If you’re tired of shelling out a crazy amount to the energy company each and every month, then maybe it’s time to look at how your household is consuming power and improve the efficiency of your usage. To help with that, our Top Rated Local® Des Moines electricians have committed to taking calls and appointments specifically for improved energy efficiency.

If your energy bill is high, then there is a really great chance that your break-even point will be very low. In case you’re not one of the many financial experts that call Des Moines home, a break-even point is essentially just an investment term that is used to calculate the potential risk of a course of action compared to its likely reward; this means that the break-even point for your investment in optimization will be achieved through reduced monthly energy costs + any local or federal subsidies the improvements qualify you for – the costs of installation or upgrading. Costs, in this case, can be both financial and temporal, meaning that your savings need to rack up quickly to account for the time and money you’ll invest up front. The good news is this: Many new homes (built in the last 5 years) can be drastically upgraded and optimized, and just about all below that line (older than 5 years) will see an even more dramatic improvement.

When power reaches your home, it inevitably is routed to and through an electrical panel; this panel determines much of your home’s energy efficiency before anything is even turned on. From the electrical panel to the wiring and outlets themselves, the amount of upgrades and optimizations that can be done for a comparable cost to the original outdated panel that dramatically reduce energy waste are dizzying. From the smallest changes, such as installing energy-efficient lighting or new outlets, to full-scale electrical overhauls, the potential for savings are really multiplicative.

Our electricians come into the picture by offering the tools and experience necessary to quickly and effectively route out outdated and inefficient systems and find the optimal solution for improving your home’s flow of energy. In as little as a few minutes, our electricians can make pointed suggestions that can and will save you substantially on your energy bills or find nothing noteworthy enough to justify the cost based upon the break-even point. At Electrical Gurus, we believe in offering this service to optimize your systems to make them safer and save you money, not add on an unnecessary expense.

Get in touch with the master electricians at Electrical Gurus for an expert opinion on what can be done to reduce your home’s energy costs. We are proud to serve the entire Des Moines area with both residential and commercial electrician services; contact us today to put those skill to work for you!

We can’t understate the importance of properly-functioning main electrical panels. If this is one aspect of your electrical system you haven’t got checked recently, it’s crucial you do so without delay. When the cooler/extremely hot season rolls in, people tend to spend more time indoors and that results in higher energy usage as the HVAC systems are operated for longer periods of time. At this time, the last thing you want is a malfunction in the main electrical panel; that can prove to be a hazard for you and your family members.

Today, most homes have a large number of electrical installations and the electrical panel plays a key role in connecting and powering all of these. This means, if the latter either malfunctions or stops working altogether, that can impact all the electrical systems on your property; they may be rendered unsafe or may fail to work. When you ensure that the electrical panel is in working order, it ensures these systems are able to keep up with the electrical usage patterns on your property.

It’s not uncommon for homeowners to keep on adding electrical appliances to their home; but this isn’t something you can do unendingly. Your home’s maximum electrical output is limited, as well as determined by the electrical panel installed on your property. In simple terms this means if you are planning on making some additions/extensions to your home or are considering adding some heavy-duty electrical appliances, it’s vital that you consult a reliable local electrician before you do so.

They will inspect the system, test its output and assess whether the existing panel would be able to bear the load of the new, potential output. Even if the former is below the maximum potential output, it might be a better idea to get the main electrical panel upgraded anyway.

It will ensure you are able to enjoy an uninterrupted power supply even if you have multiple heavy load electrical appliances operating simultaneously on your premises. If you are doubtful about whether your electrical panel needs to be upgraded, contact your electrician and get their advice on what the best plan of action would be.

While having an older main electrical panel isn’t necessarily a bad thing, there are certain aspects you should watch out for, such as:

Even the semi-modern panels that have the flappable circuit-breakers are able to keep your appliances as well as your home protected from high electrical surges. When it comes to electrical systems, it’s never a good idea to compromise on the safety aspect and keeping the main electrical panel upgraded is the one way to maintain that.

If you are considering adding any extensions to your home, growing your home’s living space in any other way, are concerned about the safety of your existing electrical panel or are adding any electrical appliances or installations on your property, call us at AllRound Electrical for a consultation today.

