The electrical field is one that has seen a number of remarkable discoveries over the decades. One very important lesson has been the aspect of grounding of electrical currents. It’s true that we need electricity for almost everything in our daily lives and can’t even imagine a world without it. However, it continues to be one of the most dangerous elements on earth. If you haven’t already properly grounded your home’s electrical systems, you are taking a significant risk by not doing so.

Every electrical circuit has an active wire which supplies power; there is also a neutral wire which is responsible for carrying the power back. There is a third wire (grounding wire) that can be attached to the power outlets & the electrical appliances and devices; this wire is connected securely to the ground in your breaker box.

This third wire is the additional path that the electrical current can pass through to be safely returned to the ground, in case there is a short circuit; this prevents any harm being caused to anyone. In the event that a short circuit occurs, the current flows through into this grounding wire and it’s when you notice a tripped circuit breaker or a blown fuse in the electrical main board on your property. If this wire hadn’t been grounded, it would have resulted in a fatal shock.

This is one of the most important reasons to ground electrical currents. It’s the best way to protect your family members from electrical surges when they are operating any electrical appliances in the house. In case a lightning strike causes an electrical surge on your property it can result in extremely high electrical voltages in your system. When the wiring has the proper grounding, all the excess electricity gets diverted into the earth, rather than burning everything that’s connected to your electrical system.

When your installation is grounded, it becomes very easy for the power to get directed exactly to where you need it; this allows the electrical currents to efficiently & safely travel across your home’s electrical system.

A properly grounded system makes it much easier for the power to be distributed in the right amount to the right places. This plays a significant role in ensuring that there is no overload in the circuits. The earth becomes the common reference point for all the different sources of voltage in an electrical system.

One of the primary reasons why grounding is extremely effective in keeping you safe is because the earth is an excellent conductor, and electricity always takes the path that has the least resistance. When you ground your electrical system, you are giving it a path that it can easily take, rather than into you; this can potentially save your life.

If your home’s electrical system isn’t properly grounded, you are just risking the appliances and equipment that are connected to your system, being burnt beyond repair. If the situation gets out of control that can also result in a fire risking your property and causing physical injury, sometimes even death.

If you aren’t sure about whether your electrical system has the right grounding, its best to call in a reliable local electrician to get it checked thoroughly. We at AllRound Electrical will check the system carefully and check it for any other potential faults as well. For more information, contact our friendly team at this number – 1300 169 263. You can also write to us at this email address.

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If you’re searching for a way to control your lighting from anywhere and without flipping a switch, Wi-Fi LED lights are the perfect products. With a Wi-Fi LED Controller Hub, you can control compatible LED bulbs, LED flood lights, and LED strip lights with your Android or iOS-enabled smartphone or tablet. The Milight 3.0 app, along with a Wi-Fi compatible controller when necessary—allows you to power lights on and off, control multiple zones of lights, select from thousands of colors, choose from various single-color and color changing modes, and control brightness and speed.

Wi-Fi compatible flood lights are great for landscape lighting, tree uplighting, architectural wall washing, and other outdoor applications. These LED landscape lights are available in 30- and 50-watt versions and have separate LEDs for either white or colorful illumination. They plug into a standard 3-prong outlet and can be easily connected to a Wi-Fi hub. Connect multiple lights to the hub, and synchronize their color, brightness, or mode with your smartphone or tablet.

At Kolb Electric, some of our favorite projects we do involve lighting design and installation. Well done outdoor lighting design is one of the most impressive projects you can undertake, and when done properly, it can add curb appeal and value as well as safety and utility to your home. There are a number of important design considerations to make to ensure your outdoor lighting is as effective as possible, including:

Think about your indoor living – outdoor lighting should graze your home’s exterior and go up—not in. When installing outdoor lighting, it’s important to make sure none of your lights shine directly into any windows in your home, creating an annoying and disruptive spotlight effect.

Keep entranceways visible – you especially don’t want spotlights in any entranceways in your home. Spotlights shine directly into your and your guests’ eyes, and can cause them to miss steps while approaching. You don’t want your lighting to interfere with anyone trying to walk through your front door. If it does, the lighting isn’t making your space any safer—it’s making it worse!

Maintain balance with coach lights – coach lights, which are wall sconce lights you see outdoors in many homes, should be incorporated into outdoor lighting in a way that enhances the whole light scheme’s design. This may involve dimming the coach lights so the whole design looks elegant and balanced and the elements don’t compete.

Maximize the spread of light – one of the most important things to consider when designing an outdoor lighting scheme is making sure the light is evenly spread across the exterior of your home. You don’t want any dark spots that will look awkward and may present a security risk. The right outdoor lighting designers can even help get around issues such as decks and porch overhangs blocking light to a second floor.

Light walkways correctly – path lighting is one area where outdoor lighting can go very right or very wrong. If you use high quality path lights with a large light spread, it’s easy to get the perfect look with just a few fixtures. One mistake many people make is using too many fixtures, which can end up creating a walkway that looks like an airport runway!

Use lighting to enhance your landscaping – using outdoor lighting effectively involves finding ways to highlight specific features of your home, from low-growing flowers and bushes to trees and anything else you want to showcase.

The outdoor lighting designers at Kolb Electric will take these and many other considerations into account when designing the perfect outdoor lighting setup for your home. If you’re ready to get started, call us today!

It’s 2013, and if you’re still spending a ton on your energy bill, you should know that it doesn’t have to be that way. Right now, about 20% of the energy we consume goes to lighting. But, with a few energy-efficient changes, we can see that number (and the numbers on our monthly bills) dwindle. This post is the first in a series on how to make the lighting in your home or business more energy-efficient. 

Everyone’s got to eat, and for many of us, the kitchen is the very heart of the home. The kitchen also requires excellent lighting for cooking and cleaning up. So, I figure it will be a good place to start an energy-efficient lighting makeover.