Having to unexpectedly close the doors of your business is a guaranteed way to lose money because not only are you unable to serve your immediate customer base, but also you are losing out on potential new customers because you are unavailable. And when you are forced to keep the entrance locked because of an electrical issue, more often than not the problem could have been prevented. With regular inspections of your electrical services from a commercial electrician, there should be no surprises that ultimately cost you a great deal of money. However, in the event that your business does have an electrical problem, there is no reason to wait it out. Instead, your business could use a local electrician who offers emergency electrician services, and in Des Moines, that means putting in a call to Electrical Gurus.

At Electrical Gurus, we offer 24 hour electrician services so that your business can start serving the community again as quickly as possible. Whether you are running a local pub or a laundromat, our electricians can handle any sort of electrical problem from panel replacements to rewiring and everything in between. We understand that electrical issues are never convenient, and you need to get your business running again as soon as possible. So if a storm has caused damage to the electrical systems at your Des Moines business after hours or if a faulty appliance has unexpectedly caused an electrical short that is bringing your work day to a halt, give the experts at Electrical Gurus a call. Our electricians are on call 24 hours a day to handle whatever electrical issues your business has. Give us a call today at 515-446-7040.

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Strips with more LEDs per foot will consume more power.

In short, if maximum energy efficiency is what’s most important to you, choose a light strip with smaller LEDs and fewer LEDs.

In order to ensure your LED power supply doesn’t overheat and fail prematurely, we use this general rule of thumb:

Make sure the total wattage of your LED strip lighting is at least 20 percent less than the power supply’s rated wattage.

For example, if you have an LED strip light that requires 80 watts of power to run, you’ll need a power supply that’s rated for at least 96 watts.

The vast majority of our strips include wattage per foot right on their product pages.

power supplies range from six watts to 1,500 watts for compatibility with a wide variety of LED strip lights.

Let’s take a look at an example:

It’s important to verify that the voltage of the power supply you choose is compatible with the voltage of your LED strip lighting. Also, be sure that the power supply’s input voltage matches that of the location it will be installed in. If you have an LED strip with 12-volt DC operation that you wish to use in a 120-volt AC home wiring system, you’ll need a power supply that includes 120 volts in its input range and has 12-volt DC output.

Another factor to take into account for longer runs is voltage drop. A significant voltage drop is present after a certain distance of LED strip. After this distance, there will not be enough voltage present to light the next length of strip. This varies depending on the type of strip and length being used. Usually, a single-density strip (nine or less LEDs per foot) will need to run back to a power source every 32 13/16 feet (10 meters). A high-density strip (18 or more LEDs per foot) will need to run back to a power source every 16 3/8 feet (5 meters). Please refer to “Max Run” in the specifications table of the strip light to determine how many can be run continuously without a parallel run back to power.

3) the 4) if you want your strip to be dimmable

power supply calculator on the product pages of all of our LED strip lights!

There are a few steps involved:

Step 1: Select your strip and the length you need.

Step 3: Click the green “Power Supply Calculator” tab, and select your product by choosing it from the list OR by pasting the exact part number in the search bar.

Step 4: Enter the number of strips at the desired length you’ve selected and voila! You’ll see a list of all compatible power supplies with the best match at the top of the list!

When dealing with electronics, safety is paramount, and you want everything to work like it’s supposed to. So if you’re still not sure which power supply to use for your LED strip lighting project, just reach out to our technical support team or customer service department at 866-590-3533. Our teams are available from 8:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. CDT Monday-Thursday and 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. CDT on Friday.

If you are interested in purchasing an old building for commercial use or maybe your business is in an old building that needs a serious upgrade, you will need a specialized crew of professionals to make it happen. Commercial projects require a different set of skills and talents than the standard residential projects. Everything is on a much bigger scale, including the wiring and electrical needs. For this reason, it is absolutely critical you hire an electrical team that has experience and training to work on commercial projects. A certified electrician on your job ensures everything will be done right and up to code, which means your renovation or upgrade will chug along according to your schedule. The team at The Electric Connection has the commercial experience you want and need.

It is always best to bring the electrician in at the very beginning of a restoration project. This allows the professional to provide valuable insight and input as to where the wiring needs to be as well as the best type of materials to use for a commercial project. Bringing in the certified professional early on also makes the scheduling of the project much easier. You won’t have to worry about down days or redoing certain areas because the wiring wasn’t put in first. The construction team needs to work together and that means everyone needs to be involved from the get go.

The planning phase is an excellent time to discuss all of the commercial lighting options and various upgrades that can be put in place throughout the building. It is important these are thought about beforehand to make sure the project runs smoothly. Projects that are delayed or run into various hiccups can cost more money and end up pushing back opening dates. Give The Electric Connection a call today and talk with one of our professionals about your commercial building renovation.

Electronics are some of the most expensive investments in any home. So how can you be sure you’re safely protecting them from electrical surges? With a whole-home surge protector, you can rest easy that all of your electronics and appliances are protected in the event of a lightning strike or electrical surge.

A whole-home surge protector is installed in your main electrical panel in order to cut off potential electrical surges from flowing into your home’s internal wiring. Whole-home surge protectors can protect up to 40,000 amps of current flowing into your home. When an electrical surge takes place, the device detects the excess energy and safely diverts the surge through the home’s grounding path. This will protect your home from:

This provides an easy, catch-all system that ensures every plug in your home is safe from a surge. Never have to worry about plugging your expensive electronics into standard plug-in surge protectors.

