Have you ever been busy in one part of your house and really needed to get talk to someone at your front door, in the kitchen or out in the garage? If that sounds like something that happens to you often, an intercom system may be the perfect solution. This is a project an electrician in Glendale can easily tackle for you, saving you the time and hassle of doing it yourself. Learn more about what intercom installation entails and give Electric Connection a call today.

First, when installing an intercom system, you must figure out what rooms in your home you may want to connect to the system. Generally, you will have a speaker at the front door and a place in your home you spend a significant amount of time—perhaps the kitchen. However, you may want additional receivers in the bedrooms or basement.

Each receiver you install will require both wiring and construction work to enable it to work correctly and look good. The most difficult part for many is installing it into the wiring of the home. This will involve working with the circuits and tapping into the wiring already in your walls. The construction aspect is tricky too—unless you know how to work with drywall, plaster or whatever substance of which the wall is constructed.

Finally, there are many different types of intercom systems, from basic to systems complex enough for large corporations. If you are unsure which one will work best for you, this is another reason to work with Electric Connection, the electrician Glendale residents trust. Give us a call today and we will be happy to discuss your needs for an intercom system today. Our team of experts can get started and have your home and family more connected than ever before.

Tired of breaking the bank just to keep up with the Joneses? Forget fancy cars and other status symbols. How about a way to maintain a friendly neighborly competition that actually involves saving money instead of spending? Americans have a wealth of resources at their disposal to empower families to cut back on energy consumption and reduce their electricity bills, but we don't do a stellar job of taking advantage of that information. Recent research, however, has shown that homeowners are more likely to take efficiency measures with their electrical work when they can compare their own consumption to that of their neighbors.

Whose Bill is the Lowest?

The experiment took place last summer, when the Vermont utility company Green Mountain Power worked with Opower, a software company that specializes in behavioral economics. During very hot days when air conditioning use was expected to be high, the utility reached out to customers with tips on reducing the amount of energy they need to power their home electrical work.

Afterward, the utility gave a report which ranked households in the neighborhood based on how well they had done on cutting back. By the end of the summer, electricity consumption among Green Mountain customers had dropped by five percent during hot days. That's some serious savings!

Peer Pressure at its Best

That five percent resulted from simple behavioral changes like bumping the thermostat up a few degrees and using curtains to block out sunlight during the hottest part of the day – no major investments or new equipment needed, just a little peer pressure. This research should be useful in helping understand what motivates people to save energy in order to develop more effective outreach programs for utility companies around the country.

One of the big takeaways is that the utility didn't give its customers any kind of incentives or payments to change their behavior – just the money they saved through efficiency, and the bragging rights of being more conservation-minded than their neighbors.

"Some of the decisions we make are not entirely rational, and they are due to a lack of context," Kevin Hamilton, Opower's vice president of marketing, said to Utility Drive, "and by providing that context you can encourage individuals to adjust their usage in ways that can benefit both the customer and the utility as well."

Little Changes Mean Big Savings

People come up with all kinds of reasons not to implement efficiency measures: It costs too much in initial capital, they are too busy to think about it, or they simply don't think the savings are worthwhile. But the reality is that even making small behavioral changes can add up in the long run.

If you want to decrease the cost of your electrical work and impress your neighbors, have a qualified home services technician perform an energy audit on your house to identify the most cost-effective ways for you to cut back.

We all need a little inspiration to reveal our true creativity. If you’ve tired of your boring bedroom’s look, here are five on-trend ideas on how to illuminate your dream bedroom getaway brilliantly.

1. Unexpected objects in the same color family. At first thought, using lamps that are large enough to be placed as floor lamps may seem like it would be cumbersome. But when sleek, unobtrusive and blending in with the surrounding scheme, this can be a fun surprise that draws the eye to details you wish to highlight, such as interesting wallpaper or art.

Outdoor lighting provides homeowners with the ability to make their property safe and easier to walk around at night. Not only will you feel more comfortable knowing what’s in your front yard, but you will also add visual appeal to your home too. If you want to improve outdoor safety through lighting, and at the same time add a little character to the outside of your home, then follow along to understand the potential upgrades you can make for outdoor lighting options.