Have you ever walked into a room and thought, “Wow, it is not bright in here?” If you have, you have a poorly lit room. Believe it or not, there are a lot of rooms within homes that are not adequately lit and this can have an impact on you in a number of ways. Those ways are:

• You may be paying more on your energy bill for less light
• A dim room is a room you cannot see well in
• How much light is in a room can impact your mood
• An unevenly lit room can make it seem off balance

There are solutions to these problems with the main solution being upgrading your lighting. There are some fixtures that are simply placed wrong or they just don’t brighten your world very well. We can brighten your world for you because we are an electrician for St. Paul residents and businesses have trusted for many years to do such things as install new fixtures that will light up their lives better and even install additional lighting to a part of a room that never seems to get enough.

Energy Efficient Lighting

The first thing you want to think about when having new lighting installed is its energy efficiency and here is why: When paying your electric bill each month, approximately 40% of the money is paying for the lighting that you used. The rest goes toward the electric your appliances and electrical devices used. If you use energy efficient lighting, then you could cut that 40% by 30% and only pay 10% of what you have been paying. This may seem rather steep, but it’s the truth.

That “little light fixture that could” but couldn’t is costing you more than you think. But in the grand scheme of things, having new energy efficient fixtures installed is going to save you so much money that you’ll have your money back on the installation in the form of savings before you know it. You simply inform your St. Paul electrician that you want energy efficient lighting and it will be done.

Installing New Fixtures

What you want is lighting that is going to make the room more functional. If you have one of those rooms where one side is bright and the other is dark, then you have a room that was simply constructed unevenly. That’s not common. You may have a lamp on the dark side of the room, but that doesn’t always suffice when you are in a situation where more lighting is needed. And sometimes a fixture that is very bright doesn’t always help. This may require the installation of a new fixture on that side of the room, which is no problem. It can be operated by the same switch that operates the primary or it can have its own individual switch. You are the boss, so you call the shots.

How To Get Started

So if you need a little more light in your life, you can give us a call at 651-587-5512 and we will be more than happy to review with you the many lighting options that are available. We can provide you with an estimate that fits your budget so you can have the lighting you’ve always wanted.

Every day smoke alarms save lives and that is why they are so important to have within your home. While you may have your electrical system inspected frequently or you may be careful to not leave a candle burning all night, the reasons for some fires are quite unpredictable and, unfortunately, many individuals have lost their lives due to no warning. If you are not sure how to install a smoke alarm, your St. Paul electrician can do so for you to ensure it is done right. Correct installation is a must because the smoke alarm could be all that stands between life and death.

As for how it works, a smoke alarm detects smoke rather than fire. This is very important because it can detect a problem before fire is ever close to it. Placing these alarms around bedrooms, the kitchen, and spacing them in a way they can be heard no matter where you are in the home is a must. Since smoke travels ahead of a fire, you can make sure you and your family receives ample notice to get out before the fire reaches you.

Replace Your Batteries!

The U.S. Fire Administration recommends smoke alarm batteries to be changed once each year. The best time to do it is when Daylight Savings Times ends and begins. While this is twice per year, it is better to be safe. Batteries have been known to die prematurely while sitting around in a smoke detector. You also want to make sure you test the smoke detector  monthly to ensure it is still operational. Batteries can die and so can smoke detectors over time.

Replace Your Unit!

Of course you’re going to replace the unit when it doesn’t work anymore. That is the whole reasoning behind testing it weekly or monthly. It is also recommended by the U.S. Fire Administration that smoke detectors be replaced every 8 to 10 years. Even if the device is still operational, it needs to be replaced by a newer model.

Placing Your Smoke Alarms

Many homeowners in Minnesota have an average of 3 to 4 smoke detectors placed throughout the home. Regulations in Minnesota state that you’re to have one on each floor of the home, including the basement, and approximately 10 feet or less from each bedroom door. Because of these regulations, there are homes that have 10-15 alarms. Sometimes, the larger homes will have more and even smaller homes will if their owners wish to have the most common hazardous areas covered.

Let’s say you are standing in your bathroom drying your hair. Most everyone does this. But what if you’re standing in a puddle of water? Being that you’re in the bathroom, you may think nothing about it. The bathroom is a wet place, but that wet place can be dangerous when you are holding an electrical device in your hand in water…barefooted.

While it’s a good idea to ensure the area is as dry as possible before using a hairdryer, having a Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter (GFCI) outlet in your bathroom and other areas where there may be water sources is going to protect you from electric shock. If that hairdryer is plugged into a regular outlet and a shock or surge would occur, the electricity is going to take the path with the least resistance and, unfortunately, you are that path. That path is through the arms and the legs until it gets to the puddle and that can be fatal.

About GFCIs

The National Electric Code has a requirement for GFCIs to be placed in areas where electrical accidents can happen. These areas include:

• Pools
• Bathrooms
• Kitchens
• Garages
• Near hot tubs
• And outdoor areas

How it works is this: The GFCI detects that the current is no longer flowing properly in the circuit. Within milliseconds, the current is shut off. If this irregular current would occur while using the hairdryer, the current would be shut off and your life would be saved. Because people are learning more about GFCIs and how they make using electricity safer, people turn to an electrician St. Paul residents are relying upon to install these outlets throughout their homes and businesses to ensure electrical shock is avoided.

Checking For GFCIs

GFCIs look different from your usual outlet. You will see two buttons that say “test” and “reset.” The “test” button is what you press to make sure the GFCI is working correct. The “Reset” button is what you press when the current needs to be restored to the outlet. If you have been using your hairdryer and your outlet has “tripped,” then you were most likely protected by some kind of irregular current. Being that hairdryers operates at a higher wattage, it is somewhat common for them to try to pull too much electricity, especially if the device itself has a problem.

