How many light bulbs have you changed in your lifetime? It’s a simple action, and often one that we don’t put much thought into, but what if the simple act of changing a light bulb could make a profound impact on the environment, and the well-being of future generations?  As experienced www.EnergyStar.gov:

“If every American home replaced just one light bulb with a light bulb that’s earned the ENERGY STAR, we would save enough energy to light 3 million homes for a year, save about $600 million in annual energy costs, and prevent 9 billion pounds of greenhouse gas emissions per year, equivalent to those from about 800,000 cars.”

Think about the changes that you can make by simply replacing the outdated incandescent bulbs in your home as they burn out with one of the Alternative Lighting Solutions below. Here are some details on a couple of the most popular Alternative Lighting Solutions available.

Compact Fluorescent Lamp: Modern CFL bulbs for use in homes consist of a curved fluorescent tube and electronic ballast in a single unit, designed as a direct replacement for standard blubs. They use 3-4 times less power than comparable incandescent bulbs. These are great options to replace your standard light bulbs, but they do have a few small drawbacks. According to an article by PopularMechanics.com, while CFL’s do have a much longer lifespan than standard bulbs, they often lose some of their brightness long before their expected lifespan is up, and this is increased in fixtures that don’t allow for efficient cooling of the ballast located in the base of the bulb. Another documented fact about CFL bulbs is that they do contain mercury, which means that they must be disposed of properly by taking them your local approved recycling center. You wouldn’t throw a battery out with the daily trash would you? So you shouldn’t throw these out either.

Light Emitting Diodes: LED’s are a form of “solid state” lighting that have become available recently to homeowners as an incandescent and CFL replacement. Using small light emitting diodes mounted directly to circuit boards, these are highly efficient, and have fewer parts prone to failure, allowing for an expected realistic lifespan of 20,000 to 30,000 hours, when operated at recommended temperatures. While initial costs for these bulbs are higher than incandescent and CFL options, long term energy savings are where this alternative lighting option truly shines, with the average LED bulb using approximately 12-17% of the energy that it takes to run an incandescent bulb of similar output, the end result is a bulb that costs drastically less to power over time.

As a point of comparison, here is a simple chart of the energy usage of LED and CFL bulbs compared to incandescent bulbs, and the output associated with them:

Lighting technology has changed a lot in the past decade, and it is pretty amazing to see what could be on the horizon for future lighting innovations. Take this for example. While most homes will never need this amount of output, it’s pretty impressive to see that something the size of a Christmas tree light, like this plasma bulb, can put out more light, more efficiently, than the giant bulbs that we use in street lamps!

The great thing about these changes is that they aren’t something that requires a huge change in your lifestyle, so they are some of the easiest ways possible to help the environment, and lower electric bills while you are at it!

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Wouldn’t you like to keep your hard earned money in your pocket rather than pay it out on excessive electric bills? Californians get used to mild weather, but when those cold temps blow in, they are a real shock to the system. Your first reaction is to reach for the thermostat and crank it up. Unfortunately, if your home isn’t ready to ride out a cold snap, you could be paying double or triple what you really need to be to keep your home warm. These are some tips from your local electrician in Los Angeles to help retain the heat from your furnace in the home and save you money on your electric bill. The team at The Electric Connection is here to help.

• Spend some time adding weather stripping around your doors or windows. It is sold in a roll with self-sticking tape on one side. Simply peel and stick. This one little thing can block cold drafts from coming in as well as prevent your hot air from seeping out. During the summer, you can keep your air conditioned air in and the hot air out.

• If you have sliding glass doors or French doors, consider investing in heavy curtains. Again, these are great for the summer and winter months. You can block the cold by covering large windows with heavy curtains.

• Have your furnace or heat pump maintained. Keeping filters clean and the unit in good working order can save you a lot of money in repair costs as well as keep the unit operating in prime condition.

You don’t have to pay a lot for your Los Angeles electrical bill when you do these three simple things. You can reduce your heating and cooling bills by taking care of the little things around the house. If you have any more questions, give The Electric Connection a call today.

Now that the weather outside seems to have finally transitioned from frosty and cold to more seasonally appropriate, warmer conditions, homeowners across the Mid Atlantic are getting ready to dust off their gardening tools and begin tackling large-scale landscaping projects. However, before sprucing up the bushes with your sheers or using a weed whacker to edge your plot, make sure that you aren't putting yourself in harm{'}s way by conducting a precautionary inspection of your home's exterior wiring.

By becoming aware of where the electrical outlets and wiring on your property are, you'll be better prepared against the dangers of a costly mishap. For instance, you may have an important cluster of wires hidden behind an overgrown bush on your front lawn. If you were to accidentally cut or damage any of these wire, you are not only likely to cause a blackout within your home, but you may be at risk of electrocuting yourself.

In the same vein, wires run underground around most properties. It isn't uncommon for these wires to be placed only a few inches beneath a stretch of lawn along the perimeter of the house. If you were to shove a trowel into the ground at this point to maybe plant some vegetation, you could sever the wire, which would require you to potentially rewire the entire house.

This year marks our 15th anniversary, so we have been celebrating by taking trips down memory lane to 1999, the year of Pegasus Lighting’s birth. This month, of course, we are checking out what was going on in September 1999. Remember when Viacom merged with CBS, the Sega Dreamcast temporarily entranced the population, and lots of crazy stuff happened at the MTV Video Music Awards (In fact, the first five items on this list occurred during the VMAs)? Come check it out!

1. Lauren Hill Is the Queen of Hip Hop

Lil Kim had decided to wear a rather risque outfit to the VMAs, and Diana Ross decided to give the world her opinion of Kim’s outfit.

3. Mothers of Slain Rappers Unite

By presenting a host of male drag performers dressed as the singer in her past music videos, MTV paid tribute to the most nominated artist in VMA history, Madonna.

5. Beastie Boys Back with Vengeance

The first entry in the sixth genereation of video game consoles, slightly predating the Playstation 2, Xbox, and GameCube, was Sega’s Dreamcast. The last console Sega would ever release, its popularity was shortlived.

7. Viacom, Corporate Behemoth

U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno launches an independent investigation into the 1993 fire at the Branch Davidian church near Waco, Texas after watching a documentary film about it. Who says the movies don’t influence society?

9. John Elway’s Jersey Number Retired

NASA annouunced that it had lost contact with the Mars Climate Orbiter. Oops.

11. Ally McBeal Steals the Show

The Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series was given to The Practice. Also nominated were ER, Law & Order, NYPD Blue, and The Sopranos.

13. John Lithgow’s Still Got It!

The Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Acress in a Comedy Series was given to Helen Hunt for her role on Mad About You.

15. The Sopranos