Holiday lighting products have evolved into a much safer product over the years.  With the development of properly sized wires and fuses and LED lighting to reduce the consumption load and the heat the lamps produce, holiday lighting has never been more safe.  In the past people would take the old C style lamps and hook one string of lights into the other.  Often overloading one the strings or the weakest link.  This overload would often melt wires, create sparks, and in some cases even cause a fire.  The manufactures and improved safety standards and testing, help reduce to the chance of an overload by installing a fuse at the starter end or male end of the light string.  This fuse would blow or trip when the load became greater than the fuse capacity, which would then project the wire from the overload.  It is always recommended to install lights that are interconnected (one light string plugged into the other) to manufacture specifications as listed by there instructions.

LED or light emitting diodes have not only made holiday lighting more efficient but even safer.  The old style C7 and C9 lamps could reach temperatures of up to 350 degrees.  The hot lamp if rested against wood or dry Christmas tree, has the potential to ignite the material from the heat the lamp produces and cause a fire.  With LED’s to replace the old style incandescent lamps the chance of fire from heat is almost non existing.  However, it is still possible to cause a fire from electrical spark or short.  These sparks or shorts produce heat much greater and can easily ignite flammable material.  Sparks or shorts are often caused by frayed or damaged insulation on the electrical wires and also loose connections.  It is important to inspect your holiday lighting for damaged or loose components and replace when needed.  Be sure not to use any damaged equipment and immediately discard them to eliminate the chance of future use.

A common mistake made people make with holiday lighting is to plug to many holiday lights into each other.  UL listed holiday lighting and cord splitters are tested to specific tolerances and should only be installed to manufactures specifications.  The easiest location to find the manufactures is specifications is to look at the tag on the cord most commonly found near the male end of the cord or light string.

If enough standard wall sockets are not present and you must plug in multiple cords, it is highly recommended to install a plug switch with a built in overload device to reduce the risk of overload.  The built in overload should not be mistaken for a surge protection device.  A surge protector reduces or eliminates the excess voltage going to the device plugged into itself.  Where an overload device will shut off power at the point of installation if to much power is being drawn through it.

On many new homes we will install plug ins located in the soffit or eve to reduce or eliminate drop cords for holiday lighting.  These soffit plugs are installed on a special heavier 20 amp circuit and often include a convenience switch located inside the home to shut the lights on / off as needed.  The special circuit makes sure your holiday lighting is not installed on regular interior circuits so the chance of variable loads and overloads are dramatically reduced.

Permanent holiday lighting can be installed by a licensed electrician.  The most common type of permanent holiday lighting is LED strip lighting.  These are can be installed on the under side of eves or soffits for a permanent installation.  Depending on the type of LED holiday lighting you choose you may even have the option to change the colors of the lights with a push of a button.  This allows the holiday lighting to be used for many occasions throughout the year.  You can call today or schedule online to have a lighting specialist come to your home or business and provide you with a written no obligation quote.

Smoke alarms are your first line of defense in the event of a fire.  Smoke alarms come in two main different types.  Ionization and photoelectric.

Ionization smoke alarms have a ionization chamber inside the smoke alarm unit itself.  The smoke alarm chamber consist of two plates about a centimeter apart.  One of the plates is charged positive by the battery or transformer in AC models and the other plates is negative.  Alpha particles constantly released by the americium knock electrons off of the atoms in the air, ionizing the oxygen and nitrogen atoms in the chamber. The positively-charged oxygen and nitrogen atoms are attracted to the negative plate and the electrons are attracted to the positive plate, generating a minuet, constant electrical current. Upon smoke entering the chamber, the smoke particles attach to the ions and neutralize them, so they do not reach the plate. The drop in current between the plates triggers the alarm.

Photoelectric smoke alarms have an internal chamber with a light beam.  When smoke enters the chamber it blocks the light from entering the photoelectric sensor causing an alarm to sound.  Smoke may also cause the light beam to scatter creating an inconsistent pattern on the photocell causing the smoke alarm to sound.  Photoelectric chambers can detect a smoldering fire faster than most ionization type smoke alarms.

Smoke alarms are most commonly seen as battery operated units in older homes.  Battery units are also common in situations were a smoke alarm is added and AC power is not accessible.  AC units power the smoke alarm with standard AC current from the homes wiring.  AC units are common in newer homes.  Current new construction code requires smoke alarms to be AC with a battery built into the unit as a back up power source.

Current smoke alarms used in new construction homes are AC and battery combination units as stated above.  They also require a dual sensing smoke alarm unit.  The most common dual sensing combination is either photoelectric and ionization or a combination ionization and carbon monoxide unit.

Carbon monoxide also called the invisible killer, is odorless and colorless gas.  Carbon monoxide is most commonly created in the home when unburnt or improperly vented heating equipment releases the gas.  Carbon monoxide can be created from natural gas heaters, wood burners, and oil burners.  Carbon monoxide can also enter the home from the exhaust of a running vehicle or generator.

Carbon monoxide effect some people easier than others.  People such as elderly, pregnant women, infants, and people with emphysema, asthma, or heart disease can suffer the effects of carbon monoxide much quicker than a healthy person.

We can install most major brands of smoke alarms.  We offer smoke alarm installation for Kiddie and First Alert.  In addition to Kiddie and First alert, we also offer smoke alarm installation for USI, and BRK smoke alarms.  We offer smoke alarm installation for AC units with batter backup, AC only units, and battery only units.  We highly recommended the AC with battery backup units for superior performance.  We also offer smoke alarm installation for interconnected units.  This type is highly recommended.  They function as following:  When one smoke alarm unit goes into alarm mode it causes the other smoke alarms to sound an alarm.  If access limits being able to connect the smoke alarm units we offer a wireless type smoke alarm installation to insure the units are properly interconnected.

An energy recovery ventilator is a mechanical ventilation device which is integrated into an HVAC system. The ERV acts as a heat exchanger, and facilitates the transfer of heat between incoming and outgoing airstreams as it ventilates a home. This means that in the winter, when you are paying to heat your home, the ERV uses the heat in the stale outgoing air in order to warm up fresh, incoming air before it ever makes its way into your home. Additionally, during the summer months, when you use your AC to cool your home, your ERV will absorb heat from the incoming air into the outgoing, low-quality air. Plus, the airstreams are allowed to mingle just enough to facilitate the transfer of humidity as well, further boosting your comfort.

The name kind of says it all in this case: recovering energy as you condition air throughout your home allows you to live in great comfort without putting the energy that you’ve paid for to waste. Using an ERV means that your home is sufficiently ventilated, so that you can breathe fresh air of a high quality without having to strain your HVAC system as a result. To learn more or to take advantage of an ERV in your home, just give us a ring.