Electric cars are all the rage these days. They promise savings to consumers, who can install charging stations in their homes with the help of an electrician and dramatically their gasoline bills. Electric cars also give Americans a way to feel good about helping the environment, since they don't burn up petroleum or contribute to carbon emissions when they are being driven. A recent study, however, showed that we still have a long way to go when it comes to realizing the promise of electric cars – contrary to expectations, electric cars can actually create more pollution than gasoline-fueled vehicles. Read on to learn why.

The Electric Generation Conundrum

When electric vehicles are touted as emission-free, a key part of the equation is being omitted: the electricity to power them still has to be created somehow, and most of the power generation in the United States is based on fossil fuels like coal and natural gas. In some areas of the country, it turns out, the pollution created by generating the electricity for electric cars actually outweighs that which would be emitted by traditional gasoline automobiles.

The study, performed by the National Bureau of Economic Research, measured carbon, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen, particulate matter and volatile organic chemicals. Through a complicated formula, they compared the output of those pollutants from regional power grids, measured for the amount of electricity it takes to power electric vehicles, compared to what would be produced by the equivalent gasoline cars.

Gasoline vs. Electricity

What researchers found was sobering – while gasoline vehicles tend to produce a lot of pollution that is concentrated in urban areas, electric vehicles create pollution spread out over entire regions. The effect is particularly acute in the Midwest and Northeastern United States, where power plants don't use as many renewable energy sources compared to those in the West. The upshot? As it stands now, we are currently creating more air pollution for large swaths of the country by driving electric cars than we are saving.

The discouraging results of this study notwithstanding, that doesn't mean that it's time to give up on electric cars altogether. After all, electricity doesn't have to be produced by fossil fuels-- the amount of solar and wind generation is only growing, for example. If you install solar panels on your own roof, you can reassure yourself that you are creating green energy to offset the electricity you use in your car.

Question Your Assumptions

If there's one thing that's clear from the study results, it's that you shouldn't just make assumptions when it comes to energy conservation and pollution – not everything is as simple as it looks at first.

If you need help determining if your home is suitable for an electric car hookup, contact an expert electrician today.

Improving your home energy efficiency is a worthy and admirable goal. You can help reduce your impact on the environment while saving money with savvy decision making. However, the up-front investment for some efficiency upgrades is substantial, so always do your due diligence before you find electrician services and commit to buy. Read on to clear up some misconceptions about home efficiency and make sure your money is being put to good use.

You Don't Have to Sacrifice Your Comfort: It's true that the best way to conserve energy is to use less of it with strategies like turning off the lights or keeping the temperature lower in the winter. But that doesn't mean you have to sit shivering in the dark. The key to efficiency is to get the same amount of utility for less energy input. That means replacing old incandescent bulbs with LED versions, or investing in better HVAC technology like a smart thermostat. That way, you can keep your home environment tuned to your comfort while reducing consumption at the same time.

Don't Rush into a Big Ticket Item: The most dramatic way you can upgrade your efficiency is with a brand new heating or cooling system. Equipment efficiency has improved drastically in recent years, and new technologies like geothermal heat pumps, biomass boilers and solar panels can all reduce your bills dramatically. However, they aren't risk free. You’ll often face a significant up-front investment when you find electrician services for these installations, and the actual savings that you will realize can vary widely based on factors like the price of fuel. You could also see a loss if you make a big purchase and decide to sell your home soon after; there’s no guarantee you’ll recoup the cost in the selling price.

That's not to say you should avoid large efficiency investments – just look before your leap. You will get the best return from these items if you already need to replace outdated equipment anyway, and if you plan to stay in your home for many years. To reduce some of the upfront costs, you can also look for federal tax credits that refund up to one third of what you spend, as well as options to lease solar panels so you don't have to put any money down at all.

Don't Forget the Insulation: On the other side of the coin, new HVAC technologies won't do you much good if all that treated air just leaks into the outdoors. One of the biggest ways you can improve your efficiency is by plugging leaks and upgrading your insulation, which is typically a much cheaper fix. With a leak detector, some caulk and spray foam insulation, you can seal up your house with minimal investment, saving you money in the short term as well as preparing the house to get greater efficiency out of newer technologies.

For more straight shooting about how to get the most value for your efficiency investments, find an electrician to conduct an energy audit on your house. Your local Mister Sparky® is always available to help!

The commercial electricity for HVAC systems accounts for about 50 percent of a building’s total energy consumption. Being one of the major energy costs in a manufacturing facility, it dominates the building’s peak electricity demand. As such, improving the system’s efficiency, in order to cut energy costs, should be every facility manager’s priority.

The energy consumption depends on the climate, comfort preferences, building design, insulation, the timing of use, the size of the HVAC system, heat generated by electrical equipment, and other site-specific factors.

Building owners and businesses can reduce their energy costs by combining several measures that increase an HVAC system’s efficiency while reducing the demand for heating and cooling.

When selecting HVAC systems, pay attention to its design and controls. Components such as motors can impact heavily on the running costs of equipment because some are usually oversized to meet peak demands. An ideal system should have more variable speed control, inverter controls, economizers, demand controlled ventilation, advanced sensors and monitoring, as well as superior diagnostics. In addition, the system should be the appropriate size; not too small or oversized.

By controlling and running the HVAC motors at speeds based on the heating or cooling needs, consumers are able to realize energy savings of between 30 and 50 percent compared to the conventional constant speed operations. Most manufacturers prefer newer algorithm-driven smart microprocessors.

These provide a refined speed control that responds to the changing load in the building. Instead of using on and off cycling, these controls adjust the system according to the actual cooling or heating needs of the facility. More functions can be added through software add-ons as opposed to costly hardware upgrades.

Some of the ways to optimize HVAC systems include the use of thermostats and control systems, locating the HVAC unit in the best place possible, and modifying the ventilation and distribution. These are discussed more fully below:

A HVAC energy audit helps in identifying the operational deficiencies, hence allowing the building manager to take the necessary measures to enhance performance. The audit is often necessary because it helps in determining the amount of energy use, maintenance and upgrade requirements.

Consumers can then reduce their energy costs by optimizing, replacing or retrofitting the HVAC system to become more energy efficient. This not only increases efficiency and reduces the amount of commercial electricity for the HVAC system, but also improves the air quality.

Do you or does someone that you know have a Federal Pacific Electrical panel in their business or home? There are a number of reasons that these panels are unsafe, which means that they should be replaced as quickly as possible. One of the first reasons is simply because they are so old. Federal Pacific panels have not been installed in many years. The main reason that they should be replaced by your electrician in Los Angeles is because the circuit breakers in the panel may not always trip whenever they should. This can lead to some very serious issues with your home’s electrical system.

An Example

A couple years ago, one of our technicians were called out to inspect a circuit wire that appeared to have bubbled up. Whenever he arrived at the location, he discovered that this particular circuit had been overloaded so far that the sheath covering on the cable started to boil. Upon further inspection, he found out that the power for this particular cable came from a Federal Pacific electrical panel. What happened, was that the homeowner’s air conditioning unit was experiencing issues that caused it to seize up, continuously pulling more and more power from the panel. Rather than tripping like it should have, the circuit breaker remained on, leading to the boiling cable sheathe.

Although we were able to correct this problem relatively quickly, it could very easily have turned out much worse. This overloaded wire could have caught fire, or remained unnoticed and poorly insulated until it came into contact with a person or with another item that led to serious electrical shock or other injury.

The moral of the story is to have your home regularly inspected by a Los Angeles electrician for proper safety. For more safety tips or information about unsafe electrical panels, visit The Electric Connection at www.theelectricconnection.com.