It is virtually impossible that you don’t face electrical problems around the home from time to time. It could be a tripping breaker or a fused bulb, but sooner or later, there will be an electrical problem that you have to deal with. Now, most homeowners are adept at taking care of the small electrician work, i.e. taping up wires or replacing a blown fuse. However, there are certain situations where calling in a professional electrician is the best course of action. Yet, there are many people who don’t consider this an option, usually till it’s too late and they have no other recourse.

The reason for this hesitation is a few common myths about electrician work doing the rounds. It is true that there are some homeowners who have the requisite knowhow to take care of the electrical stuff around the home, but they are a rare breed. For the average Joe and Jane, it is a good idea to leave the work to a professional electrician service. However, since people tend to believe in the common misconceptions, calling an electrician is not a priority for them. They end up allowing time for the problem to exacerbate, which means greater expense, greater risk, and greater inconvenience

Now, surely you would be wondering what these abovementioned misconceptions are and if you perhaps believe in a few of them. Let’s take a look at some common myths about electrician work and debunk them:

As mentioned above, most people don’t reach out for the phone to call an electrician even when they see there’s a problem which requires an experienced hand. The myth is that they feel an electrical service would charge more if they called them over for an emergency. They instead hope that the problem isn’t major and the impact would be minimal. They wait for the sparking outlet to cool down or the tripping breaker to stop tripping before they consider calling in a professional. What this does is allow the problem to worsen, which means they have to spend more money to get it fixed later on.

Now, compare that cost with the charges of an emergency electrician service and you will see you got the short end of the deal. This is why it is important that you call up a professional electrician without delay and deal with the problem there and then. In fact, you give the electrician a better shot at fixing the problem by calling him in quicker

You might be all for the DIY movement and like doing things around the house but this doesn’t you put your safety at risk by attempting to fix electrical problems you have no idea how to deal with. One wrong move and you could end up causing more harm to the system than the actual problem did. Unless you are absolutely sure you know what to do, don’t ever attempt to fix an electrical problem at home. It would only meaning put your safety at risk. Not only this, you might end up causing damage to appliances or electrical outlets around the house. Just because it looks easy doesn’t mean its easy.

Granted, most homes today incorporate wood as a major building material. And you can probably bet your house on the fact that wood isn’t a good conductor of electricity. However, this doesn’t mean an electrical problem can not cause damage to your wooden flooring or fixtures. Keep in mind that a short circuit is all it takes and the entire room could be on fire. Just because your home is ‘wooden’ from all sides doesn’t mean you keep ignoring electrical faults, even if you have insurance!

This one is perhaps the most common misconception people have about electrician work. They aren’t prepared to listen to what the electrician is telling them about. Just because it’s your home doesn’t mean you know more about the electrical system installed than a professional whose bread and butter is fixing electrical problems. You might have your ideas about how the work should be done but you should trust the professional electrical service you have called in when it comes to electrical work.

These are only a few of the many misconceptions people have about electrician work. It might give you an ego boost to be able to take care of handyman jobs around the house but electrical work is intricate and potentially dangerous. So, it is in your best interests to leave it to the professionals

You’re on top of grounding your children, but are you familiar with grounding your home? It improves the safety of your home as well as increases the life of your electronics, and who doesn’t want that? Mr. Electric has all you need to know in order to have your home properly grounded.

Electricity likes to travel the path of least resistance. When there’s too much of it, it needs somewhere to go. That’s where grounding comes in. You see, without it, that path of least resistance is your appliances and electronics – and possibly you when you use them. Burn! Zap! Not a good thing.

Since you don’t want your appliances – or you – to take the heat in these situations, a grounding wire is added to your home, offering all that electricity the perfect chance of escape, via a wire attached to your home’s electrical system which is submerged firmly in the ground – the reason it’s called “grounding.” Both your home’s electrical box and your home’s outlets need to be connected to this grounding wire in order to be properly and safely grounded.

Without proper grounding, you and your home could suffer burned out electronics and appliances, electrical fires and potentially deadly electrical shock.

Without special testing equipment, it may be difficult to tell. Just because you have three prong outlets does not mean the outlets – or your home – are properly grounded. These outlets must be properly wired in to your home’s main grounding wire for proper protection. There is also more to grounding than sticking a big metal rod in the dirt, such as properly attaching wires, grounding to your home’s water pipes correctly, and much, much more. If you don’t want your electrical behaving badly, you can ensure it is properly grounded by having it inspected by a licensed, qualified electrician.

Newer homes, as a result of increased safety regulations, are typically properly grounded. Older homes, on the other hand, may not have had a proper grounding experience, or any at all. Homes built before 1950 are especially at risk. You should always have your home, regardless of age, inspected for proper grounding by a licensed, qualified electrician to avoid the potential risks of fire, electrical shock, and property damage. You never know what the previous resident did without a permit.

Don’t suffer the punishment of burnt out electronics or a burned down home. Mr. Electric® will keep you out of trouble – get grounded today!

As any good business owner knows, the very first impression you give to the public is everything. When it comes to your office space, your showroom / shop / etc., you’ll need to make that impression count for all it’s worth. One thing that you can do to really make your spaces pop is something that any electrician in Beverly Hills would recommend: custom interior lighting. There are so many possibilities when it comes to customizing commercial lighting, and the budget required for this type of upgrade is often easily within the reach of most business owners. Without much fuss or expense, business owner’s can begin to enjoy the benefits of custom lighting in their building.

What sort of lighting you choose for your business space depends largely on the type of business that you operate. If you are a retailer of fine products such as jewelry or antique furniture, you might choose to have a chandelier installed by a local electrician. Beverly Hills custom lighting specialists would all agree that this type of classical lighting will really set off your wares and help potential customers view them from a totally different perspective.

