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You don’t see them around our neck of the woods very often, but windmills are more frequently being used to generate electricity.  There are several reasons for this: There is a need for new sources of energy as fossil fuel reserves are declining Wind is in abundance all over the world Technological advances have made windmills highly efficient, meaning wind-generated electricity can be profitably produced Today’s windmills are actually wind turbines, as a turbine is something that can generate electrical power.  Wind turbines convert wind into electricity.  Simply stated, when the wind passes through the windmill’s blades, the blades experience […]

Most people do not understand how their electrical systems work, and are completely unqualified to do electrical work themselves.  That leads to the following predicament in selecting an electrical contractor.  On the one hand, they don’t want to get “ripped off,” and since they are not familiar with how electricity works, they are afraid they will be “sold” into contracting for expensive work they don’t need.  On the other hand, they know they don’t understand how things work, and they need to trust that whoever they hire will do things right. When it comes to selecting an electrical contractor, the […]

Happy New Year.  We know you made many New Year’s resolutions for this year.  Exercise and losing weight seem to appear on most lists.  So do travel and spending more time with family and friends.  But do your New Year’s resolutions include things to  ensure your home’s electrical system stays current (pun intended)? We thought not.  Therefore, here are some simple resolutions. Have a whole house electrical audit done.  Chances are you are using a lot more electricity-consuming appliances, fixtures, computers, entertainment systems, etc. than you were a few years ago.  Make sure you have enough circuit breakers to handle […]

With Christmas just around the corner, everybody is looking forward to seeing Christmas trees and festive Christmas decorations. But did you know that an extravagant display will cost enough money to heat and power an average house for six weeks?  Not only that, it will produce enough carbon dioxide to fill two double-decker busses.  Even if you use conventional lights on your tree for 10 hours a day for the 12 days of Christmas, that is still producing enough carbon dioxide to inflate 10 party balloons. With those thoughts in mind, here are some tips to reduce energy costs without […]

We are frequently asked how much electricity various items use.  Rather than provide those answers individually, below you can see how much you can expect certain items to use.  Before showing you the list, though, a few caveats: Usage varies from model to model.  Your model may use more or less electricity, depending on numerous factors including age, features, etc. Usage varies by use.  This is obvious.  Washing clothes in hot water will cost more than washing them in cold water, for example.  Setting your thermostat higher in the summer and lower in the winter will reduce costs. Appliances that […]

If this winter is like most others, we can expect a few very heavy snowfalls.  That means clearing the driveway yourself, or hoping the plowing service shows up. But what about your roof?  Ice dams and icicles can form on the roof.  If they have no place to go, they can cause extensive and costly damage to roof and gutter systems.  That is why many people opt to install heating cables on their roof and inside their gutters.  While they may not be aesthetically pleasing, these cables provide a few benefits, especially when an insulation or air sealing project is […]

Last month we talked about the new measure for light – lumens – and how many lumens you would need to properly illuminate a room.  This month we are going to shed some more light on light. First, to make sure you are buying the right light bulbs, all light bulb packages must state on the front: Light output in lumens, which if you remember from last time is the actual amount of ambient light coming from the bulb.  For example, a 40-watt incandescent bulb will product about 500 lumens of light. Energy used in watts Life hours, which is […]

How much light do you need to light a room?  There had been a simple formula for it:  Room length x room width x 1.5 = required wattage. The problem is people no longer talk about watts; they talk about lumens.  The reason is that there is no agreed upon standards for determining equivalent wattage for CFL or LED light bulbs which are being used more frequently than ever., So 60 watts from one bulb might not provide the same light as a 60-watt bulb from another manufacturer.  Thus the switch to lumens. What are lumens?  Lumens are the actual […]

We are truly getting to the dog days of summer, with temperatures reaching into the 90s.  That means our air conditioners are working harder.  With everybody running their air conditioners, that obviously increases the possibility of brownouts and surges.  Realistically, our power system can handle only so much.  But outages most likely will occur. Undoubtedly, you’ve taken some precautions (at least we hope so).  Perhaps you have backed up the data on your computer so you will not lose any.  Your computers, tablets and cell phones are fully charged.  Flashlights have fresh batteries.  Maybe you even have a back-up generator. […]

Last month we talked with you about the benefits of attic fans, and how to select them.  This month, we are going to take it down a level or two and talk about ceiling fans. Ceiling fans offer several benefits to homeowners.  The primary one, of course, is it makes the room more comfortable in both summer and winter.  When the room is more comfortable, you can keep your thermostat set higher in the summer and lower in the winter, thus saving energy costs and reducing wear and tear on your furnace and air conditioner.  For example, a ceiling fan […]