As summer winds down, you are probably just about tired of the heat and the high electrical bills of July and August. September can be pretty hot as well, but you are ready for a break from the heat and the ridiculous power bills.

Never fear, an electrician Burbank residents have been relying on for years has some tips you can use to get you through the end of summer and apply to next year’s hot months. The Electric Connection has the staff you need to help you stay cool in the summer.

1-Close the blinds and curtains early in the morning to prevent the sunlight from heating up the house. Darken the house before you leave for work and it will be much cooler in the evening.

2-Turn the AC up a couple of degrees. Wear light clothing in the house to make it more tolerable. 2 degrees can make a big difference.

3-Do not do any major cooking or clothes drying during the hottest part of the day. Save it for early in the morning or evening hours.

4-Use ceiling fans and oscillating fans to keep the house cool. Fans help move the air, creating a breeze that will keep you comfortable. If you do not have a ceiling fan, or would like additional fans installed, call your electrician. Burbank residents will appreciate the cost savings of a fan instead of solely relying on the air conditioning unit.

5-Consider having an attic fan installed. These fans are designed to pull in the cooler outdoor air from underneath a home’s roof into the attic and pushing out the hot, stuffy attic air. This can help keep the entire home much cooler without overworking the air conditioner.

If you would like to learn more about ceiling fans or attic fans, give The Electric Connection a call today.

As a Licensed Dallas Electrician, I’ve learned (and shown you) that it’s easy to save money on your electric bill if you think ahead and put some consideration into the choices you make.  But saving money sometimes means making a trade-off. Far too often, that trade-off has been the environment.  More coal and gas power plants produce more electricity when we want it, but the price is pollution. It’s not a price we always have to pay ourselves, so we tend to ignore it. But our children aren’t going to have that luxury.  Thankfully, people are starting to really think about the effects our choices will have on our descendants. That being said, a lot of “green” initiatives are really expensive, and with the economy like it is, people are stretched too thin to really make an impact.  But what if there were ways to not only help save the environment, but save money too?

That’s the best news of all: there are ways to do exactly that. Solar PV and Wind Power have been around a very long time, but they’ve always been impractical and difficult to apply for your own use. For instance, wind farms may generate a lot of electricity, but they’re expensive, huge and mostly benefit electric companies.  Most people don’t have millions of dollars to spend on a huge windmill, after all.  But technology has improved rapidly over the last year or so, and renewable energy sources are not only finally available to individual consumers, but are quite affordable and efficient.  Anyone can now buy a solar panel or a small wind turbine with Power Storage to help power their home or office.  These power sources provide freedom from the power grid. No more outages when the rest of your neighborhood goes dark or spikes in your power bill.

Wind turbines are much better designed than they used to be.  Unlike the old models, which had motors designed to turn them into the wind, these turbines spin no matter which way the wind blows, which means they’re much more efficient and less prone to motor failures. They don’t have to be powered exclusively by natural wind either; turbines can be powered by wind coming from man-made objects. In fact, in the future you might well drive down the highway past a long line of wind turbines, spinning with the wind your car makes as you pass!

Of course, there are still a few limitations to Solar PV and Wind Power.  Despite the great advances in technology, the sun doesn’t always shine and the wind doesn’t always blow. Of course, at times like these there are other options.  The energy produced by your solar panel or wind turbine can be stored in an indoor generator Power Storage unit. A quality indoor generator can help you not only be free you from outages, but can even generate extra electricity – electricity the electric company will pay YOU for!  A wide variety of these generators are available to meet your needs, but any of them can help you save money, help provide better power options for you, and leave behind a better, cleaner planet for future generations.

If you’re already familiar with rebates from electric utilities and government organizations in your area, you may notice that the dollar amounts for most rebates have decreased over the past year. The average rebate for an LED replacement lamp has gone down by 7% since last January. Rebates amounts also decreased for LED fixtures: recessed down lights decreased by 66%, accent lighting by 12%, and high bay fixtures by 8%.

You needn’t be alarmed by these numbers, though. They’ve only been adjusted to match the lower prices of LEDs in 2013. Less money is necessary to make purchasing an LED financially attractive. Also, since there are over twice the programs this year, money is even more accessible.

If you’re still pondering a switch to LEDs, or have never considered utilizing LED rebates before, starting to look for them is easier than ever. Currently, you can find rebates and incentives for energy efficient commercial lighting in 71% of the U.S. As the year progresses, we should see that number go up.