So if you see the outlet with the two buttons, you do have a GFCI. Make sure you have one in all of the important parts of your home and, if you don’t, then you can contact your St. Paul electrician to take care of it for you. You will want to make sure you have one in each bathroom, in your kitchen near the sink, in your garage, in your garage, and anywhere where they may be a water source inside or outside of your home.

Need GFCIs In Your Home?

If you need GFCIs in your home, Edison Electric Inc. can install those for you. You can call 651-587-5512 to schedule your estimate and learn more about how GFCIs can keep you safe. You can even learn about other electrical issues that may be present and safety measures that can be taken to make the structure a safer one.

Energy efficiency is very important when you want to save money on your electric bill. What is neat is the fact you don’t have to do a lot to be more energy efficient. Tasks that are as simple as changing the light bulbs you use can save you a great deal of money on your electric bill, but you can take it a lot further by having your St. Paul electrician take measures within your home that will make it more energy efficient. Sure, there may be an investment involved, but it will pay off over time.

Are CFLs Worth It?

You’ve probably seen those new fluorescent light bulbs that most people call “squiggly bulbs” screwed into a light fixture. They are pricier than a regular light bulb, but they do last longer. In fact, it is not unusual for one of these light bulbs to last up to five years, which means you are more or less getting one light bulb for every 6-12 or more regular light bulbs you would buy for a single light. The bulbs also use less energy to provide the same amount of light you would receive otherwise.

Here is why they save you money: They last 13 times longer than your usual incandescent bulb. Let’s say that lighting costs you $20 out of every $100 on your electric bill. Because CFLs only use 25% of the electricity an incandescent bulb does, you are saving about $15 of that $20 on your electric bill. That means you would only be paying $5 for every $100. Factor in the fact that you don’t have to replace the bulbs nearly as often and you have even more savings. The only downside is the small amount of mercury involved, which means great care needs to be taken when one of these bulbs break. They also need to be disposed of as hazardous waste, but this is something you only have to worry about over years and not months.

What Can Your Electrician Do?

First, you need an electrician St. Paul residents and businesses rely on for honest solutions to the energy efficiency question. Edison Electric Inc. is experienced in helping homeowners and business owners make their structures more energy efficient. One way residents make their homes more energy efficient is through the installation of ceiling fans so they can circulate heat during the winter and circulate cool air in the summers so that their HVAC units don’t have to work as hard, thus using less energy. Naturally, ceiling fans use a lot less energy than HVAC units.

Your electrician can also install more energy efficient lighting throughout the home. Combine the lighting with CFLs and you are going to experience a return on investment a lot sooner than you may think.

Another way to become more energy efficient is to have your old circuit breaker or fuse box replaced. Any time you upgrade any component of your electrical system, you are going to make it more efficient. Any time you have something modern and up to code that is going to be able to handle the load better, it is going to be more efficient.

Be More Energy Efficient Today

There are also little things that you can do, such as investing in energy efficient appliances and electrical devices. You can also turn off lights when you leave a room and turn off electrical devices when you aren’t using them. Combine this with the services that we can provide and you will see a significant reduction in your electric bill. To schedule an estimate, call us at 651-587-5512 and our technician will help you make decisions about the lighting, ceiling fans, and other components that can keep more money in your wallet and out of the hands of the electric company.

The Internet has revolutionized doing things yourself. There are guides in the forms of eBooks, articles, and videos so that the everyday Joe can become an expert in building or fixing things. While doing it yourself can be touted as a way to save money, it can also be rather dangerous. While you’re buying your parts at retail and getting your labor for free, the slightest mistake can lead to devastating results. This is not saying that you’re not a fast learner and someone who fails to pay attention to detail, but sometimes the guides and the videos can be flawed. They may leave out a tiny little detail or they don’t make an important detail as obvious as they thought, causing you to be none the wiser.

Here is an unfortunate fact: Poor wiring within a home causes 33% of the residential fires within U.S. Cities. These fires take the lives of nearly 500 people and injure over 2,000 on an annual basis. The electrical work may have seemed easy enough, but something can sometimes go wrong elsewhere without it being known and many times not detecting those issues is a matter of not having the equipment. In your case, an electrician in St. Paul can be trusted to not break the bank..

Common Errors

Of course, there are many errors that can be made, but the most common ones include:

• Splicing a new wire into an old wire by simply taping them together when installing a new fixture. Unfortunately, wires that are not properly encased will spark and they can ignite.
• Indoor wiring that goes to outdoor wiring can be a risk, which is mainly due to the wrong type of wiring being used or not burying the wires deep enough. Both humans and animals can be in a great deal of danger because a wet ground in addition to wires that are hit through gardening or another act that involves digging into the ground could result in a major shock hazard. The entire ground in that area becomes dangerous.
• This last one is something that a lot of individuals do because they simply have not been educated on the matter or they just don’t know. Many will use a higher wattage bulb than what light fixtures call for. This means that the lamp or fixture can burn too hot and that will damage the wiring. 60 watt bulbs are common or their equivalent CFL bulb. If putting in a 100 watt bulb and the fixture only calls for 60, that’s a hazard waiting to happen. If you cannot find on the fixture what kind of bulb it takes, you can call an electrician in St. Paul who has been trusted for many years to carry out such tasks and many more.

Be Safer! Call Us!

We can inspect the electrical system within your home to ensure it is safe. If not, we can fix any of the issues that we find so that you can have the peace of mind you need. Call Edison Electric Inc. to schedule your estimate at 651-587-5512.