They are lights that rely on LEDs (a light-emitting diode) as their source of illumination. In a majority of the cases, the lighting stems from either a fluorescent or an incandescent light bulb. LED lights have a good reputation for being a lot more efficient than traditional light bulbs, and they can also be inserted into more traditional lamps and light sources, where they may be utilized as other regular light bulbs.

If you are a consumer in the market for some lights, you should understand that there are a bunch of benefits that the consumer will obtain by choosing these kinds of lights over other sorts of lights available on the market. For one thing, these sorts of lights are known to consume a lot less energy than other kinds of light bulbs, and they are known to be as much as 300 percent more efficient than a CFL or a compact fluorescent light. In addition, LED lights are up to 1000 percent more efficient when compared to an incandescent light bulb. They come with an extremely long life, relatively speaking, which translates to around 50,000 hours of usage at approximately 50 percent of their initial power, according to the Wise Geek website, anyway. If you want to work this out in terms that are more practical and applicable to everyday life, you can think of it in this way: This will equal around 8 hours per day for some 13 years at approximately 70 percent of power. By way of comparison, you should realize that the average 60-watt incandescent light bulb will only last around 1000 hours!

Furthermore, in terms of pure safety, LED lights can’t be beat. Here is an example of that. Consider this: These types of lights come without any toxins such as mercury or other unsafe materials. In addition, they are also known to be free from any emission of ultraviolet or UV heat, thereby failing to attract any insects, which is very much a welcome piece of news to people who are troubled by pesky insects! Further, these sorts of light bulbs fail to produce a lot of heat, meaning they are cool to the touch.

Of course, not everything with these kinds of lights is advantageous. For example, the price tag on LED lights is quite high, and they are known to be heat sensitive. This means that these sorts of lights can either fade or stop working altogether if they are not utilized with either a consistent or a steadfast current. Finally, utilizing them as a part of room lighting may be unbeneficial, too, since they are meant to be utilized more for room lighting situations.

Ever noticed a slight spark when you plug in an appliance? Maybe a bittle blue zip of electricity with a hair dryer, or a hand blender. If you’re not especially technology-savvy, this phenomena may give you a little fright! After all, when it comes to electrical appliances, wiring or equipment, everyone understand that when the sparks start to fly, it can be scary. So what causes a sparking outlet? Is it normal? Is it dangerous? Answers to questions like these and much more follow!

At Kolb Electric, we understand outlets to a tee. Allow us a moment of your time to teach you about outlet sparking, it’s causes, and when it’s time to be concerned!

To understand sparking and its causes, it’s important to know a little bit about how an outlet operates. You can essentially think of an outlet as a supply line, doling out the electricity allotted to your home in measured quantities per-circuit. In the United States, our outlets run a high, fast and hot current of around 115 to 240 volts.

The important thing to know about sparking is that in actuality, it always happens when you plug in an appliance. That fast, hot current floods the plug at the moment of contact, and for a split-second the connection is being established. This forms a spark! It’s just that normally, you either don’t see it, or it doesn’t persist.

As an important note, we at Kolb would like to say that any time you feel threatened or concerned about your electricity, contact a professional or the fire department. We don’t want to see you in dire straits, and assisting you is what electricians like us are here for!

Having said that, generally speaking, sparking outlets are a cause for concern if:

To prevent issues like these from arising, keep an eye on your outlets. If they get old (even five years can be reason to have them checked), consider having them replaced or serviced. As years wear on, the connections can loosen, causing arcing and large sparks. If your outlets are located near possible sources of water, have GFCIs (Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter) installed for added safety.

At Kolb, our primary goal is always the safety and satisfaction of our consumers. You guys are important to us, and if we can help keep you safe, you can be sure we want to do all we can! Call on our master electricians today if you have any concerns regarding a sparking outlet, or if you have any other electrical concerns!

As a licensed Dallas electrician, I see a lot of the work other electricians do.  A lot of it is good, high-quality work similar to the work I and my employees do but not all of it is, unfortunately.  Just like any other industry, there are plenty of bad deals and scam artists preying on customers looking for a good deal.  The slow economy doesn’t get rid of these phony electricians either.  If anything, it makes them come out of the woodwork as people try to save money by using less expensive services.  So, how do you avoid electrician scams?  Obviously, it can be really difficult to detect some scams, but here’s some important tips that can help:

Above all, remember that taking risks with your electrical work isn’t a good thing.  You wouldn’t tell your friend or boss to use a shifty electrician.  So why put your own loved ones through it. Don’t use a service company you wouldn’t recommend to others?

It has been six months since I started writing for the Light Reading blog, and boy has it gone by quickly. It’s hard to believe that I have written almost 50 posts! To mark this occasion, here are the six blog posts YOU liked best during my last six months of blogging.

1. via Strobel Design Build

In retrospect, I can see why this has been such a hit with the Light Reading readership. I mean, when it comes toMinions Web

This post was one of those visual, inspirational posts that I enjoy reading on other blogs. Instead of giving step by step instructions, this blog post shows you a bunch on interesting things that people have done with LED Matthew Danser Photography

This was my first blog post for Pegasus! In it, I interview Austin, TX photographer Matthew Danser to find out how he “paints” with light in his photos. We learn some interested photography tricks – tricks that I try out in the next most popular post.

5.

In this post I take some of Danser’s suggestions and experiment with “light painting” in my apartment at night. There’s lots of fun stuff here, and things get a little weird with my designs, but hey! It was an experiment! No stuffed animals were hurt during this photo shoot.

6.