When you’re looking for an electrician, look for someone with whom you can form a long-term relationship. It’s going to save you a lot of time and money if you can find someone whom you trust to get the job right the first time and give you the right price.

Find Recommended Companies

You can get recommendations for electricians from friends and neighbors. You can also search on-line for electrician Beverly Hills CA, and so on. If you add the word reviews to your search, you can look through company reviews.

Another approach is to search websites that feature reviews. Reviews appear on many websites including Google Places, Yelp.com, AngiesList.com, and CitySearch.com. AngiesList.com is an excellent source of recommendations for contractors but requires a small annual membership fee. On Angie’s List, you can see how customers rated their contractors, including electricians, and details of how their jobs went.

When looking at customer reviews, take a look at the big picture. Is there one bad review among the many good ones? Is it just a grumpy customer? Is there a company reply that clears things up or says that it has corrected its employee?

Once you have three or so recommended electricians, take a look at their websites.

Check the Electrical Company Website

* Is it presentable and well-maintained?

* Easy to find what you’re looking for?

* Friendly, helpful, and not cluttered with hard-sell advertising?

* How many good testimonials?

If the website checks out, it’s time to interview the electrician.

Interview

When you talk with the Beverly Hills electrician, pay attention to how comfortable you are, including your trust level. I’ve listed questions that you can ask. If you’ve already gotten glowing recommendations or it’s a small repair job like fixing a broken light switch, you probably wouldn’t want to ask them all. But if you aren’t talking with a recommended electrician and you’re planning a remodel, ask away.

Experience with your type of work

Years in business. Most companies which have stayed in business a long time have managed to keep their customers satisfied. They’ve also gathered a lot of useful experience and competence.

* Contractor’s License Number

* Liability Insurance and Workers Comp Insurance. It’s desirable that the company carry at least $1 million in liability insurance to protect your home should their work create property damage. Workers Comp provides for medical care for the electricians should they be injured on your job. Again, this protects you from liability.

* Guarantees. Some companies offer a lifetime guarantee on their work. This wouldn’t generally include the electrical parts that they install – that’s covered by the manufacturer’s guarantee. However, the electrician should give you at least a several-year guarantee on labor. A guarantee up to the life of your home is best.

* Better Business Bureau (BBB) rating. Ask for the exact company name that you should look and in which city. Sometimes, the BBB will use a slightly different name, possibly the formal legal name of the company.

* Pricing

* Website address if you don’t already have it

* Names and contact info for five clients

Take notes on all this, particularly the License Number. If you decide to go ahead, you may wish to check some of what the electrician has said. If you decide not to go ahead, no need to proceed any further with this electrician in Beverly Hills CA. But save the notes so that you can remind yourself later of which companies you’ve already ruled out. The Electric Connection, a licensed Beverly Hills electrician, is a top choice for a dependable electrical contracting company.

Visit our company profile.

Everyone likes to save energy, right? You’re reducing your impact on the environment and saving money on utility bills at the same time – talk about a win-win scenario. However, despite the obvious benefits, the percentage of Americans who take energy efficiency steps in their lives is actually dropping, according to a recent poll. Read on to find out more.

Commitment to Energy-Saving Decisions

The survey, conducted by the Harris Poll, did contain some good news. A relatively high percentage of respondents take some actions to reduce their energy use – 75 percent of people, for example, said that they turn off lights and televisions when they aren't being used. That's a good first step. However, last year the number was 79 percent, and it reached as high as 82 percent in 2012. What gives?

One explanation is that money talks. Natural gas and oil prices have been relatively low in recent years, so people just might not be paying attention to every last megawatt.

"Even though understanding of energy sources remains at historical levels, in the last few years fewer consumers are taking steps to reduce energy consumption in their homes," Carol M. Gstalder, Reputation & Public Relations Practice Leader for Harris Poll, said in a press release. "As energy prices drop, so do consumers' commitment to energy-saving decisions from replacing light bulbs and water heaters to installing solar."

Lax Attention Across the Board

The Harris Poll laid out other areas where the survey found a reduction in consumer efficiency strategies:

Renewable Fuels Popular, Coal Not so Much

Taking another tack, Americans have some strong opinions about what types of fuels are best to keep feeding our energy addiction. Renewables are popular, with 78 and 75 percent of respondents saying that the benefits of solar and wind, respectively, outweigh the costs.

Getting the short end of the opinion stick were nuclear energy and coal. About 42 percent of respondents thought the risks outweighed the benefits for nuclear, with only 34 percent responding positively. And 46 percent of people gave a thumbs-down to coal, with 34 percent still in favor.

How You Can Do Better

If you want to uncover more ways to save energy in your home, have a home services technician conduct an energy audit to discover any waste and inefficiencies. You'll be in a knowledgeable minority: Only 11 percent of Americans have had an energy audit, the poll found.

It’s no secret that the lighting in a room can change the whole atmosphere of that space. From highlighting certain areas of the room to making rooms appear larger than they are, placement and type of lighting are integral to the interior design of your home.

When choosing indoor lighting, you’ll want to consider the color of your rooms, the room sizes, availability of natural light, and your furniture selection. These are all factors that our team can advise you one when you give us a call.

In general, darker color choices tend to make a room feel smaller and cramped, while light colors do the opposite. The illusion of space, for the most part, is defined by light reflecting off the surfaces of walls. So options such as track lighting or recessed lighting can do a lot to make a small room look bigger.

Perhaps it goes without saying that lighting needs to serve a purpose. Decorative lighting with no purpose won’t do much else than waste electricity. Think about this when choosing your lamps and lighting fixtures, as you may be attracted to a certain type, but perhaps it isn’t the best fit for the room you’ve intended it for.

Corner lamps, wall sconce lighting, and centrally hanging lights on a ceiling are all great for helping to brighten a room if natural lighting is not available. This helps create a visually larger space whether it’s a bedroom, office, kitchen, etc.

Another thing to consider is skylights or large windows if you want more natural light, or using sheer drapes and curtains rather than shutters to allow the maximum amount of light from your current windows. Of course, if these options aren’t available to you we can help you make the most of your lighting to create a similar effect.