The first thing to consider when thinking about rewiring your home is the age of your house. In many incidents of house fires, the cause of the fire is traced back to the insulation surrounding wires in a home. If your house is more than 50 years old, you should give some serious thought to having it rewired, as homes older than this are those most likely to encounter such fires. At the very least, you should have the system inspected to verify its condition.

Are the outlets and switches in your home discolored? If so, this too is a sign that professional rewiring may be necessary. There may be shorts behind those outlets and switches that are causing arcing and sparks, which in turn can lead to small fires and this discoloration.

You are going to have to reset the circuits in your breaker from time to time. It should not, however, be an extremely frequent occurrence. If you notice that your circuit breaker is tripped very frequently, you may need to have the wires in your home replaced. Contact us to have the situation evaluated.

Diverse and impressive changes have been taking place in the lighting world this month. Read on to discover the fun and innovation!

In Lighting News…

Across the web, there was a consensus that LED holiday lights were the thing to have for the holidays. Not only are they energy-efficient, long lasting, and durable, they can also be interactive. We’ve seen families across the country creating Image via USA.Lighting.Philips.com

Other Cool Stuff…

In the last days of November, New York City residents were surprised by a light show atop the Empire State Building, synchronized to Alicia Keys’ “Empire State Of Mind.” The building’s new LED lighting system has over 16.7 million color possibilities, compared to the old system, which had only 10.

You probably know the iconic Pixar lamp – we usually see it hopping around before our movies start. Well, three students from Victoria University of Wellington have created a real-life replica of Luxo Jr., called Pinokio. With six servo motors, a webcam, some Arduino, and a bit of processing, the lamp came to life. Check out this video:

How about you? Any big lighting changes in your life this month? Please share!

It may seem way too early to think about ice on your roof, but summer is coming to a close in less than a month, and the milder temperatures are the perfect time to think about servicing your HVAC system, doing preparedness tasks around the home, and yes, thinking about the possibility of ice and snow on your roof when winter comes around.

At FB Electrical, we’ve recently acquired a boom truck that allows us to effectively and efficiently perform many important electrical services—de-ice cable installation being one. There are many beneficial reasons to have these cables installed on your roof this fall. We’ve shared a few below.

As you are likely aware, when water gets into a space and then freezes, it expands. Then when it melts, it takes up less space. As a result, it can leave cracks and breaks on your roof. If your roof is kept warm all winter however, then this freeze-thaw cycle may never happen.

When water sticks around your home for too long—be it at your foundation, on your roof, or in your attic—then mold and mildew are encouraged to grow. Standing water can create additional property damage as well. De-ice cables allows ice to thaw and evaporate more quickly than it would otherwise.

There are potentially DIY tasks you can do to try to limit ice and water damage to your roof. However we don’t recommend them as they can be dangerous for the average homeowner. We have the tools and the expertise, in addition to the knowledge of water runoff patterns, to do the job right the first time.

Ice can easily crack or clog your gutters just as it can the shingles of your roof. Keep your gutters working effectively by helping them divert water away from your home as it melts due to the de-icing cables.