From movies candle-lit dinners, lighting is one of the most important factors in everything we do.  Science and technology teams around the world have put an amazing amount of effort into developing the sturdiest, longest-lasting lights for any application you can think of.  Color, saturation, brightness, and even beam shape are all important when it comes to picking the right light for the situation.  The best part?  Mood lighting is a careful art that’s pretty easy to pull off once you know which settings work best.  Romantic lighting is especially simple and can set the stage so long as you have the right room and the right lights.

It could be our culture that has led us to see certain settings as romantic.  But there are also a few scientific aspects of lighting that genuinely make a setting more romantic.  While it may be that decades of amber-colored lights or the flicker of candlelight have fashioned our notions of what makes for romantic lighting, there’s also the effect of the light itself to consider.

Light with a low color temperature (below 3000K, or ‘yellow’ light) produces a very interesting effect on surfaces.  These lights, which are standard for most incandescent lamps, soften features and improve appearances.  If you want to look good, use an incandescent lamp.  While not ideal for getting ready in the morning, a standard light gives that warm and cozy feeling we all enjoy from standard incandescent bulbs.

The next step is to keep the lights dimmer than normal.  Dimmer lighting creates a closer, more intimate feeling to any room.  But there is a trick to this.  Don’t simply remove a few light bulbs from the dining room, you need to use an actual dimmer.  Uneven lighting is jarring and distracting.  Removing lamps or relying on recessed lights that have been dimmed can ruin the effect.  Recessed lighting that’s been dimmed can create cave-lighting (when there are unintended dark corners along the upper part of the wall).  Uneven lighting isn’t cozy, it’s distracting.  Use a dimmer switch.  Just be sure to match your dimmer to the type of lights you’re using.  If you plan to use LED lamps, make sure the dimmer is compatible with your brand of LEDs.

When we say to keep lighting even, we don’t mean equal throughout the room.  Even lighting in this case is designed to highlight focus areas.  Think about how restaurants stagger their lighting, with islands of light at each table and muted lights everywhere else.  If you want the greatest effect, use a fixture that focuses a soft light where you’ll be spending your time while ambient lighting casts a light glow everywhere else.

A romantic setting demands more than just the right lighting.  Pair the lighting with a favorite meal or entertainment.  Some background music will set things off nicely, but only if you select something that matches the mood.  You may enjoy electronic dubstep, but when the lights are lower something quiet and soothing is the way to go.

For the best in quality electrical repair work and installations, contact the professionals at Custom Electric!  Be sure to check back here each week for helpful advice, news, and guides or follow us on Facebook and Twitter!

Categories: Holiday Lighting« Why You Should Use a Surge Protector  |  What is a Circuit Panel? »

In our previous blog, the professionals at Electrical Gurus gave out some ways tips for increasing the safety of holiday decorations throughout the holiday season. Today, we’ll share even more ways to safely and effectively decorate your home this holiday season.

Even if the lights are unplugged when you’re hanging them (which is advised), be sure to never use nails, screws, or tacks to hang your Christmas lights; instead, opt for clips for interior and exterior applications. This will keep your wires from accidentally becoming nicked or frayed during or after the hanging process, which can get dangerous quickly.

Never use extension cords that don’t feature ground or are not rated for outdoor usage outdoors to avoid electrocution risk. Furthermore, it is especially advisable to only plug lights into GFCI outlets, especially if they are plugged into the exterior of your home. These outlets will essentially shut themselves off in the event of a short, which is crucial to avoiding safety concerns.

Always use timers for decorations and lights to prevent yourself from forgetting to turn them on or off. Lights should never be left on when nobody is home, which is why it is advisable to turn them off during daytime hours when the family is out-and-about. Timers keep your home safe by preventing power from flowing through the lights during the day, automatically activating them in the evening hours.

Large decorations, cords, and lights should all be kept well away from tripping hazards. Of special note is extension cords, which should never be allowed to cross walkways without proper coverage. Ideally, extension cords shouldn’t be run along open space in any way. If someone trips over one decoration, then odds are all attached decorations are at risk for getting dislodged or damaged.

If your home has the proper circuit breakers, there is little risk of a fire starting from overloading an outlet; that doesn’t mean it is wise to plug in numerous strands of lights into a single outlet. Spread the burden of lights and decorations across numerous breakers whenever possible to avoid taxing your electrical panel too much in certain areas. If your home is not equipped with a circuit breaker and still uses outdated fuses, please give us a call right away to talk about upgrading your panel.

We hope you’re safe this holiday season, but if you happen to overload your circuit breakers or have a concern about the lighting of your holiday decorations, be sure to give us a call right away. The electricians at Electrical Gurus want to help to keep every Des Moines family happy and healthy throughout the holiday season.

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.

If you work in hazardous locations and conditions, you would understand the need to promote safety and ensure that the risk of explosions is reduced. It is crucial that you eliminate one or more component of the ignition triangle to minimize the chances of an explosion. The 3 protection methods listed below are widely used in hazardous locations, in the process control industry:

Before we delve a little deeper and understand these techniques, let’s take a quick look at the role electrical enclosures.

Electrical enclosures are cabinets containing different electrical components such as switches, sockets, plugs, knobs, transformers and controls. These keep the surroundings safe from any kind of electrical hazard. Such enclosures are resistant to spark and shock and they have a high tolerance to extreme temperatures. They must be used in hazardous locations as they keep an interior explosion from spreading to the external environment and damaging life and property. Let’s see how they are relevant in the Containment method of protection: