A long, long time ago, in 1932 to be exact, a tradition began. A simple searchlight atop the Empire State Building announced the election of Franklin Delano Roosevelt as President.

If you watched last night’s election results (or were conveniently somewhere in NYC) you probably saw that iconic building at it again. Last night’s exhibition marked the Empire State Building’s first use of its new custom LED panel technology.

CNN joined forces with the building to project a running tally atop the spire, presenting real-time election results with a brilliant display of colored light. The lights were visible from miles around, and broadcast worldwide to CNN’s viewers.

In case you didn’t see it last night, the lights worked like this: The four sided tower atop the building was lit in patriotic red, white, and blue stripes. The mast functioned as a meter with two blue sides, and two red to represent President Obama and Gov. Romney’s respective electoral votes. As each state was projected by CNN, and electoral votes were allocated to each candidate, the meter displayed a running tally.

The best Dallas electrician works with everything from large home electrical installations to installations as simple as switches. One popular install for the best Dallas electrician is dimmer switches, which are a favorite in many homes, both for their energy-friendly operation and their style.

Dimmer Switches: Why Install Them in Your Home

Dimmer switches are an inexpensive item that many homeowners love to add to their electrical setup at home for many reasons.

Dimmers save power, decreasing energy usage significantly and resulting in a lower power bill.

They set the mood and a unique ambiance to a home, whether it’s in the kitchen or the bedroom.

They’re easy to install, even for homeowners.

Dimmer Switch Installation Tips

Even an easy installation can turn tricky, which is why you should call your local electrician to ensure that your dimmer switch install is done correctly. Still, if you feel comfortable doing the installation yourself, here are some tips for a smooth and pain-free dimmer switch installation.

Check the wattage limits on switches to prevent overheating and overloading of the circuits. Dimmers can handle anywhere from 600 to, in some cases, 2,000 watts of power. The key is to not run too many lights on the switch and risk overheating or overloading it, which can be dangerous. You will know if there is something wrong with one of those scenarios if, when you touch the dimmer after installing it and running it, it’s hot to the touch. Warm is normal; hot is not. This is one of the reasons why you should consider calling the best Dallas electrician to help oversee your installation.

Make sure that there are no other dimmers connected to the same circuit. Much like having too many appliances in the same circuit can be a danger, too many dimmers can cause overloading that results in dangerous circumstances and costly repairs.

Never use fluorescent bulbs with dimmer switches. Fluorescent bulbs will not work with dimmer switches. If you really want to use fluorescent lights, you can find some for a pretty hefty price that will run on dimmers.

Ordinary dimmer switches cannot run devices that rely on a motor, like ceiling fans. Ceiling fans are set to run at a specific, predetermined wattage and therefore they are not compatible with dimmer switches, which gradually adjust wattage.

Older styles of dimmers can sometimes interfere with audio equipment, creating a humming or whining noise. The best Dallas electrician can quickly recognize this as a sign that the dimmers are too old. To resolve this issue, you must either install a new dimmer or install a noise filter.

ElectricMan: Answering Your Dimmer Switch Questions

With over 27 years of experience with installations great and small, the best Dallas electrician team at ElectricMan can answer all of your dimmer switch questions and install your dimmer switches properly, quickly, and efficiently. To learn more about our services, visit us here or connect with us on any of our social sites. And if you ever have any questions, please feel free to call us at 972-792-7270 or use the Contact form on our website!

Radiant heated driveways have become a very popular option for homeowners across the Midwest and east coast, where winter temperatures often present quite the challenge to homeowners with the snow and ice that they bring. Can you imagine never having to shovel snow off your driveway again?

Imagine the convenience! True, you won’t be able to claim a “snow day” to get out of going to work, but at least you can leave your house on a whim. But what exactly are heated driveways, and how do they work? Will you need to have maintenance done on them? Keep reading to learn more.

Driveway heating systems use radiant heating technology to warm concrete, asphalt, pavers, and various other floor materials—whatever your driveway is made of a heating system can benefit you. The difference is, the installation of a driveway heating system is much easier and less invasive than a typical radiant hydronic heating system.

You still certainly need a professional to install the system, and it does require the driveway to be laid down after the installation of the heating system, but we’re happy to talk to you about your options!

Also called snow melting systems, driveway heating systems uses a sensor to detect moisture, which signals a controller to supply power to the heating cable, which then warms the driveway. This prevents snow and ice from even beginning to accumulate, removing the inconvenience for you while you sleep or otherwise enjoy being indoors out of the elements!

Snow melting systems have very, very few components. It’s true that age and natural wear and tear may eventually necessitate a repair or eventual upgrade someday. However, these energy-efficient systems are relatively maintenance free. Still though, it would be wise to have our technicians check out your system on perhaps an annual basis—before winter—just to ensure everything is functioning as it should.

We offer bucket truck or as some call boom truck work for Des Moines, Ankeny, West Des Moines and all surrounding communities.  Or bucket truck crew is available 24 hours a day for your electrical emergencies.  Our bucket trucks are fully stocked with most major components for a quick repair to minimize your down time.

Do you have a parking lot light that needs repaired, re lamped, or re ballasted?  Our bucket truck can service your parking lot light with just a phone call.  We can repair most parking lot lights with the supplies on hand.

Would you like to replace or upgrade your current parking lot lights?  Our bucket truck crew can replace your old mercury vapor, or high pressure sodium lights with new energy efficient long lasting LED’s.  The LED parking lot lights our extremely energy efficient when compared to the old style.  They have an extremely long life with some as much as 50,000 hours!  The energy saving is worth the upgrade alone!  But not only do LED parking lot lights save on your energy bill they save you money by not having to replace the bulbs!

Our bucket truck crew is experts at replacing overhead services and overhead lines.  Our bucket trucks can reach the highest places and get the job done safer and quicker than conventional means.  Have a storm damaged overhead service?  We carry most major components to overhead services and have our bucket truck and service crews available to Des Moines and all surrounding communities 24 hours a day for those unexpected electrical emergencies.