Fans in the attic? The idea at first may sound odd. We usually think of fans as blowing somewhere in our home where we can feel their effects, like hanging from ceilings or mounted in windows. Few people spend more time in their attic than they absolutely must, so it seems useless to install fans there.

However, attic fans can form an important part of maintaining the overall efficiency of your air conditioning system. If you’ve taken all the steps you can to keep your HVAC system working its best (regular maintenance, duct cleaning, changing the filter, proper insulation), attic fans will take you a step beyond. We’ll explain why putting in attic fans will benefit you.

Attics are both heat traps and heat escape routes. You can use insulation to stop heat from escaping in winter, but what about summer, when heat gathers in the attic and creates excessively high temperatures that will seep into other parts of your home? (Go up into your attic on a hot day and see what it’s like. It can be miserable. You don’t want any of that to get to rooms you actually use.) To stop summer attic heat, you’ll need attic fans.

Attic fans should be wired to a thermostat that will turn the fan on based on the temperature. This saves energy since you won’t have to keep the fan on constantly or continually check on it. The movement of air in the attic will lower the high temperature.

The first benefit is the most obvious: your home will not get as hot during the summer. On average, the temperature in the attic will decrease 50 degrees with a fan, which means a drop of 10 degrees in your house.

This not only translates into comfort, it also means savings on your energy bills. A cooler house requires less work from an air conditioner to cool it. You’ll spend less, and your air conditioner will not receive extra stress that will lead to repairs and possibly an early replacement.

Attic fans will also extend the life of your roof. Rising moisture in your home will get into the roof, eventually creating mold in the insulation and the roof material. In winter, the freezing moisture can be extremely damaging. Attic fans move moisture away and keep it from settling.

Super Bright LEDs employs skilled engineers and experts to test LED lights before they’re sold. Our in-house test lab is stocked with numerous pieces of equipment that provide important specifications about each product, such as brightness, color temperature, and operating temperature. Testing methods include the use of integrating spheres, spectrometers, Forward-Looking Infrared (FLIR) cameras, and an environmental chamber. In addition to this equipment, our technicians perform burn-in tests and durability tests that can last anywhere from two weeks to several months.

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Our state-of-the-art environmental testing chamber utilizes a 30-cubic-foot enclosure to reproduce the full ranges of temperature and relative humidity found within commercial and industrial LED lighting applications. Data collection (photometric & electrical) occurs while a device-under-test cycles through specified environmental extremes. Chamber temperature ranges from negative 35° C (negative 31° F)  to 200° C (392° F), and humidity ranges from 10 to 95 percent.

To ensure that our products will perform under normal and extreme conditions—and to have a little fun—our technicians put them through a round of applicable tests. A selection of LED lights is time tested in the environment that each product is designed for. For example, waterproof boat lights are submerged in water, and weather-resistant landscape lights are installed outside. Depending on the type of product and its impact/weather rating, our technicians might drop, run over, freeze, burn, or even saw it in half to test the product’s durability.

One of the biggest challenges faced by electrical engineers, while designing and installing circuitry, is ensuring that electrical fittings can accommodate different plugs. The terms ‘electrical outlet’ and ‘electrical receptor’ are interchangeable, and they do a lot more than just provide electrical connectors for devices to plug into.

By Hannah Haseloff

Candles can be a homeowner’s best friend, especially around the holidays. They can add style to a room, create mood lighting, and make a house smell delicious.  They are also useful to have during those emergency power outages and can help you find your way in the dark.  With the introduction of electric candles, candles are increasing in popularity. But what is the difference? Are electric candles safer than traditional ones? Which is better? Maybe our guide to electric candles can help you to decide for yourself!

One drawback to traditional candles is the fire hazard that comes with having an open flame. Knocking over a candle or placing flammable objects too close can have disastrous effects. Between 2007 and 2011, there were over 10,630 started by candles in the home. Although electric candles present much less of a fire hazard, they can still be dangerous. Small children can easily remove the button sized batteries from the candles and swallow them. It is a good idea to tape over the battery access panel and keep the candles out of reach.

Candles are great for setting mood lighting and traditional ceremonies. In an emergency, candles can be used as a source of light. Traditional candles produce more light than electric ones; however, electric candles still provide a good source of light.

Both electric and traditional candles can be used as a calming agent using aromatherapy.

Electric candles can be placed on a timer and can be set to turn on automatically.

One nice thing about electric candles is that they won’t melt or ever lose their shape. Traditional candles can create a mess when they melt or be rendered useless because of their distorted shape.

Electric candles not only have a variety of fragrances, but can also serve as an insect repellent. For people who love candles, but do not love the scent, unscented electric candles are also available.

One advantage of electric candles is that they come in more variety than traditional candles. Another advantage is that electric candles be placed in areas were traditional candles could not because of the fire hazard. For more candle styling tips, visit My Home Life Magazine Pinterest board.

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