All households are trying to remain warm during the colder months. As such, the likelihood of experiencing a house fire increases during the winter. Fortunately, you can reduce your chances of having a house fire by following the following safety strategies.

Many home fires start when sparks from a fireplace ignite flammables that are too close to the hearth. If you have a fireplace, you can reduce your chances of experiencing a house fire by removing any flammables close to your fireplace. 

Additionally, you must prevent embers from flying out of your fireplace. Installing glass door fronts on your fireplace will prevent sparks from coming into contact with flammable materials.

Some electrical problems are harder to detect than others. That’s why, when trying to diagnose home problems, one of the best ways to quickly get to the bottom of the situation is with an infrared thermographic inspection. But what are the benefits of this inspection? Let the experts at Kolb Electric help!

When combined with traditional home inspection techniques, the infrared thermography inspection method reveals considerably more about your house than can be seen with conventional inspection tools. Some things our infrared thermography inspections have detected include:

You might be a fan of their appearance, but aluminum light poles bring more to the table than just their looks. Whether you opt for squared or rounded varieties, these light poles have become more popular than ever. This is thanks to their impressive ratio of strength to weight, as they are sturdy while still being lightweight. Additionally, they feature a high resistance to corrosion. These advantages, coupled with their recyclability, make aluminum light poles a perfect match for sustainable projects and harsher environments.

Aluminum is a great material to use when you’re prioritizing strength and reliability. However, just as important as the variety of light pole is the installation procedure. If your poles don’t have proper installation, you could be losing out on the benefits of the lights. A sloppy installation by the wrong people compromises everything from the reliability of the lights to your safety.

Not all vibration is bad, but the destructive form of it can cause serious damage over time as cracks begin to form and then spread along the pole’s side. If the pole’s movements are not equal in either direction, it is simply usual sway, and therefore no reason for concern.

On the other hand, if it is constantly moving back and forth an equal distance, with the motion based at the center of the pole’s shaft and not on top, you’re seeing potentially destructive vibration. Eventually, this can lead to the pole shaft cracking and falling, breaking just above the part of the base where the weld held it together.

Several factors contribute to pole vibration. These include the pole shape, the surrounding environment and the installation. Whoever performs the installation needs to follow the appropriate guidelines for the size and type of pole, as each pole can handle a certain load. If your installer uses the wrong light fixture, destructive vibrations could be inevitable.

Every installation job will have its requirements, based on the client’s needs as well as the location in question. One aspect that doesn’t change, however, is the importance of safety. Light pole installations fall under the umbrella of electrical work, which is always a dangerous area for anyone who isn’t an expert. Any piece of electrical equipment improperly installed can become a safety hazard, and aluminum light poles are no exception.

Your installer must comply with local codes and requirements as applicable. As such, they need to provide proper electrical groundings. Failure to do so can be a serious violation of important safety regulations. Worse, it can lead to a very dangerous situation for you and anyone exposed to the light poles.

Elon Musk’s vision of an entirely electric car market is coming into form.

Just a few years ago, a former Daimler chairman was quoted in an L.A. Times article by calling Tesla “a joke that can’t be taken seriously compared to the great car companies of Germany.” They aren’t laughing now after 325,000 buyers put down reservations for the Tesla Model 3 in its first week.

Already though, the cost of electric car batteries have dropped from $1,000 per kWh to $350 per kWh over the last five years. As the battery and thus the vehicle becomes more affordable, the presence of electric cars will only continue to grow.

With that has come the need for home charging stations.

Just about all electric vehicles will come with a Level 1 Charger. This is your baseline charging system, where the car connects with a 120V outlet in your home and takes about an entire night for a full charge.

If you’re mostly driving throughout the city, then that’s probably all you need. But if you’re always on the go, and use your electric vehicle for distance trips too, then you should look into a Level 2 Charging Station.

We need to quickly say that the chargers don’t actually increase the capacity of your car’s battery, that’s already established when it’s manufactured. Level 2 chargers simply direct more of your home’s current when you hook it up, enabling a much faster charging time.

To give an idea, the Nissan Leaf takes 25 hours for a full charge on a home outlet; with a Level 2 hook-up, it takes 7 hours. Or compare it to the Chevy Volt, the hybrid-electric vehicle that takes 11 hours on Level 1 and just 3.2 hours on Level 2.

Sticking with the Nissan Leaf, an all-night charge on Level 1 current will give it about 105 miles. If you drive more than that, you will be comforted with a Level 2 charge, which gives you the same mileage in half the time (4-5 hours with Level 2 Charging). This means you can go about your day without having to come home and charge, or have to find a public charging station to hook up to.

Good thing is, costs on installing residential stations are becoming more affordable. Many people go with the Level 2 charge off the bat and just factor it into the costs of buying the car.