There was a time when buying light bulbs used to be a much easier task than it is today. Then along came LED, CFL, and light bulbs bent on reducing energy. With this, the good old incandescent started losing their place on our bulb holders. Gone are the days when finding a bulb for your home just meant looking at the wattage on the box. If a bulb was rated 100 watts, you knew it would be 25% brighter than a 75-watt one.

An entirely new rating system is now used and this has been giving shoppers grief for quite a while. At the center of this confusion is the word ‘lumens,’ which appears along its older and more familiar cousin ‘watts.’ Learning about lumens is the price you pay to help keep our planet safe. Don’t worry, though. We will tell you everything you need to know about the new lights rating system.

Lumens are units used to measure how much light a bulb puts out. Watts measure how much electrical power the bulb uses. With incandescent bulbs, the expected brightness pretty much depended on the wattage of the bulb. One lumen is equal to the amount of light given out by a birthday candle.

The idea with energy saver bulbs is to use fewer watts and produce more power. Incandescent bulbs produced by different companies are pretty uniform. On the other hand, energy saver bulbs are so varied, you don’t know if two 50 watt bulbs will be equally bright. This is why CFL and LED bulbs have lumen figures printed on them while incandescent varieties only have wattage.

When you hear “lumen per watt”, think miles per gallon. This is a measure of efficiency. It measures how many lumens of electricity a bulb can produce when using up one watt of electricity. This is the factor that should interest you the most when you are buying light bulbs. The first step is to figure out the brightness you want in lumens. If you want a brighter room, go for a bulb with more lumens. To dim it down, consider a bulb with a smaller lumen rating. Also, find the lumens per watt rating to determine which bulb has the greatest efficiency. Usually, the lumens per watt rating is an average, as bulbs reduce in efficiency with time. The lumen per watt rating is calculated by dividing the brightness in lumens a bulb offers by the number of watts it takes to produce.

Watts can be converted into lumens by multiplying the lumens per watt rating by the brightness.

The Federal Trade Commission now requires a product information summary, called the Lighting Facts label, to be attached to every lighting product. Another label that you should be on the lookout for is the Energy Star mark. The system was created by the Environmental Protection Authority in 1992 to govern the energy consumption of various household and industrial appliances. When it comes to lighting, this mark is put on bulbs that have met a certain lumen per watts threshold. This mark effectively spells impending doom for incandescent bulbs because they do not come anywhere near fulfilling these new efficiency ratings. If you are not into reading the fine prints and making calculations, the Energy Star logo will make your life easier. Look for the label on light bulbs to ensure you are getting a good deal.

The chart below can help to understand the Energy Star system.

This chart is an excellent indicator of how incandescents measure up to energy savers.

Aside from the fact that you have one more bullet in your trivia arsenal, your hunt for light bulbs should now return to the simple task it should be.

Are you thinking upping your home technology game? If you’re a movie buff, sports fan or video game expert, having a home theater system can give the experience of being in a large movie theater without having to leave your home. You can stream your favorite movie without the hassle of waiting in line for tickets or having to sit in a crowded theater. Your home theater can be as comfortable as you want for those weekends of binge watching a new TV show or playing that video game you per-ordered. Check out these three benefits of home theater systems:

If you’ve been planning a Star Wars marathon with your family or friends, having a home theater will take you to a galaxy far, far away and immerse you into the epic space battles that will make you feel like a kid again. You can drastically change your movie-watching experience from a typical hangout in the living room to a movie night experience. After a long week of work or school, your family can unwind together by selecting your favorite film and relaxing in your pajamas.

Owning a home theater system is a must for sports enthusiasts. You can invite your friends over every Sunday and watch the game on a huge screen with surround sound. Rather than watching the game on a regular TV in the living room, you could be lying in front of a high definition television that will make you feel like you are inside the stadium.

Playing your favorite video games on the big screen can enhance your game-play experience. You can journey with Link throughout Hyrule and immerse yourself in the vast expanse of landscapes that video games create. Beautiful imagery and the surround sound effects that are a part of a home theater can completely change how you play your video games. Single-player video games are all about immersion, and there is no better way to get into the game than with a high-quality home theater system.