I grew up in the 90’s, back when thrift store shopping was considered alternative and grunge.  While I tooled around Goodwill listening to Nine Inch Nails on my Walkman, my more sophisticated friends were at the mall, looking adorable & stylish in the latest trend from The Limited.

But that was the 90’s.

Thrift-store shopping, dumpster-diving, and hand-me downs deliver a new parlance that has clever DIY’ers quaking with excitement for Saturday yard sales and obsessively scouring Craigslist for the Next Big Find.  This elegant new term for taking used items and making them new = REPURPOSING.

Also commonly referred to as recycling, upcycling, reinventing, revitalizing and/or reusing, entire boards are dedicated to this subject on Pinterest. Everything – and I mean everything – can be repurposed.  So why not the light bulb?

With a few basic tools and a steady hand, a light bulb can be hollowed out and transformed into a unique gift or decorative project.  Prepping the bulb, however, is not a task that we recommend for the kids.  Before you undertake any of these projects, take a moment to read a tutorial on how to safely hollow out a light bulb.

1. Witches Brew

Using air ducts in order to distribute both heated and cooled air throughout a building is one of the most common ways in which homeowners choose to keep their homes comfortable all year long. Doing so, of course, means that your air ducts are in play throughout the entire year. Are you certain that yours are in the condition necessary to perform their job precisely as intended? If not, give FB Electrical Services a call today. We are more than happy to thoroughly test your air ducts so that you know what kind of shape they are in. Once we have completed your duct testing in Somerville, we can go about resolving any problems that we may find with your air ducts. That way, you can heat and cool your home at peak performance and efficiency levels.

When you stop and think about it, you have likely seen very little of your air duct system. For the most part, your ductwork is hidden from view. The last thing that you want to do, though, in terms of your ductwork, is to develop an “out of sight, out of mind” attitude in regards to their condition. Leaky ductwork is one of the main sources of energy loss and low efficiency in many homes, and it is also one that professional duct testing can help to pinpoint the source of. When we test your air ducts, we can determine with certainty if it is compromised, and we’ll have the information we need in order to right whatever wrongs we may find.

Homeowners insurance is an often-overlooked but significant cost in owning a home. Your insurance policy protects you against major losses in the event of a disaster, but you need to invest in premiums each month, which can be tricky for any family on a budget. However, you do have a measure of control. Your home electrical work in particular plays a big role in calculating your insurance payments, because outdated or faulty wiring can increase the risk of a fire. Read on to learn about what types of wiring can drive up insurance rates and how you can mitigate the costs.

The Insurance Company Makes the Call

If you don't know what kind of wiring you have in your house, you should have an electrician evaluate your system as soon as possible. Since the risk of bad wiring is so catastrophic, it might be hard to even insure a house that is too far out of date. “Some insurers will not insure you at all, some will require an inspection, and some will classify you as high-risk,” CEO of insurance-services company InsurEye Alexey Saltykov told the Financial Post.

Any of these features could raise your premiums:

Upgrade Your Wiring and Save

If you are facing high insurance premiums because of outdated wiring, it means that your house is also at a greater risk of fire. It's well worth your while to ask an electrician about what it would cost to replace your wiring system with a whole new setup to protect your home and family. Cheaper insurance is just the icing on the cake.

Give the electricians at your local Mister Sparky® for any electrical repairs or upgrades. We're always here to help!

With all of the Read more on retrofitting vs replacing here.

Undeniably the best technology for any business is a LED retrofit. Why is this? For many reasons:

What is LED Retrofit and it’s Benefits?

LED Retrofitting is one of the biggest lighting upgrades building are doing these days. Companies want to get rid of technology like LED with retrofit kits can bring along many is an organization that tests lights and either deems them of being quality and efficient or not. If your industrial lights you are inquiring about are not on the DLC or EnergyStar, you should avoid these at all costs.