According to the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety, the Maryland/Virginia/Washington, DC area is considered at moderate risk for lightning strikes. These, along with other powerful weather events, are strong enough to fry both large and small electronics, including:

By investing in full-home surge protectors, you save yourself the risk of potentially paying thousands to replace your expensive electronic devices and appliances. Don’t suffer later when you can prevent damage up-front!

It is important that typically, it is recommended that you double protect against electric damage by also using standard wall surge protectors. This will make sure that no matter how strong the electrical surge is that hits your home, your valuable electronics will stay safe.

Everyone from the National Fire Protection Association to the Institute for Business and Home Safety recommends the use of whole-house surge protection. Fortunately, great whole-home surge protection is available and affordable! For maximum protection, you’ll want to install a whole-home surge protector at the circuit breaker box and supplement it with smaller surge protectors on individual outlets. A whole-house surge protector can protect your home from up to 40,000 amps of current (normal household power is between 200 to 300 amps). When something like a lightning strike causes such a surge, the surge protector detects the excess current and safely diverts it through the house’s grounding path. Whole-house surge protection provides homeowners in MD, DC, and VA peace of mind when a powerful thunderstorm passes the area.

Kolbe Electric’s electrician team can easily install a top-of-the-line surge protector with ease. Our whole-house surge protectors usually come with lifetime warranties and added protections for possible losses. This means your electronics are double-protected against future loss due to electrical surge! Call Kolb Electric today to learn more about our whole-house surge suppressors for your Maryland, Washington, DC, or Virginia home.

Fun Fact: His obsession with a chandelier led Italian astronomer, mathematician and physicist, Galileo to discover the law of pendulum motion.

While, we cannot guarantee that you will understand the laws of physics, we can guarantee that you will be captivated by the brilliance of a chandelier.

More than ever, we are experimenting with home lighting design to display our individuality, and nothing conveys unique style more than a fabulous chandelier.

Professional lighting consultants at Capitol Lighting can help you to illuminate your sense of style and find the perfect chandelier(s) to complete your decorative interior design.  A few simple laws of lighting and trusting your own good taste will get you there…

Chandelier Application and Design Tips from Capitol Lighting

Outstanding Applications:  From powder rooms to dining rooms, the chandelier enhances the appeal of your home environment. Chosen above all else for their aesthetic rewards, chandeliers also provide needed general ambient illumination.

Power in Proportion: To enjoy the full benefits of a chandelier, you must choose a fixture that is the correct size.  A chandelier that is too big will overpower; one that is too small will look out of place.  Finding the right chandelier size is easy:  Add the length and width of the room in feet, and then convert that number to inches (i.e. a room that is 12 feet by 16 feet would require a chandelier that is approximately 28 inches wide). When in doubt between available chandelier sizes, size up to achieve a more balanced presentation.

Special Considerations for Over Dining Tables:  When hanging a chandelier over a dining table, the total chandelier width should be about a foot smaller than the table width to allow approximately a 6-inch clearance for those seated around the table.

The Long and Short of It:  Over a dining table, the bottom of the chandelier should hang about 30 inches over the tabletop. The height of the fixture should measure about three inches for each foot of ceiling height, so for standard 8 foot ceilings choose a chandelier with an approximate height of 24 inches.

In a one-story foyer or in rooms with standard 8-foot ceilings, a chandelier should hang no less than 7 feet from the floor.  In a two-story foyer or in rooms with higher ceilings, the chandelier should hang approximately 8-10 feet from the floor. If your foyer fixture is to be viewed through a picture window, select a chandelier that will fill this space and center the fixture accordingly.  Note:  A two or three-tiered chandelier works best for rooms with higher ceilings.

Installation Awareness:  Be sure to employ a qualified electrician and follow National Electrical codes when installing fixtures.  It is especially important to consider the proper mounting procedures for hanging a heavier chandelier.  Usually fixtures weighing 50 pounds or more must be secured to the home’s permanent structure.

Maintaining the Glamour:  Keeping your chandelier in pristine condition requires proper cleaning and attention to specific instructions pertaining to certain finishes.  Generally, crystal and glass elements are kept clean with a basic soap and water combination.  Nonabrasive cleansers for most finishes are required.  Drying fixture components completely will help protect their luster.

Best Accessories:  Ceiling medallions, chandelier shades, decorative chain and cord covers may add to the ambience of the chandelier.  These items may be special ordered to give your chandelier a unique flair.

Imperative Additions:  Be sure to use the correct bulbs for your chandelier.  Where you have a choice between frosted or clear, choose the bulb that goes best with the fixtures finish.  Always employ dimmer controls with your chandelier.

Get High and Mighty with a Mini: The mini chandelier has become an increasingly popular lighting fixture around the home due to the versatility of its small size. Many designers are opting for mini chandeliers, rather than pendant or island lights, over long dining room tables and kitchen islands. Mini chandeliers are also gracing powder rooms and master bathrooms, as well as bedside tables.

Accent the Positive:  Although the chandelier should be the main lighting attraction, low-voltage spot lights, a matching torchiere floor lamp, +/or coordinating wall sconces make great designing additions to supplement lighting needs and complete the room’s décor.

The lighting experts at Capitol guarantee that you will captivate guests and enjoy your home to the fullest with the most illuminating fashions in home lighting and accessories.  Capitol Lighting’s lighting consultants can help you find the perfect chandelier for your home and give you tips on hanging a chandelier.