Love is in the air! Fall officially began last week, so we are in the throes of the autumn wedding season. Although the summer months have traditionally been the most popular for weddings, autumn weddings have steadily risen in popularity and nowadays, you’re just as likely to receive an orange maple leaf save-the-date as you are a frilly invite with a flower border.

But as we all (should have) learned in elementary school, when the seasons change, the angle of sunlight touching the earth changes as well, resulting in a different quality and duration of sunlight. While many people prefer the more “golden” tones of autumn afternoons (especially photographers!), it can certainly be challenging to keep your special day well-lit when the sun begins to set. But never fear! Here is a list of four ways lighting can save the day on your big day.

If you can, hire a lighting designer for your wedding. Great lighting can be the difference between a spectacular party and a “well, they tried hard.” Acclaimed lighting designer Extreme Productions) how glamorous professional wedding lighting can be. If you can afford to go all out, you won’t be sorry.

The reason lighting at a wedding is so important is it can really make or break a venue’s ambiance. Whether you want a romantic vibe, like in the picture, or more of a warm, casual family feel, lighting can make a huge difference on how successful you are in achieving the aura you desire. You will want to look into professional lighting design, especially if your wedding takes place outside. Many venues have pre-approved lighting designers familiar with their codes, so make sure to find out when venue-hunting.

But if hiring a lighting designer is these awesome DIY wedding lighting tips from the blog at Wedding Window.

It’s incredibly easy to forget about “minor details” like lighting while planning your wedding, but you can go nuts trying to come up with last-minute lighting solutions. Since lighting has such a big impact every part of the wedding, make it a priority!

3. Make a list early on of things that need to be well-lit, and plan accordingly.

Do you want your new monogram spotlighted on the wall at your reception? Or pinhole light above your wedding cake or centerpieces? Maybe fun, moving lights for the ceiling above the dance floor?

Research some of the lighting elements that have worked well at past weddings and make a list of everything you want at yours. It’s okay if you have to scrap some of your ideas, but the process of writing it out will help you make sure you don’t miss anything you’ll regret later.

If you’re doing your own lighting, this step is crucial to planning for what kinds of lights you want where, and what crafting you need to finish beforehand. Taking the time to plan ahead will save you all kinds of trouble at game time.

4. Crappy venues can’t defeat you!

Aluminum wiring is common today and can be perfectly safe when installed and terminated correctly. The transmission lines passing overhead as you drive and those coming into your home are often aluminum, for example. But many older homes have aluminum wiring that was  through time has become unsafe which can create a potential fire hazard. Keep an eye out for any warning signs that may indicate that your home has aluminum wiring issues.

Indicators of Aluminum Wiring Issues

There are a number of electrical red flags that could indicate an aluminum wiring problem. Make sure you call an electrician if you see:

Aluminum Wiring Repair in Denver

While aluminum wiring may not always be a problem,  if you notice anything out of the ordinary, give us a call today. As always, we give free estimates and have a certified electrician standing by 24 hours a day.

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Strips with more LEDs per foot will consume more power.

In short, if maximum energy efficiency is what’s most important to you, choose a light strip with smaller LEDs and fewer LEDs.

In order to ensure your LED power supply doesn’t overheat and fail prematurely, we use this general rule of thumb:

Make sure the total wattage of your LED strip lighting is at least 20 percent less than the power supply’s rated wattage.

For example, if you have an LED strip light that requires 80 watts of power to run, you’ll need a power supply that’s rated for at least 96 watts.

The vast majority of our strips include wattage per foot right on their product pages.

power supplies range from six watts to 1,500 watts for compatibility with a wide variety of LED strip lights.

Let’s take a look at an example:

It’s important to verify that the voltage of the power supply you choose is compatible with the voltage of your LED strip lighting. Also, be sure that the power supply’s input voltage matches that of the location it will be installed in. If you have an LED strip with 12-volt DC operation that you wish to use in a 120-volt AC home wiring system, you’ll need a power supply that includes 120 volts in its input range and has 12-volt DC output.

Another factor to take into account for longer runs is voltage drop. A significant voltage drop is present after a certain distance of LED strip. After this distance, there will not be enough voltage present to light the next length of strip. This varies depending on the type of strip and length being used. Usually, a single-density strip (nine or less LEDs per foot) will need to run back to a power source every 32 13/16 feet (10 meters). A high-density strip (18 or more LEDs per foot) will need to run back to a power source every 16 3/8 feet (5 meters). Please refer to “Max Run” in the specifications table of the strip light to determine how many can be run continuously without a parallel run back to power.

3) the 4) if you want your strip to be dimmable

power supply calculator on the product pages of all of our LED strip lights!

There are a few steps involved:

Step 1: Select your strip and the length you need.

Step 3: Click the green “Power Supply Calculator” tab, and select your product by choosing it from the list OR by pasting the exact part number in the search bar.

Step 4: Enter the number of strips at the desired length you’ve selected and voila! You’ll see a list of all compatible power supplies with the best match at the top of the list!

When dealing with electronics, safety is paramount, and you want everything to work like it’s supposed to. So if you’re still not sure which power supply to use for your LED strip lighting project, just reach out to our technical support team or customer service department at 866-590-3533. Our teams are available from 8:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. CDT Monday-Thursday and 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. CDT on Friday.

Your home may not be safe for you to live in. Wiring is one of the leading causes of home fires every year and in many cases; it is completely preventable. Homes that were built before 1950 were probably built with the common electrical wiring at the time—insulated cloth wiring. Today, we know that method isn’t safe. The cloth frays and deteriorates overtime, which can leave wires bare. Bare wires that touch or touch insulation can create a small spark. A small spark is all it takes to cause major devastation. If you are not sure what kind of wiring you have, give a Glendale electrician, like those at The Electric Connection, a call today.

Just because your home was built before 1950, it does not necessarily mean it has cloth wiring. There may have been wiring upgrades done over the years. The best way to determine whether or not it is the old style wiring is by having an electrical inspection by a qualified electrician. Glendale homeowners will get the full story about the wiring hidden behind their walls. An experienced electrician will know what to look for and be able to tell you what you need to do to make your home safe.

It isn’t only an electric spark you need to be concerned with when dealing with cloth insulated wiring. There is also an increased risk of electric shock. Your appliances and gadgets are also at risk of being damaged with wiring that is not properly insulated. Many of the older, cloth insulated wiring jobs were not properly ground 60 years ago. This is another area of concern for homeowners. All of these issues and concerns will be addressed by the electrician during the inspection. The electrician will outline what needs to happen to bring your home up to today’s standards. Give The Electric Connection a call today and schedule your electric inspection.

Smoke alarms have been required in homes, apartment buildings, and offices for many years. Regulations on carbon monoxide detectors are far more recent, but it’s vital to know whether a potential carbon monoxide leak could make your family members sick. The people at Nest, the same company that brought us the Nest Learning Thermostat, recognized a need for a combination smoke detector and CO detector and created a product that alerts you to danger in a unique way that helps you to feel that your home is protected no matter where you are.

We’ll look at the many benefits of integrated fire alarms and CO detectors in this guide, but be sure to call on a professional for installation. At FB Electrical Services, we’ll make sure that the unit is installed in the most accurate location for smoke and CO detection, that all of the electrical components are working properly, and that the detectors in each room are interconnected.