In contrast, if you own a furniture or home goods store, modern track lighting might be a better idea. The bright lighting and sleek look that it provides will compliment the look and feel of your products. Another option that you might want to go with is recessed lighting. This type of stylish lighting will illuminate your store in a different, yet innovative way.

The Electric Connection, your licensed Beverly Hills electrical contractor, would be happy to assist you with such a project. You can feel free to give us and call and ask us about what sorts of fixtures we would suggest for your custom lighting project, as well as where the fixtures should be installed, and approximately how much it will cost.

Are you excited about getting started on the lighting for your business? If you are ready to get started soon, visit TheElectricConnection.com and get in touch with us for a phone consultation today. The Electric Connection is ready to help you complete your lighting project, and make you proud of your home or business’ new look!

This month of our LED industry link roundup is for the month of October of 2016. Also, we couldn’t forget… Happy Halloween!

This month we’ve seen lots of news about schools converting to LED and how cucumbers are seeing positive results from LED technology, along with some really great news about MyLEDLightingGuide. The news regarding the LED industry is ever increasing in excitement, and as the technology grows, expands, and simply gets better; the news will continue to be better and better.

Without further ado, here is the second addition of A Month in The LED Lighting Industry Link Roundup…

our retrofit kit LEDs without any penalty (because well, the complaint has been dismissed with prejudice by GTL). This allows us to continue selling all of our lighting fixtures as usual, and we will continue to do so with even more persistence now that this has passed.

LEDs Will Light Up Homer Harbor Next Year

Yet another city in the process of upgrading their cities lighting system over to LED technology. Next year Homer Harbor is going to be making the switch over to LED, which will surely inspire even more cities and towns to do the same.

San Francisco to install LED lights in street lamps to minimize maintenance, improve safety

Interesting enough another big city is about to convert over to LED technology. The reasoning for them is to reduce maintenance due to longer lifespans in LED technology as well as to improve safety. Read this article to discover more of the reasoning behind the conversion and what is driving this major city to make the conversion.

B.P. Schools Still Looking for Savings via LED Lighting and Solar

This school is seriously making a huge sustainable decision with LED lighting and solar. That will provide a highly sustainable situation, depending on how much of that solar power goes to powering the school lighting system. Since LED lights use much less energy to run, this could produce a very high ROI situation for this school and any others that follow suit.

Interesting Reads

Here are some interesting reads that we found this month. They aren’t exactly news we should all know about per se, but they sure are interesting for anyone interested in LEDs!

Trials see cucumbers gain from LED lighting

LED plant lighting systems are being tested and proven to show positive results to crops indoors. This post is an interesting read for anyone who’s interested in how LED technology is effecting the indoor grow industry, this one specifically with cucumbers.

1.  Invest in a Few Strategically Placed Garden Lights–Do not over light your landscape. Be sure to check the “dark sky”* ordinances in your town so that your landscape lighting design will be within legal limits of illumination.  Try a few garden spread lights to softly highlight flowerbeds, rock gardens and sculpted shrubbery.

2.  Work It Wisely—Put the ultimate control in the palm of your hand. Whether hand-held or on automated timers, outdoor lighting controls are the utmost in energy-saving and convenience to promote safety and security effortlessly and instantly.

3.  Prepare Your Patio for the King of the Grill—Task lighting is often neglected when planning your landscape and outdoor lighting design. While aiming for subtle illumination in most backyard areas, you need shielded, but plentiful focused task light over outdoor cooking stations.  An adjustable spot light installed in a rooftop corner or an attached grill light will help you to see that your chicken is thoroughly cooked and your burgers are not too well-done.

4. Watch Your Step and Provide Shielded Path Lighting —LED path lights and strip lights are available in a variety of colors and sizes to uniquely define and expand the boundaries of your outdoor living space while providing nighttime illumination for safe navigation.

5.  Go for the Life Time Guarantee—Superb new vendors are featuring landscape lighting products guaranteed to withstand the elements and weather naturally overtime without peeling or rusting.  Check out new post lamps from Northeast Lantern–all parts, with the exception of glass, are guaranteed for life!

 Say “Happy Father’s Day!” and bring it on home. Great landscape lighting will truly make his home feel like his castle. 

 Best Landscape Lighting Finds For Summer 

Path Lighting: “Nexus,” new from Hinkley Lighting featuring LED and a Bronze finish; “Dwell”  1547 from Hinkley in a Buckeye Bronze or Hematite finish.

Garden Lights: “Intaglio” Brass Crook Neck 1543 landscape light in Olde Bronze from Kichler Lighting; Tiffany path light in Antique Bronze with Green Faux Tiffany shade (P5271) from Progress Lighting.

Grill and Wall Lights: Barn Lantern from Northeast Lantern available in a choice of unique finishes including: Antique Brass, Dark Antique Brass, Dark Brass and Verdi Gris.

Step and Deck Lighting:  LED-TO24-5 Tape Lights from WAC Lighting, available in Amber, Blue, Green, Red, and White.

 Be sure that your new outdoor lighting purchases are in keeping with the dark-sky outdoor-lighting codes in your community.

*The latest landscape light fixtures are energy efficient and in keeping with new “Dark Sky” regulations.  “Dark Sky” ordinances continue to spread across the country in an effort to reduce light pollution.  Check the latest nighttime light restrictions in your town, to make sure your outdoor and landscape lighting is in keeping with new code laws.  Call your local government’s community planning and zoning office.  Fines for violating dark-sky ordinances may cost up to $100–Consumer Digest Communications, LLC.

The emergence of shielded dark-sky-compliant fixtures makes it easy to update your landscape lighting in keeping with the new laws. In addition to being environmentally friendly, these fixtures reduce glare, and they are affordable and energy saving.