If you have recently purchased a home or are in the home-buying process, you know there are a series of inspections that are required or recommended. One of those inspections may be an electrical inspection by a certified electrician in Glendale. The inspection is designed to give you an inside peek at what lies behind the walls of a home. If you have lived in your home for some time and have never had an electrical inspection, it may be a good idea to have one done. The team at The Electric Connection can help you get that scheduled.

If you have never seen an electrical inspection or are unsure as to what they encompass, this information will help you understand a bit more.

A Glendale electrician will inspect the electric panel, the breakers and look at the wiring that is visible in the panel. The electrician may also remove a light switch cover plate and have a look to see what the wiring looks like. If you have any exposed wiring in the attic or basement, make sure you point it out for the electrician. Glendale homeowners who have exposed wiring will want to have it taken care.

Once the inspection is complete, the electrician will write up a report about the findings. If there are things that are hazardous, they will be outlined and explained. Electric hazards should be resolved as soon as possible. Your electrician will also note things that are not necessarily hazardous yet, but should be taken care of at your earliest convenience. Any code violations will be pointed out. In some cases, failure to have a house brought up to code leaves you vulnerable should there be a fire or injury caused by wiring that is not up to code.

Give The Electric Connection a call today and schedule your electrical inspection whether you are buying, selling or plan on staying in your house for years to come.

Spring has sprung. The weather is getting nicer. Time for a new pair of sunglasses?  It was time for me. Even though sunglasses are not a regular topic of our lighting blog, I felt that my recent experience picking out new sunglasses warranted this post. I was disappointed at the number of myths about sunglasses that were told to me by multiple, yes, multiple, supposedly knowledgeable sales people. So, I figured that it might prove useful to others if I shared my experience and busted these myths with this sunglasses buying guide. 

Myth #1: UV Protection In Sunglasses Not Important

Fact: The sun’s ultraviolet (UV) rays can do several very bad things to your eyes and the area around your eyes: harm the lens, retina, and whites of your eyes, cause corneal sunburn and blisters, increase your chances of getting cataracts, have been linked to macular degeneration (vision loss due to damage due to a small spot near the center of the retina called the macula), cause skin cancer around your eyes including your eyelids, and help cause unwanted wrinkles and skin thickening around your eyes. WOW!  There’s a lot more but it would take more than this short response to get even more technical.

Myth #2: Sunglasses With Glass Lenses Remove All UV Radiation

I visited a small boutique optometry store and spoke to someone with 40 years of experience. He told me that if a pair of sunglasses has glass lenses, then they remove all UV radiation. Not true.

Fact: Glass of almost any kind (building windows, car windows, a pair of clear glasses) can remove some but not all of the UV radiation that reaches your eye. Ultraviolet (UV) radiation is made up of three segments: UVA, UVB, and UVC. Fortunately for all of us UVC radiation is blocked by the earth’s atmosphere, ordinary glass blocks out UVB radiation (the main sunburn ray that causes skin cancer and sun damage) but allows UVA to pass right through (UVA rays penetrate the skin more deeply and can also cause skin cancer, wrinkles, and premature skin aging). However, it is possible to add a special UV-blocking film to ordinary glass or use specially formulated glass (or plastic) to block out 99.9% of UVB and UVA radiation.

Myth #3: Polarized Lenses Also Mean UV Protection

Two representatives in the optical department of a national chain of retail stores told me that if a pair of sunglasses has polarized lenses, then they also provide UV protection. Not true.

Fact: These two features of sunglasses are entirely different from one another; one feature does not imply the presence of the other feature. Polarized lenses minimize direct and indirect glare from the sun; they allow you to see more clearly when the sun’s rays are reflected off flat, smooth surfaces like water, road pavement, and car hoods. Polarized lenses are not designed to reduce the ultraviolet radiation that reaches your eye.

Myth #4: More Expensive Sunglasses Have The Best UV protection

Fact: This is not always true. Relatively inexpensive sunglasses can sometimes block 99%-100% of UV radiation but they are not easy to find. However, you should be careful about still another problem – inexpensive sunglasses sometimes are non-uniform in thickness and have poor optical quality. This can mean that they sometimes distort the shape or clarity of an object, depending on what portion of the lenses that you look through.

Myth #5: Sunglass Tint Is Not Important

Many people think that the tint of the sunglass lenses is not that important. That it is purely an aesthetic decision based on your personal preferences and the “cool factor” you’re looking for.

Fact: The tint or hue of the sunglass lenses plays an important role in the perception of colors. Yellow or rose tinted lenses generally can make it difficult to distinguish different colored traffic lights. Gray, green, and brown lenses, however, minimize color distortion and are a better choice when you’re driving a vehicle. Some specialized sunglasses can have a special tint that are designed to enhance your performance of a specific task or sport; e.g., at least one sunglasses manufacturer has created a whole array of lens hues, one of which can possibly improve your tennis game by enhancing the color of the tennis ball.

Myth #6: Size Of Sunglasses Not Important

Most people choose the size of their sunglasses on whether or not they think they look “cool.” Thus, they think that size is not important.

Fact: Size, at least when it comes to sunglasses, does matter. It’s this simple: The larger the sunglasses, the broader the protection of your eyes, eyelids, and the skin around your eyes against UV damage. However, you can have all of that and still look “cool.”

Enjoy your spring and summer and enjoy your new sunglasses.

In the quest to stay comfortable and combat escalating temperatures in our area, many homeowners turn to fan installation to bolster the results of traditional HVAC cooling. Our Washington, DC electricians install them all, from ceiling fans, to mechanical attic fans. When choosing for your home, do you know which fan installation is giving you the best results? You might be interested in what our Washington, DC electricians have to say on the topic!

No matter the fan type, they can assist in reducing energy costs and increasing comfort in the muggier months. They don’t actually reduce the temperature of the room, so how do they help? Well, fans assist in removing moisture from your home, keeping humidity under control somewhat. Additionally, moving air naturally feels cooler on the skin, helping to reduce body temperature; thus, you need to run your AC a bit less.

Additionally, in the case of a ceiling fan, they can provide a unique and interesting way to add some style. Another layer of design, or an additional fixture can do a lot for the beauty of your DC home.

While ceiling fans are a slightly more direct cooling method, an attic fan can do just as much for your home, if not more! An attic fan is installed in ,where else, the attic. This fixture can assist in reducing your cooling costs by up to twenty percent! How? Well…

Think of your attic like a big envelope, or bubble. It tends to hold onto its temperature, and because it is exposed radiant heat (sun) and collects remnant heat from your home (heat rises), it tends to be much much hotter than the rest of your home. If the inside of your home is seventy, your attic could be up to one hundred! This basically boils down to you having a massive natural heat source directly above your home. Not good for business when you’re trying to cool things down!

Attic fans mitigate and reduce attic temperatures, and by extension, the temperature of your home! They do this by improving ventilation, and increasing cool airflow throughout the attic. The difference can be huge!

Honestly, our Washington, DC electricians would suggest both. With a proper attic fan installation augmented by ceiling fans, you can find yourself relying on your HVAC system so much less. This is drastically less expensive, and keeps your cooling system from overworking (which makes it last longer, and need less repair) to boot!

Looking to begin relying less on your cooling system? Or maybe you just want a little more comfort for your DC home. Either way, our experts can provide the installation services you need! Contact our specialists today to learn more!