Bryant Electric Service was recently inundated with calls the morning after a strong wind/thunderstorm blew through Austin.  This happens every time.  Although many calls were customers needing their power restored after tree limbs took down their overhead power line, there were also many calls wanting our service techs to come out to check their whole electrical system because of nearby lightning strikes damaging many of their home appliances and electronic devices.

With the enormous amount of electronics that are now being installed in almost every device that can be plugged into any power or phone/data outlet, it has become evident that having whole house power/data surge protection installed is imperative.

When lightning strikes it creates a huge static electrical field that, like the bolt itself, seeks the easiest path of least resistance to the ground.  The easiest path for this static current is your overhead electrical and phone/cable lines that run up and down your street and all of which connect directly to your house.  When this happens, it destroys the very delicate, low voltage instruments that are now installed in most appliances:  refrigerator, dishwasher, microwave, oven, coffee makers, washer/dryer, A/C and furnace, thermostat, garage door opener, sprinkler system control, etc.  These are all affected by power surges going throughout your electrical wiring system.  Then there are your TVs, computers, modem, hand-held charging devices, VCR, TV signal box, Bluetooth and your telephone, if you still have one, and these are all affected by the power surge through your phone/data cables.

If you are interested in receiving a cost estimate to have this protection installed in your house, please contact us at Bryant Electric Service and one of our dispatchers will be happy to help you.

Office spaces are a place for color temperature of 5600k, we don’t need to quite match this. A level between 5000k to 6000k will do fine for an office environment to prevent sleepiness.

Exposure to non-artifical light (aka, natural light from the sun) is known to this post by luxreview.com that should lead you in the right direction.

From there, ensuring you know all of the rules in your area will be the best route to ensuring you aren’t breaking any laws with an improper lighting system. The added benefit to following these rules is you can drastically reduce any possible liabilities you may incur if you had otherwise ignored these rules. So, we find it best to follow them!

Additional considerations

Not only are the above tips important to consider, but strongly considering LED office light technology can prove to supply the above benefits along with the following:

Energy savings.

It’s not uncommon for companies to list of 9 ways LED beats fluorescent on our blog, it’s certainly worth checking out.

Longer lifespans.

Longer life spans by 2 to 3 times is very common when converting to LED from other lighting technologies, just as much as its very common for the insane energy savings we talked about above.

This has two mains benefits which we always talk about: the less often need to buy replacement tubes as well as fewer maintenance costs to pay someone to replace those lights. We like to think of the second as an indirect way longer lifespans saves you money, and it’s certainly a great benefit.

Conclusion

We’ve not only covered tips to consider when implementing a better lighting system into your office but also why LED might be a great option for doing so while also reducing overhead costs. Hopefully, by following these tips you find your way to a more productive office and lower overhead.

If you’ve ever watched the show “Holmes on Homes” on HGTV, you’ve likely seen the problems associated with old or faulty wiring.  Mike Holmes tends to get very agitated by safety issues, and for good reason.  Each year, over 40,000 homes suffer fire damage due to home electrical problems.  These electrical fires account for hundreds of deaths and thousands of injuries.  And what’s the main culprit?  Old wiring!

If you live in a classic home built before 1940, chances are you have old wiring in the house.  You may have knob-and-tube or Romex wiring, both of which can become brittle over time.  The insulation dries out and starts to crumble, causing the inner wire to become exposed. The cloth insulation around the wire deteriorates with age and eventually becomes unsafe.

But perhaps one of the biggest threats of Romex and knob-and-tube wiring is that these types of wires aren’t grounded.  That means if one of your appliances shorts out, you could become the path to the ground for the electricity.

Even if your home is only 20 or 30 years old, you could still experience electrical problems at home due to a lack of capacity.  Most homes built more than 10 years ago are not designed to handle the amount of electronics we use today.  Think about it:  if your house was built in 1980, it was built before home PCs and laptops and HDTVs and surround sound and all of the other toys and gadgets we use today.  These appliances can draw a lot of power, and your current electrical wiring may not be up to the task.

If you own one of the one million houses in the DFW area that’s more than 20 years old, it’s a good idea to have a licensed electrician come out and take a look at the wiring.  He or she can make sure that your house will be safe and productive for many years.

ElectricMan Inc. is one of Plano’s most trusted electricians. Nick Schaeffer, Mr. ElectricMan himself, has quite the resume for a master electrician. He started the company by himself in 2004 and hasn’t looked back since! For more information about Electricman’s list of electrical repair services, please visit www.ElectricManInc.com

Is it time to update your outlets? This may not be the easiest question to answer! Your outlets are a fairly commonplace thing in your home—usually if they’re not acting up, they’re pretty much ignored. Unfortunately, by the time you get to the place where your outlets are acting up, you could be putting yourself in danger of a serious electrical malfunction or fire.

So what are some signs that you need to update your outlets? Let the experts at Kolb Electric answer!

There are a few sure-fire signs you need new outlets.

Along with these signs, you could need a new outlet for any of the appliances listed below. If your home isn’t wired to appropriately power them, you could experience frequent tripped breakers!

Outdated or insufficient wiring is so much more than an inconvenience; it’s a safety hazard. There is a much higher consumption of electricity today than ever before, meaning that you need wiring that can meet these increasing demands.

Rewiring is a major job—and one that should only be handled by professional electricians—however it can be vital to keeping you and your family safe. But how do you know if it’s time to rewire your home? Be aware of the following 5 signs.

Old age is the enemy of most appliances and components in your home. The average age of a home in America is about 30 years old. If this is the case for your home, and it still has its original wiring, then chances are it’s outdated and needs an upgrade.

The 21st century has brought us a plethora of technological advancements and electronic devices and appliances. This includes smart phones, tablets, gaming systems, exercise equipment, and so much more. Electrical systems are simply not equipped to handle all of this, particularly if your home was built in the 80’s or prior. It just puts too much strain on your wiring.

Do you plan on eventually selling your home? If your wiring is outdated, then many buyers and even mortgage lenders may be discouraged. Wiring in older homes often doesn’t meet National Electrical Code standards, which a rewire can help solve.

Overloading electrical outlets—in a best case scenario—will cause your circuit breakers to trip. It also leads to overheating, fire, or electrical shocks. By investing in a rewire, you can add more outlets and switches, bringing your house up to date.

Other signs that it is time to rewire your house include visibly worn electric cables, electrical shocks from appliances, sockets, and switches, outlets and cords that get warm from use, fuses that blow regularly, frequent power outages, and the use of two-pronged outlets rather than three-pronged.