The phrase “light recipe” is a good entry point into a conversation about LED lighting as a world-changing technology. While people originally thought of LEDs as a somewhat ineffectual light source good only for small electronic displays and then as a profound energy saver, we now understand that the potential for LEDs to change the world we live in is even more staggering than the way cell phones were first imagined to merely facilitate conversation and grew to be pocket PCs used for managing our social, economic, and artistic lives.

As much as some good task lighting and a ceiling full of recessed cans will make a room come alive, there’s nothing like airy, natural light. You can change your home’s color, its style, and even its structure, but when it comes to the amount of sun you get, you can rarely change much. How much natural light you home receives depends on so many different factors both in and outside of your house – the direction your home faces, the topography and structures around, the number of windows you have – these can be costly or just impossible to fix.

So, when you’re on the market for a new house, be sure to consider the lighting potential of any dwelling – lest you end up with a dungeon, or an oven.

Here are some questions to keep in mind when scoping out a new property:

Normally, south-facing homes get sun at the front of the house, and for most of the day. They tend to be brighter and warmer. A house that faces north gets light at the back and is cooler and darker. This may be especially important to note depending on your climate. When it’s cool most of the year, you may want a house that’s naturally a little warmer, if it’s warm for most of the year, you may prefer a house that doesn’t make you cook.

Also be sure to take a look around your property and note what could potentially affect your light. Does your house face an open field, or another row of houses? Are you at the base of a hill that will cast a shadow for most of the day, or at the top, almost always exposed to sunlight? These factors will influence the brightness in your home, and also the temperature.

Once your house is built, it can be costly and time-consuming to add or remove windows. So, before taking the plunge and becoming a home owner, make sure to consider the size, shape, and placement of your windows, and what that means for the home’s natural light levels.

Are there large trees close to the house blocking out the light? Will a close-by lake reflect directly into your windows? Are the windows crazy tiny or just too big? Be sure to consider modifications – window coverings you’ll have to buy, foliage you’ll have to trim – and whether or not they would make a difference.

Breaker boxes or commonly called electrical panels are the modern day replacements for fuses boxes.  Breakers are the electrical devices that go into a panel or breaker box.  Breakers can easily be reset by flipping there switch versus having to unscrew and completely replace a fuse.  A circuit breaker can automatically open or trip upon an overload or a short circuit protecting the circuit and the appliances plugged into the circuit from possible damage.  For larger equipment such as those used in commercial or industrial applications switchgear is commonly used to protect and control equipment.

There is a lot of brands of breaker boxes or electrical panels on the market with some better than others.  Most breakers boxes on the market have been proven to be reliable and operate correctly and safely.  Brands such as Seimens, Square D, and Cutler-Hammer offer superior products and can provide the best protection possible with installed correctly.

Most brands that we currently know have safety and fire hazards have been pulled off the market.  However a lot of these brands that have been pulled off the market are in thousands and in some cases hundreds of thousands of homes across the nation.  One of the worst brands of electrical panels we see in the Des Moines market is Federal Pacific brand breaker boxes.  Federal Pacific panels were most commonly uses from 1960’s to the 1980’s.  These panels have circuit breakers that simply do not trip or open the circuit properly to provide the necessary protection.  Federal Pacific panels have been linked to countless fires and have even resulted in death.  If you have a Federal Pacific breaker box in your home we highly recommend it be replaced by a licensed electrician as soon as possible.  Another brand we advise immediate replacement on is Zinsco panels.  Certain types of Zinsco panels have been linked to several fires.  If you own a Zinsco panel we recommend it be replaced by an licensed electrician.

Competition is a wonderful thing. It makes us want to strive to be better, and keeps us working hard.  But competition isn’t perfect; there’s always another option, and you can’t always tell right away what option is the best deal or the highest quality. It is easy to determine the quality when it comes to something inexpensive; if you don’t like a brand of motor oil or breakfast cereal, you can always buy something different next time. But what happens if you pick a bad electrician?  Failing to spot bad electrical contractors, could mean you’ll wind up paying way too much for your service. Paying too much might actually be the best-case scenario; shoddy electrical work done by “electricians” is a safety hazard, and one you might not even know about until it’s too late.

So how do you find quality electricians? As a Dallas electrician myself, I’ve learned over the years how to make sure the electrician you use is knowledgeable and high-quality: