Wiring, cabling, and NM cable (romex) have changed over the years.  Depending on the age of your home it will most likely represent the type of wiring you have throughout your walls, ceilings, and floors.  Have one of our trained professionals identify the type and condition of the wiring in your home.  Older homes can have knob and tube wiring, cloth covered, and various PVC coated types of wiring.  Our electricians can perform an “electrical rewire” eliminating old and outdated and even dangerous wiring.  Like most things in life wiring can have a life span also.  People often take for granted the condition of the wiring in there home.  Only noting the condition of the old wiring when something happens or its to late. Take the time have your homes wiring inspected from one of our licensed electricians that specialize in old wiring.

Do you live in an older home with original wiring?  Chances are your home does not have the necessary circuits and ampacity to handle todays electrical demands.  Modern day demands were not figured in your homes original electrical plans.  Your wiring may have not been planed for dishwashers, high powered microwaves, garbage disposals, powerful vacuum motors, and all the electronics, lighting, and gadgets we have in our homes today.  Without the proper dedicated circuits, your homes wiring can be come overloaded.  Combine overloaded wiring with outdated fuses, breakers boxes and you have a set up for disaster.  Many older breaker type boxes do not trip or stop the flow of electricity at proper level or ampacity.  If you have a circuit that has had an appliance added to it or is generally just overloaded. The breaker may be allowing to much current to go through the wiring causing it to heat up and bake the wires insulation over time.  This heating of the cable can make the insulation on the wire become brittle even crack which can lead to a short circuit or spark causing a fire.

Our electricians can provide you with a safe and cost effective solution to your homes older wiring.  Our electricians are experts at electrical rewires and specialize in older homes.  They have many specialized tools and unique tools designed to get to wiring to the necessary places without damaging your homes walls or ceilings.  Tools such as wall cameras, fish rods, magnetic wire pullers, fish tapes, and wire tracers can be used to perform electrical rewires more efficiently and safely then ever before.  We can pull the proper permits for any city or county in the state of Iowa.  If you live in Des Moines, Ankney, Norwalk, West Des Moines, Altoona, Indianola, Ames, Grimes, Johnston or any Des Moines metro city we can help you with your homes electrical wiring every step of the way.

Do you need more space for a growing family? One of the tradeoffs to buying a larger home is having to pay more in utility costs for heating, cooling and other appliance use. However, advances in energy efficiency mean that you can offset some of that increased consumption. That means you save money and worry less about your energy use, even if you just bought the mansion you always dreamed of.

Bigger Houses and Bigger Households

We like our homes bigger. The average American home size has grown  20 percent since 1980, and we've been filling those homes with ever more electricity-dependent devices, like televisions, computers and household appliances. Fortunately, over 70 percent of the growth in household and building size has been offset by efficiency improvements, according to the Energy Information Administration.

Total energy use by U.S. households inched up each year between 1980 and 2009, the EIA Residential Energy Consumption Survey reports. That is because of various reasons, including more households, larger households and a trend toward bigger houses. However, consumption per square foot actually dropped by 37 percent during that time period -- and if it hadn't, the total increase would have been considerably higher.

Residential energy accounted for 21 percent of total U.S. consumption in 2012 so the cumulative savings are significant. The numbers are astronomical -- residential usage increased from 9.3 quadrillion BTUs (British thermal units) in 1980 to 10.2 quadrillion by 2012 -- and without additional efficiency measures the total would have increased by another 3.6 quadrillion BTUs.

Multifaceted Efficiency Efforts

There are numerous factors driving the efficiency revolution: Stricter consumer appliance standards, local building codes geared toward efficiency and federal tax credits, in addition to awareness outreach programs and labeling efforts like the federal Energy Star program have all contributed to the reduction in consumption per square foot.

If you want to save the most energy, smaller is always better when it comes to houses. There's less space to heat and less to cool. However, if you need the extra space, take heart knowing that technological and behavioral improvements mean that a large house doesn't gobble up nearly as much energy as you might expect.

For more ideas on how to decrease your consumption, ask a home services expert to evaluate your home. He or she can help you find new ways to save no matter the size of your home.

Call local Mister Sparky® for more energy efficiency tips and advice. We're always here to help!

Bring a bit of Henri Bendel’s “Hirschfeld Spectacular” into your home this holiday season. Join in the fun and enter Capitol Lighting’s Chandelier sweepstakes, and you could be the lucky winner of the magnificent Swarovski chandelier that is currently being featured in the holiday window display at Henri Bendel’s Fifth Avenue store in New York City!

Crystorama provides the lighting; Swarovski showcases the Elements; Henri Bendel creates the most dazzling holiday window displays; and Capitol Lighting presents the opportunity for a lucky winner to bring it all home for the holidays!

A lighting industry leader, Crystorama has teamed up with Swarovski to provide 16 chandeliers for the famed Henri Bendel holiday window display on Fifth Avenue. This year’s display, the “Hirschfeld Spectacular,” honors the late Al Hirschfeld, an American caricaturist best known for his black and white portraits of celebrities and Broadway stars.  

Adding to the enchantment—Crystorama and Capitol Lighting/1800lighting.com are hosting a holiday sweepstakes for a Crystorama chandelier featuring Swarovski Elements.

Hirschfeld Spectacular at Henri Bendel  

The main window of the Henri Bendel flagship store has been transformed into the formal dining room of a classic New York townhouse in the midst of a holiday party.  The celebrated party guests-all Al Hirschfeld’s line drawings translated into three-dimensions—include: Carol Channing, Whoopi Goldberg, Sarah Jessica Parker, Liza Minelli, Marilyn Monroe, Audrey Hepburn, Bernadette Peters, and Woody Allen.

At the center of the window hangs a large gold-plated Crystorama chandelier sparkling with Swarovski Elements.   The centerpiece of the atrium is Henri Bendel’s iconic two-story tree, covered in malachite.  Atop the tree is Al Hirschfeld’s Charlie Chaplin, also sculpted in three-dimensions, looking down at all who enter the store.

Fifteen Crystorama chandeliers with Swarovski Elements adorn the tree’s many branches.

The display will be up through January 2, 2014 and can be seen at the Henri Bendel flagship store located at 712  5th Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10019.

Chandelier Sweepstakes with Capitol Lighting

During Capitol Lighting’s “12 Days of Giving” social media campaign, the grand prizewinner will receive a Crystorama chandelier from the Maria Theresa Collection featuring Swarovski Elements.

Capitol Lighting will be announcing the contest on its Facebook page on December 12 with a photo featuring the chandelier prize. To enter, fans must “like” both the Crystorama and Capitol Lighting Facebook pages and “share” the announcement photo from Capitol Lighting on their own page and tag both companies; the winner will be announced on December 20, 2013.

  About Swarovski

Swarovski delivers a diverse product portfolio of unmatched quality, craftsmanship and creativity. Founded in 1895 in Austria, Swarovski Crystal Business is famous for natural and created gemstones, fine jewelry and accessories, and dazzling light fixtures.

Now run by the fifth generation of family members, Swarovski Crystal Business has a global reach, with over 2 350 stores in about 170 countries, 25,135 employees and revenues of 2.38 billion Euros in 2012. Together with its sister companies Swarovski Optik (optical devices) and Tyrolit (abrasive), Swarovski Crystal Business forms the Swarovski Group.

About Henri Bendel

Famous for his signature brown and white striped hatboxes and shopping bags, Henri Bendel became the first retailer with an upper Fifth Avenue storefront.  Henri Bendel continues to excite as a  “ A Girl’s Playground,” offering amazing gifts for the holidays and showcasing Crystorama and Capitol Lighting’s chandelier sweepstakes.

Henri Bendel, the “fearless innovator,” was a true pioneer in the world of women’s fashion.  He opened his first shop in Greenwich Village in 1895, supplying the city’s elite clientele with the peak of luxury.

The original townhouse façade of the Bendel Fifth Avenue building, including the Lalique art glass windows, has endured for over 100 years.  Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis petitioned the city of New York to grant the Henri Bendel Fifth Avenue store official landmark status in 1991.

About Capitol Lighting and 1-800Lighting.com

For more than 89 years, the lighting experts at the award-winning Capitol Lighting/ 1800lighting.com have helped customers find the perfect lighting fixtures and decorative accessories.   Capitol Lighting showrooms and their website 1-800LIGHTING.com satisfy all lighting needs, from contemporary wall sconces and traditional crystal chandeliers to table lamps, outdoor light fixtures and energy-efficient lighting – all at the guaranteed lowest prices.

For more information, visit Capitol Lighting, like them on Facebook and follow them on Twitter.   Join in the celebration with Capitol Lighting during their “month long” social media event December 2-20. Enter the sweepstakes to be a contender for the Grand Prize.

One lucky winner is entitled to part of Henri Bendel’s “Hirschfeld Spectacular”:  Crystorama’s Swarovski Maria Theresa chandelier is the final prize and give-a-way for Capitol Lighting’s  holiday sweepstakes!  Like them on Facebook and be a contender.

It is a cold October evening and you are preparing dinner. You are in full motion with all your appliances working overtime to get the meal done as soon as possible – and the power shuts off. Not only are you frustrated because you are set behind schedule but now you have to try to fix the problem. This happens to people on a daily basis and is a nuisance that can be avoided with the right electrical usage and correct setup. Lets walk where you should go from here.

As we have discussed in the past, the electrical panel (or breaker) is an integral part of the home’s electrical system. It regulates all incoming electricity and manages it throughout your house. When a breaker shuts a circuit off, or it “trips”, it is protecting you and your home from a potentially dangerous situation. The breaker will shut off that circuit because it has detected high voltage, high temperature, or another internal problem. If the breaker does not trip the circuit that is affected can overload and create an electrical shock or electrical fire.

To get your electrical breaker back on, identify the circuit that is in the off position and flip in back to the on position. With a properly labeled electrical panel it can be easy to quickly identify the affected circuit. If the breaker feels hot the touch or the circuit immediately trips again, do not attempt to turn it back on and call an expert electrician. Sometimes a circuit could trip due to a high amount of usage and may only be a minor problem with no repercussions. But if the breaker immediately trips when turned backed on or it trips regularly, there is a larger cause and the problem should be addressed as soon as possible.

There are a number of reasons why breakers could trip. The circuit that is being turned off could potentially have too much load and being overloaded. There could also be a problem in the wiring itself that is causing electrical surges and shorts that the breaker is detecting. It could also be a problem with the breaker itself. The panel may be old and reaching the end of its functionality. It may be time for the panel to be replaced.

It is not a good idea to keep turning on your breaker if it continuously trips. If you cannot identify a pattern in your routine that is causing the trip you should contact an Expert Electrician. They will be able to tell you if the problem is originating from the wiring or within the panel and even fix the problem for good.

Don’t put up with tripping breakers, it will become more than just an inconvenience. Get the right help and have peace of mind that your home is safe and dinner will get finished on time.