After going so long without using the heater, it can cause quite a bit of a surprise when you get that first electric bill this winter. There are some things you can do to lessen the burden of winter heating bills. Your Pasadena electrician has some tips you can use to keep the electric bill at a manageable rate. For more tips and advice, you can call The Electric Connection.

1-One of the most important issues that many people tend to overlook with their furnace is the upkeep and maintenance. It is crucial your furnace is in good working order. Clean filters and ducts will ensure your furnace is not working overtime to try and keep the house warm.

2-Use a ceiling fan to help keep the warm air in the living space instead of close to the ceiling. Hot air rises and without a fan to push it down, you are wasting a lot of money heating the ceiling. If you don’t have one, you can call an electrician. Pasadena residents will feel the difference a ceiling fan can make when the warm air circulates the room rather than hovering near the top.

3-Use a programmable thermostat to regulate the heat in your home throughout the day. Set if for one temperature, 72 degrees is typically adequate for the home. Do not go above 76. At night, you can get away with lowering the thermostat a couple of degrees because you will be under blankets. Set the thermostat to about 68 degrees when you are going to be gone for the day. Avoid turning the thermostat up and down throughout the day. These three things can save you a great deal of money this winter.

You won’t be forced to freeze in your own home because you are trying to save a few dollars if you follow these tips. For more information, give The Electric Connection a call.

Generators make an important line of defense against natural disasters and power outages. With a generator, you don’t have to worry about keeping the food in your refrigerator cold, or powering your heating system when the temperatures drop. When installing a new generator, it’s important to select one that is the right size for your home. By size, we mean the power it’s capable of creating, not the physical size (though that can enter into the equation depending on where you plan to put it). In Lynnwood WA, electrical repair services can often advise you on how to size the right generator for your home, but it pays to know the basic before you give them a call.

The first step is to perform an energy audit for your home, determining how much power each appliance or electrical device uses, and then prioritizing them for use during an emergency. Medical devices usually come first on the list, followed by refrigerators and freezers which store your food. Next is your home HVAC system, followed by the lights in your home. Computers, radios and entertainment systems are usually on the bottom of the list: useful for keeping connected with the outside world, but otherwise non-essential in an emergency.

Once you have that list, you can determine two things: how much power is required to run your whole house and how much power is required to run the bare essentials during an emergency. The former number is preferable and if you can afford a generator of that size, then you should probably purchase it. The latter is less ideal but can do in a pinch if you’re on a budget and still want to keep your household running when the power goes out. In that case you need to carefully monitor which appliances are hooked up to the generator so you don’t overload it when the time comes.

Besides just having light, light layering (having multiple light sources for different purposes) is the most important, all-encompassing rule in home lighting design.

I recently ran across a post on Image via Freshome.com

That’s not just one, not two, but five different light sources, not counting the ample ambient light coming in from the windows. You have under cabinet lights on the left, recessed accent lights on the back wall, a pendant light, a table lamp, and linear accent lights atop the window.

On the other side of the room, there are just as many layers:

So there you have it. The most universal rule in residential lighting design, and a few ways to make it your own. What’s your favorite light layer in this space?

Once someone has discovered retrofitting as a read that by clicking here.

Let’s get started with the first question on the list, and that is what exactly is a retrofit kit?

What is a retrofit kit anyways? Well, we’ve actually reducing your energy consumption even more. Just make sure you are buying a LED retrofit kit that has the option to be dimmable, otherwise you will NOT be able to dim them.

Retrofit vs full replacement, why should you consider retrofitting with LED?

While a full replacement of an entire is fixture is very valid to do especially when they are outdated or literally falling apart; often times you can avoid that by retrofitting your fixtures. With retrofitting you get to keep your old fixture but just replace the light source in it with a new one. This will allow you to reduce the costs associated with the lighting upgrade tremendously, which will allow you to realize a much larger ROI.

Although there are benefits of both, you need to think about your facility or buildings own situation, and go from there. To recap; retrofitting is great if you can keep your old fixtures but if you can’t (due to reasons like outdated or near falling apart), then a full replacement is probably the better option.

For more info, check out this infographic (

Why should I even switch to LED in the first place?

Very good question, and this not only applies to those retrofitting but for any facility that plans to make a lighting system update. LED technology has vast benefits in almost every area of the definition “quality” for commercial lighting purposes. Here are just a few of the major benefits that more often than not win over businesses to commit to the conversion over to LED technology:

As you can see these are all some pretty big benefits, and that’s only the start. These reasons are why many companies are making the conversion over to LED products from other outdated technologies such as metal halide, HPS, and even fluorescent. Why not convert to LED with a retrofit LED kit and realize all of these benefits and more? It just makes sense!

Is it difficult to retrofit an existing light fixture?

Well, that can depend. To someone who has no knowledge about lighting fixtures and electrical wiring, then yes this will seem like an extremely difficult task. On the other hand for someone who is a professional, this isn’t a difficult task at all.

The process, in theory, is simple because all it consists of (for the most part) is a replacement of all the existing lamps, ballasts, sockets, and brackets with new ones to fit your retrofit kits. If you have no experience doing this, and even if you do, it is always recommended to bring in a licensed electrician if you can to ensure it is done right and to safety standards.

Are LED retrofits that are compatible with existing ballasts a good idea?

You need to consider the age of the ballast that is currently installed. In most cases, it will be nearing the end of it’s life and thus it won’t be the most up-to-date ballast that you could have. This adds for an additional point of failure, which could cost you more down the line in maintenance fees to replace them when they die out.

You have to consider that since you are considering the switch over to LEDs through retrofitting, you most likely haven’t recently upgraded you lighting system or replaced much. This means that the ballasts currently installed are most likely, at best, as old as the lights in your fixtures currently. But more often or not, they are even older than that which can definitely mean they are nearing the end of their lifespan.

Taking this all into account, it’s impossible to tell you if using existing ballasts is a contact us. We will gladly answer any question you may have!