St. Paddy’s Day is nearly here -- do you have your green outfit picked out? Regardless of whether or not you choose to go green in your mode of dress, St. Patrick’s Day is as good a day as any to go green with your energy consumption.

For most of us, conserving energy comes down to changing personal habits, and that can be difficult. So in the interest of starting small, Mister Sparky challenges you to pick one day to go green and see how easy it can be to make a change for the good of the planet.

To help you along the way, here are several ideas you can implement to reduce your carbon footprint over a 24-hour period:

Turn your thermostat down one extra degree all day, if you’re still using the furnace. If you live in a warmer region and are already using the air conditioning, turn the thermostat up a degree or shut it off altogether and open the windows. It’s an almost imperceptible difference in terms of comfort, but it adds up to real energy and money savings.

Turn off all electronics when they’re not in active use. This includes shutting down your computer fully -- sleep mode still uses energy!

Take public transportation for the day, or if the weather cooperates, ride your bike. If you have to take your car to work, ask around the office to see if anyone will carpool with you.

Be diligent about recycling. Many areas now have curbside recycling, which makes helping the planet easier than ever. But some trash still needs to be sorted or cleaned before it can go into the recycling bin, and unfortunately, not everyone takes the time. For your day of going green, make the effort to recycle every scrap of suitable trash.

Find a new way to go paperless. If you’re still receiving certain bills in the mail, see if you can register for an email alternative. If you’ve never e-filed your taxes before, make this the first year. You can even ditch the Post-It Notes and grocery lists by storing those little reminders on your phone.

Only run your washing machine or dishwasher when you have a full load -- otherwise, save it for another day.

If it is a laundry day, hang your clothes to dry. You don’t need to string up a line outside; just pick up an affordable drying rack that allows you to dry a whole load of clean clothes in a compact space.

Try dialing the temperature gauge back a notch on your hot water heater. We all like hot showers, but if your water heater is storing water at a higher temperature than you can comfortably tolerate, there’s room to cool things down a few degrees.

These are just a few quick and easy ways you can make a change. But if you’re ready to get serious about energy efficiency in your home, contact your local electrical experts to ask about energy audits, eco-friendly upgrades and other opportunities you maybe haven’t even heard about yet.

We have 168 hours in the week, and most of us spend 40 of those hours at our office. If we are spending this much time in one place, we want to make it a comfortable atmosphere for ourselves and others who are visiting. The appearance of your business can be influenced heavily by its lighting. Here are some business lighting solutions to keep in mind to help yourself and your business.

The last thing you want is to be sitting in a dark space day after day. Getting the proper lighting in your office will help lift your energy and make your space more enjoyable. When you look at your office space, can you identify dark spaces or dimly lit areas? If so, you are most likely in need of a lighting redesign. Using pot lights and spot lights can help to brighten up even the darkest corners without adding large fixtures to your space and reducing the height of the room. In rooms where you have no natural light at all, it is especially important that you have substantial lighting. Having only light from your monitor can create stress on your eyes.  Let an expert review your space and get your ceiling connected correctly with the right lighting.

For those businesses that are looking for foot traffic even at the late hours of the day or night, this is a big one to consider. The outside of your building should be well lit for potential customers to see. Not only does it make your business more appealing, but it also adds safety for both your customers and employees. Adding outdoor spot lights and overhead lighting can make all routes to your business visible and safer for everyone.

At this point most of us are tethered to our computers. Without them, little work can be done. So, if a power outage occurs, you could be looking at hours of downtime. Installing a backup generator can help to protect you from the unproductive hours. If a power outage occurs, the backup generator will engage to keep your electronics up and running. Computers, printers, registers, and tills can be continually used. An investment like this can pay for itself over the years.

Making your work a more enjoyable place can start with simple steps, like upgrading your lighting. Have one of our expert electricians visit your business and we can help you not only make it enjoyable for you and your customers, but more productive and safe.

By Clarissa Allison | October 16th, 2015

Many of us get excited to decorate for Halloween and Thanksgiving, but why should our homes miss out on the sheer delight and beauty of Fall colors for the rest of the season? If you love pumpkins, the warmth of gold and rust tones and ever-changing leaves, consider decorating with autumn-themed accessories this season. Some Halloween decor like brooms, scarecrows, and orange lights represent fall itself and can be extended beyond October decorations. If you’re looking for an understated alternative to ghostly props and frightful window clings, try dazzling your home and your guests with the following fall lighting ideas this year.