When you think about your personal pool or hot tub, what comes to mind? Probably parties, relaxing evenings, or family fun, right? Electrical shock, property loss, and other dangers are probably the furthest from your mind, and that’s how it should be! That is, if you’re sure the wiring for your pool and or hot tub are in perfect working order.

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.

If the department stores are to be believed, the holiday season started about a month ago—which means if your house isn’t already fully decorated, you’re way behind! This year, make sure your holiday lights are safe by following these tips:

Before you buy or install new lights, make sure you know both how many watts the decorations require and how many watts are available in your home (if you’re not sure, ask an electrician at Kolb Electric!). Remember—the lower the wattage, the less electricity your lights will consume and the less they will cost to operate.

Since holiday lights draw so much power, you probably don’t want to plug them into a circuit that you’re using for other appliances—the circuit is likely to blow. Instead, call a DC electrician to install a dedicated circuit for your decorations.

In addition to installing a dedicated circuit for your holiday lighting, you may also want to install a timer for your lights. A timer will shut off your lights automatically, adding security and making sure everything is off in the middle of the night.

Extension cords are susceptible to water damage, so if you plan to use any outside, make sure they are covered so they can’t get wet. Never connect more than three strings of lights either—if you need more length, use a different plug.

Above all, make sure you take ordinary precautions with your holiday lights. This includes:

At Kolb Electric, we want to wish everyone a happy and safe holiday season. And if you need electrical service in Washington, DC, Maryland, or Virginia, call Kolb Electric today!

Your home could be a danger zone, and you not know it. Fifty-three percent of home fires involve electrical wiring, which remains hidden behind your walls. Don’t let the phrase “Out of sight out of mind” be a reality for you, though. Just because you don’t see the inner workings of your home wiring, it doesn’t mean problems don’t exist or can’t occur. Many electrical dangers stem from loose, frayed, or poorly installed wiring as well as from a lack of proper understanding.

Should you experience an electrical fire, do not attempt to throw water on the source! We know it may seem like the natural response, but it’s possible that you could get shocked and/or make the fire worse. In this case, the best option is to use an extinguisher that’s designed to to combat electrical fires in the initial stages. It’s incredibly important to note, however, that if it’s taking longer than five seconds to extinguish a fire, the best course of action is to call 9-1-1.

The electrical inspection checklist is perhaps one of the most important documents you’ll want to take notice of if you are building a home or doing significant renovations. In short, it is a rundown of all of the electrical systems in place. It ensures your home’s electrical system meets the requirements set by local codes and overall electrical safety standards. While each contractor and local area may have its own version of this electrical system checklist, it’s important for you to know what to expect.

Generally, this inspection tool is a way for the contractor, local building departments, and licensing agencies to ensure the electrical work completed on a building is safe and done according to industry-wide protocols for safety. It helps home inspectors to ensure that electrical installation meets specific guidelines set forth under local building codes. It also works as a way for contractors and project managers (as well as homeowners) to know what’s been done, what’s going to be done, and what needs attention.

Here’s a look at some of the elements of this electrical inspection checklist you’ll see. You can use this as a basic guide before asking your electrician or building contractor for a copy of your own: