It can be tough to determine what is a problem in your home and what is something that can be put off and until you have the time, energy or the money to fix. However, it is important to educate yourself about certain problems that can become extremely serious if left unchecked. Electrical problems often give homeowners a few warning signs before they become serious and lead to electrical fires. A Glendale electrician can help you determine what constitutes a serious electrical problem and what situations can be left until you have the time. The Electric Connection has the electricians you need to help you make your home safe.

Flickering Lights

A flickering light is often chalked up to a bad bulb. If you replace the bulb and the light still flickers, you likely have a wiring issue. It is possible the fixture is bad and needs replacement. In either case, it isn’t an issue you want to ignore. Wires that are bared either due to breaking down over time or the victim of rodent chewing can spark a fire. It is important the light is inspected by an electrician. Glendale residents will appreciate knowing their lighting is not a safety hazard.

Popping Breakers

If you plug in an appliance or turn on an appliance and the breaker trips on a regular basis, it could indicate the breaker is weak or faulty. A single breaker trip is usually not cause for worry and suggest the breaker was overloaded. A breaker that trips for no apparent reason needs to be inspected by an electrician. It will likely need to be replaced.

Bad Outlets

Outlets that do not work or work sporadically are a sign of trouble and need to be inspected and replaced right away. There are likely exposed wires behind the walls that could cause a fire.

If you have any of these issues, give The Electric Connection a call today and schedule your appointment.

The jargon in the lighting world can often get mixed up. Color rending index (CRI) and color temperature are one of the most to be confused with each other. This post is going to clarify what the different between CRI and Color Temperature is so we can end this confusion.

Here is a short explanation why the CRI is more important to focus on before deciding for a color temperature. The color rendering index is the most important feature in certain applications as it determines the appearance of objects, faces and spaces. If this aspect is not relevant, the CRI can be as low as 60 or even 40.

The color rendering index (CRI) is a numeric evaluation of the light color accuracy with the reference of daylight (numbered 100). Sunlight and its broad spectrum will enable a person with normal vision to see 68 different colors in a color chart, but if the chart is illuminated by a light source of one wavelength only, each color from the color chart will appear as a different brightness of that one color. Some activities, such as walking or operating a vehicle, do not require the accurate perception of surface colors while others such as product selections in shops benefit from better color rendering features. Look at the application of the lighting installation. If the visual tasks are easy to perform the CRI doesn’t need to be high. In areas like offices, handcraft manufacturing and surgery, the requirements for visibility, contrast, visual guidance as well as face recognition need to be provided by a lighting system with a good CRI of >80 or even >90.

How much is the light color affecting the space? The term color temperature describes the temperature of objects by which they emit light, modeled through the “blackbody radiator”. When increasing the temperature of a “blackbody”, it starts to emit visible light in a continuous spectrum. The filament of a 60W incandescent lamp heats up to about 3000°F, as a result the lamp emits light with a color temperature of 3000K. Many of our artificial light sources do not create light by heating up a material until it glows like an incandescent lamps. Instead of creating a continuous spectrum, they generate an assortment of color emission lines. A blackbody color temperature cannot be directly given to this non-blackbody type of emission, generated by high intensity discharge and fluorescent lamps for example. For those light sources, a correlated color temperature (CCT) is indicated, based on the blackbody color temperature. A cool white fluorescent lamp has a CCT of about 5000K. The lamps light spectrum is different from a blackbody one but has the same temperature.

The light color influences the atmosphere in a space. The more cozy the ambiance the warmer the light color (lower color temperature) should be and the more dynamic the scene the cooler the light source (higher color temperature). The CRI is the most important factor to watch when choosing light sources. How good is the light source representing faces, colors and contrasts? The easier the visual task and perception the lower the CRI can be. The color temperature needs to be watched second, it is supporting the space’s atmosphere.

Conclusion

There you have it; an explanation of both the Color Rending Index and Color Temperature.

Have anymore questions or thoughts? Comment them down below!

A microwave is basically standard in any home these days, along with refrigerators, washing machines, etc. But do you know very much about your microwave? Furthermore, is it important that you know anything about your microwave? You might be surprised by our answer!

At Kolb Electric, our experts make a point to stay up to date with any and all information regarding modern electrical practice, the workings of appliances and how they impact your home. Why do we tell you this? So you know we know our stuff when we say wattage is the single most important factor in choosing a microwave! Well, that and a popcorn button.

Avoiding the potential (and boy, is there potential) for a massive science lesson, wattage boils down to a unit of measurement for a unit of power. In how your average person understands it, wattage is how much power an appliance utilizes to operate.

Microwave wattage generally spans between six and twelve hundred (600-1200) watts. You can see the wattage of your microwave on either the original package, or on the bottom of the unit. It will either have a number and say watts beside it, or it will simply have a number and a “w”, which means watts.

Understanding the wattage of your microwave tells you a few things. In a practical sense, it tells you how strong the microwave is. This is why “cook times may vary”. It also tells you what your microwave needs to operate smoothly. Many microwaves require a dedicated circuit to operate smoothly. We’ll go further in depth on this in a moment.

But, why have varied microwave wattage?

Well, there are a few good reasons. Many homes and older building simply can’t handle the supply need of higher wattage appliances, thus lower wattage options are available. Additionally, larger or more powerful microwaves are (naturally) more expensive. So, there’s a practical reason, and a cost-based reason.

What was that about a dedicated circuit?

Many homeowners feel that just any old outlet will do for their microwave. Most of the time, they learn they’re wrong the hard way. Microwaves require a dedicated circuit because it’s code and legally required, and  because not having a dedicated circuit can lead to breaker flips, power surges and permanent appliance damage.

Microwaves are high-power items, and use some of the highest wattages in your home. Furthermore, they use energy in a very intense way, which means a microwave can stress your circuits like no other.

We hope you learned something useful (or at least a little interesting)! Do you know if your microwave is on its own, dedicated circuit? If not, contact a Kolb professional today!

It isn’t hard to install new electrical outlets, but it’s important to prep your home accordingly. To avoid any strange scenarios, check out the three tips below:

Before adding a new outlet, you’ll need to make sure your breaker panel is turned off. Double-check that your breaker is turned off with a voltage tester. If you don’t have a voltage tester, plug in a lap to the nearest-available socket. Additionally, it’s a good idea to test the new socket directly by plugging the excess length into an electrical application.

Understandably, you may find it difficult to jab through drywall when making room for an outlet. Instead of cutting with a saw, consider using a flat head screwdriver. It’s cheaper, more adaptable and can easily carve through drywall. If you do settle for a saw, make sure you’re not sawing too aggressively. Aggressive sawing can tear a drywall surface’s paper backside—which will reduce the wall’s structural integrity. If your screwdriver-made hole is too small, you can make it bigger with a utility knife.

If you’re working with fabric-insulated wiring, it’ll be a good idea to contact your electrician. Your electrician can recommend various safe connections, making sure you’re not engaging unsafe projects without a grounding wire. Without a grounding wire, it can be difficult to tell which wires are neutral and hot.