energy, and sharing what we know is just part of the superior service we provide.

When being used? Practically nothing, aside from maintenance. For solar energy, it’s all about the installation. While solar power isn’t exactly a new thing, implementing it in a larger capacity in United States homes kind of is. In a mainstream sense, at least. Preppers, ingenuitive farmers, and tech nerds have been using it for years.

So, as a reasonably newer need, solar tech installation, such as panels and solar-supported equipment are understandably rather expensive. Assume your home uses the US average amount of electricity (between 600 and 800 kWh) per month. With this estimate, assume you’re wanting you fully solar your home.

You’d be looking at anywhere between $20,000 to $40,000. Do understand that this is a very broad estimate, as individual factors about your home can lower or raise that drastically. There is an endless number of variables involved here, including how much power you want, how large your home is, your solar energy needs, etc.

You would also have to take into account maintenance, as solar equipment will require very specialised training and tools to keep working at maximum potential. Bottom line, how much does solar energy cost? Next to nothing, if anything at all. The equipment, on the other hand, we…it’s an investment.

But Is Solar Energy Worth It in Washington, DC?

Above is a map of average energy savings in the US, courtesy of Energysage.

Depending on exactly how you’re going to utilize the solar power, probably yes. Especially (and almost exclusively) if you intend to make your current home permanent. As in you plan on staying there for fifteen, twenty years. To find more exact answers and suss out whether solar power might be something you’re interested, we would highly recommend consulting an energy specialist.

Need superior electrical services in Maryland, DC, or Virginia? Contact Kolb today!