Landscape lighting can add beauty to your home as well as provide increased safety on your property.  Lighting design can be used to light pathways, highlight your homes architecture, and deter intruders.  When considering adding lighting to your landscaping, it is important to find the right balance of lighting.  Focus on adding lighting to main activity areas like driveways, entrances, pathways, dark areas around windows, and stairs and main focal points such as fountains, trees, or statues.  The following landscape lighting basics can help make the most of your lighting.

Up-lighting: Up-lighting is placing a light facing upward toward an object to illuminate it.  This works well for highlighting the focal points of your landscape or home.  Use it sparingly to highlight objects around your yard like statues, trees, flag poles, and fountains.

Down-lighting: Down-lighting is used to illuminate large areas.  It works well for illuminating entertainment areas such as a patio or a deck.  It also helps to deter intruders.

Accent Lighting: Accent lighting is an excellent choice for lighting paths and stairs by placing lights along both edges of a path or a staircase.  This looks beautiful and has the added safety feature of helping prevent people from tripping and falling.  Accent lighting can also add focus to low-lying flowers, shrubs, and ponds.

The electrical infrastructure that is the backbone to power our electrical devices is a manmade marvel. The ability to provide power to cities and towns all over the country is a benefit that we can all enjoy. Power lines are a basic component to provide electrical current throughout cities, neighbourhoods and ultimately our homes. These high-powered lines are packed with strong current and can be highly dangerous if not respected. It is critical that we exercise caution when working around electrical power lines. We have assembled some tips to bear in mind.

Depending on the location of power lines around your home and property, you may encounter situations where you must work nearby electrical lines. Often trimming hedges or trees will bring us within a short distance of live wires or poles.

Standing on ladders, can put you into harms way. Power lines carry a high capacity of electrical current that flows through the wires themselves. By placing yourself closer to high power lines, you may be at risk of causing an electrical arc. If your hedge clippers or ladder comes too close to power lines, the electrical current may jump to the metal ladder, or electrical device. These objects act as a conductor for the electricity to travel to the ground. The result of this could easily be an electrical shock or burn to your body. When performing jobs near power lines, always look up and be conscious of your proximity to the lines. You should always remain at least three meters or 10 feet away from power lines.

If you are trimming a tree, take extreme caution that your falling debris does not come into contact with the power line. A falling branch could cause a spark or stress on the lines that may result in an electrical fire.

During periods of heavy wind, trees may bend and break under the stress of the wind. Should a tree or large branch break and fall, it may pull down and disconnect a power line from an adjacent pole. Should a power pole fail due to a car accident at the base of the pole, this may also cause power lines to break and fall. During any of these events, take extreme caution and remain at least 33 feet or 10 meters away from a downed power line (The equivalent of one school bus in length). The line is likely still active and charged. If you come across a downed power line ensure that nobody moves near the power line and call 911 immediately. Quick actions can prevent serious loss of life.

As much as we love electrical use in our daily lives, it can be very dangerous. If you have questions or concerns with power lines in your neighbourhood you can contact BC Hydro. For assistance with your home electrical, surge protection or service panel upgrades use a licence electrician. Contact your local Expert Electric at 604-681-8338.

Usually, around this time people are giving up on their New Year’s resolutions. We get it; it’s tough to follow through on difficult commitments, especially when it comes to altering habits. Let et us be the voice that says, “Keep going! You can do this!” Or, maybe you’re still struggling to come up with a resolution. That’s where we come in. Resolve to be more energy efficient!

We’ve come up with several New Year’s resolutions we truly think you can keep. Energy efficiency doesn’t always require a significant monetary investment; sometimes, it calls for a small change in your routine. We know that change can be scary, but once you realize your savings potential, we hope that the challenge will be worth it!

Like most people, you probably use some form of automation already in different aspects of your life. From checking your email at work to opening the garage door when you arrive home in the evening. This type of automation allows people to remotely access various devices in their homes using a mobile phone or similar device.

Once they’ve made the switch, most homeowners say that it’s improved their lives considerably. In fact, there are several ways that home automation can improve your home – and your lifestyle.

Home automation is incredibly convenient. With the touch of a button on your smartphone, you can access different devices in your home. You can turn on lights, change the temperature, and even water your lawn from any location in the world. You’ll never need to ask a neighbor to check on your house because you can do it yourself, no matter where you are.

A smart thermostat is one of the most popular automated home devices. It’s similar to a programmable thermostat, but you can change the temperature setting remotely. If you decide to come home early from work, for example, you can change the temperature so your home is comfortable by the time you arrive.

Automated homes are also safe because you always have access to your electronics, even when you’re away. If you forget to turn the oven off before you leave for the evening, you can use your mobile device to do the job for you.

Most people see a significant decrease in energy bills when they automate their homes. You aren’t wasting electricity, even if you accidentally leave the lights on. After all, you can easily turn them off from your smartphone.

Because these devices are automated, they’re also energy efficient. You can set the lights and the thermostat so they’re only using power when you’re home.

An automated home also gives you peace of mind. By having remote access to your lights, electronics, HVAC system, sprinkler system, and other devices, you’ll ensure that small problems don’t become larger ones. You can handle minor issues from anywhere in the world, keeping them from becoming major issues.

Contact Bryant Electric Service today and find out more about how you can improve your home with automation.

DIY, or Do-It-Yourself, repairs and renovations are a common response to many home needs or emergency situations. It can be time-saving to begin a job immediately, could cut down on the costs of hiring a professional, or may just be an opportunity for homeowners to develop a skill or work on a hobby without calling a professional.

Certain areas of home repair and improvement, like plumbing and gas fixes, should be left to professionals. Electricians especially should be called in to oversee or complete repairs and renovations, as they know the laws, have built relationships with the local utilities, and have specialized training and expertise in the field.

Why You Shouldn’t DIY Electrical Work

DIY might work for small repairs in cases of electrical work, but since these issues deal with live wires and active electricity, it would be best to be safe and call in a professional in most cases. Electricians have specialized training and access to the tools necessary to safely and effectively make repairs and renovations to electricity. The result of DYI gone wrong with electrical work can be fires, electrocution or even death, so the margin for error is slim.

Electricians know how to test wires for power and turn power on and off safely before and after they have worked. While most homeowners know to test switches against breakers, few have voltage meters and insulated tools to protect themselves while working. When replacing circuits, rewiring a new space, or renovating old systems, most communities have codes and require permits for extensive work to oversee that is it done safely and in accordance with local law. In these instances, it’s best to call an electrician.

DIY work stops being time and cost-effective when it puts a homeowner and his or her family and property in danger. There are times when a professional electrician should be called in to help.