Did you know the lighting in your office could be making you feel sick?

Feeling unmotivated and lethargic, suffering from headaches or eyestrain? There are some simple steps you can take to energize the work environment to combat stress and elevate mood by choosing the best lamp for your desk or task lighting needs. 

Healthful illumination is key to an environment partnered with increased productivity and job satisfaction.  The trend today is to improve upon what you already have rather than investing in new construction.  Upgrading your office with affordable and energy-efficient lighting is an investment that leads to outstanding visual improvements and a more healthful work environment.

Employ the Right Lamps for Greater Health Benefits:

Top Picks for Office Lighting:

-Quoizel’s “Zen” collection includes floor and table lamps with Mystic Black finishes and Rattan shades for corporate casual decor.

Within the construction industry is a continued need for highly qualified specialists in many areas, including carpentry, plumbing, and electricity. All are well-paying fields, but in particular the trade of master electrician can give a person a good standard of living and considerable career flexibility. The path to earning the title of master electrician is somewhat long and requires many hours of trade school or college coursework but is very well-marked with the apprenticeship experience required. Of course, as with any profession, the level of education and practical experience needed depends upon the state or territory within which you wish to learn such a valuable trade.

High school courses rich in math and science are a must if you wish to do well in your path to master electrician certification. These courses will give you a great background in which to be able to successfully complete trade school or junior college courses in physics (electricity) as well as safety and industrial maintenance. Most states require some up-front training in a trade school or college before beginning your on-the-job training as an electrician. Checking with your particular state or territory is necessary in order to assess the exact requirements for certification.

In addition to any classroom work, you will be required in most cases to fulfill at least two years of apprenticeship work with a licensed master electrician. It is during this time that you begin to learn this profession fully and gain a proper understanding of the responsibilities involved. The International Brotherhood of Electricians supports all apprenticeship activities, including helping potential apprentices find qualified master electricians with whom to learn. You should expect any master electrician you work with to be highly knowledgeable as well as very demanding as to what he or she expects from you. Be prepared both physically and mentally for a challenging two year period as you complete your apprenticeship.

After a total of four years between trade school and apprenticeship training, you should be prepared to take the licensing exam for journeyman electrician. If you pass this exam, you will be certified as a competent journeyman electrician. However, in many states, a journeyman electrician must still work under the direction of a master electrician. It will take on average another three to four years to gain enough experience before applying for the license of master journeyman electrician, or more simply, a master electrician.

In the United States, most licensed master electricians can expect between $40,000 and $70,000 per year as an average wage. Though pay is currently lower on average than over the past few years, this is expected to improve as the economy recovers and homebuilding rebounds. Also, some master electricians decide to open their own electrical business or consulting firm and can expect in many cases to out-earn the average expectation in most states. With such a certification, you are only limited by your willingness to work on both residential and commercial sites.

The times, they are a-changin'. President Obama recently announced the details of his highly anticipated Clean Power Plan, a measure aimed at reducing the country's harmful fossil fuel emissions and limiting our contribution to climate change. The plan, when fully implemented, should reduce carbon emissions by 32 percent below 2005 levels by 2030. Read on to learn more about the Clean Power Plan and what it means for you.

Lower Prices at the Meter

The Clean Power Plan was developed by the Environmental Protection Agency, under the authority granted by the Clean Air Act. It imposes sharp limits on the types of energy production that power the nation's electrical work, but grants flexibility to states in how they act to meet those limits. In general, the plan encourages a shift away from burning coal during energy generation, while states have the option of upping their renewable energy production, using nuclear energy, increasing their efficiency or relying more on natural gas.

The good news for homeowners is that the plan is projected to decrease the bills you pay to power your residential electrical work. An analysis by the Natural Resources Defense Council found that the average home electricity bill could fall by as much as 8 percent, and consumers could save up to $37.4 billion overall in electricity by 2020. The rationale for the savings is that renewable fuel sources cost less to run over time once the initial infrastructure is in place. Also, the plan encourages investments in household energy efficiency, which means that you may come to be less reliant on your home electrical work without substantially changing your behavior.

Clean Air for Breathing

The Clean Power Plan has another ancillary effect that has nothing to do with electrical work: it should cut down on air pollution and create a healthier breathing environment. For example, while we rely on the ozone level high in the sky to block harmful sun rays, ozone at ground level is known by another name – smog. It is created when sunlight interacts with pollutants and can be very harmful to our health. The plan should reduce smog levels and provide us with cleaner air to breathe.

Furthermore, one of the biggest signs of climate change is unusually hot and dry weather in certain parts of the country, which can lead to out-of-control wildfires and harmful particulates that damage your lungs. Strange weather patterns have also been blamed for an increase in allergies this year. By slowing the pace of climate change and keeping harmful pollutants out of the air, the Clean Power Plan can help you breathe easy.

If you have any concerns about the effect the Clean Power Plan will have on your energy prices or electrical work, call a knowledgeable electrician today.

One thing is for sure, you can rarely have too much light in your home. While windows provide a lot of light in the home, having proper lighting can improve a home’s appearance, functionality, and feel. Many homes, especially older homes, may not come with installed lighting and instead may rely on you to acquire free-standing lighting like lamps. While this can be a way to get more lighting in a room, it’s not always ideal. Consider callinging up an electrician to install lighting in any of the following areas to see great improvement in your home.

One room you may not think about the lighting in, is the bathroom. Between shaving, putting on makeup, or just taking a shower, light is a critical component when using the bathroom. Yet it’s often under-lit. It would be very feasible to have an electrician install lighting into the ceiling to help illuminate bathing spaces safely and make sure your vanity lighting is up to par before your Electrical Guru electrician goes home so that you can always see clearly.

Having control of the living room lighting is important especially if you use the room for your entertainment center. An electrician can install recessed lighting throughout the room and include dimmer functionality in the switch to give you supreme lighting control.

Part of what makes a kitchen so appealing is when it’s open, airy, and bright. This can’t happen if you don’t have the proper lighting installed. The kitchen is the perfect place to take advantage of the ceiling space or under the cabinet space to make sure you can see what you’re doing when you’re using a kitchen knife. Additionally, a bar could be a great place to have your electrician install pendulum lighting to add that “wow” factor to your space.

Contact the Electrical Gurus today about your residential lighting installation project!