Rolling blackouts occur when delivery of electricity from a large power source is intermittently stopped in varying places across a wide area. Rolling blackouts usually occur in tandem with natural disasters or energy crises.

Rolling blackouts prevent large power sources from blacking out completely. They have been implemented in places with a high demand for electricity, such as Japan, the U.S., Pakistan, and Ukraine.

By limiting the amount of power that can be used at one time to only certain areas, power station operators can control the power output from their generators. Should a part of the generator be at risk for failure, operators can begin a rolling blackout to limit the amount of work the generators must do. From there, they can pinpoint the problem areas and find a useful fix without taking away power from an entire area.

Rolling blackouts can prevent power outages from:

In the case of power output problems like station faults, short circuits, and electrical overloads, a rolling blackout can mitigate the risk of explosion and prevent the acceleration of large scale disasters.

Since power can only be distributed over a limited area, 100% of the electricity supply to some places will be temporarily cut off. Household items such as lights, outlets, and appliances will cease operation for a predetermined amount of time. You can gather information about rolling blackouts from the radio or news before they occur.

You should have an emergency kit in your home or business that has the necessary supplies for survival without electricity. Items to include in an emergency kit are:

Be sure to lock all of your doors and windows if possible. In developed countries, law enforcement will bolster its forces to protect areas affected by a rolling blackout. You should still remain safe and prepared whenever possible.

Should a rolling blackout elevate to a blackout, don’t be afraid to use your supplies. Even if electrical generators are running at low capacity, they still have the potential to cause larger problems should they become overloaded. A rolling blackout can quickly become a city-wide blackout.

Rolling blackouts are relatively rare. Conditions must be extreme for a rolling blackout to take effect. While the climate in the U.S. varies widely across the country, devastating natural disasters don’t compromise the electric grid more than once every 20 years.

Are you dealing with frequently flickering lights? Do your circuit breakers trip often when you turn on large appliances? Does your home have several two-pronged outlets that do not accommodate today’s three-pronged plugs for most electrical appliances? If you answered yes to any of these questions, your home more than likely needs a heavy up, which is an increase in the power of your main electrical service. For example, we can transition your home from lower amperage to either 200 or 400 amps.

Homes without Ground Fault Interrupter (GFI) outlets in the bathrooms, kitchens, or garages also need to be upgraded. This is a type of outlet that protects against electrical shocks. GFI outlets are required in most states, and homeowners in MD, VA, and DC should change all older version outlets to GFI outlets. A GFI outlet has two buttons, including a test button and a reset button, and the outlets turns the power off before a shock can occur. It is especially important that GFI outlets are installed in any area of your home where water flows—bathrooms, kitchens, outdoor areas. The outlet will sense when there is a potentially dangerous imbalance in the flow of electricity from the outlet to whatever is plugged and will shut off to prevent shocks or electrocution.

Many older homes in the area were constructed with aluminum wiring. When these homes were built, aluminum wiring was considered safe to use and viewed as a cost-saving measure. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) now believes aluminum wiring poses a safety hazard in homes that still have this type of wiring.

The biggest danger associated with aluminum wiring is that unanticipated fire hazards arise from the rusting and deterioration caused at the points where aluminum wiring is connected at outlets, light fixtures, and splices. Call us so an expert electrician can evaluate whether or not this is a problem in your home and take steps to transition your home from aluminum to copper wiring.

If you live in an older MD, VA, or DC home, contact Kolb Electric today. We strongly recommend that you avoid attempting any electrical upgrades or repairs on your own as this can be very dangerous. Electrical upgrades are best left to a professional, licensed electrician.

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.

Your electrical supply is one of the most important components of your home. Because it is used so frequently, we often take a properly functioning, safe and consistent electrical supply for granted. Because it has become such and integral and normal part of our everyday lives, it is easy to forget how powerful and potentially dangerous electricity can be. By knowing the basic rules of safe and effective use of electricity, you can greatly reduce that chance that you or a family member will be injured as a result of improper electrical usage.

When it comes to ensuring the electrical safety of your home, there are many things that you can do without the help of an electrician in Beverly Hills. Your number one goal is to reduce or eliminate any electrical safety hazards in your home. Be smart when using any electrical device. This includes extension cords, light bulbs, hair dryers and anything else. It only takes one mishap to cause some serious damage.

Here are a few tips:

Keeping your home and its electrical system safe is one of the most important things that you can do as a homeowner. To address any specific safety issues, feel free to call The Electric Connection at any time. Your safety is one of our top concerns.

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