Someone would think that a bulb is a bulb is a bulb; well that isn’t really the case. Anyone who has bought a light bulb will know that there is a large variety to choose from. These bulbs don’t vary only in terms of their illuminating power, size and application, but in type as well. It can be quite a challenge to choose the right light bulb for your home.

However, it’s important to understand that something which is in vogue need not always be the best solution for your home, your energy bills or even the environment. You should be aware of the different types of bulbs available in the market and what their properties are.

This will help you make a more well-informed choice and will help you save on energy costs too. When you are choosing bulbs for your home the factors you should keep in view are the upfront cost, light output, the settings and fixtures the bulbs can be used in, energy efficiency and how environment-friendly they are.

When it comes to home lighting in Australia, there are 4 different types of bulbs you can choose from. Let’s take a look at their features and how they stand up against each other in terms of efficiency, cost & environment-friendliness. Just as home design trends come and go, so also is there a change in home lighting trends.

The upfront costs for these bulbs are very low (it’s also why they are so popular), but they are expensive to run. These bulbs produce a warm light and are a good option for lesser used areas like a laundry or bathroom. The Government doesn’t really recommend using these for general home lighting as they are inefficient and because their running costs are higher. In fact, the Government is also making every effort to phase out these bulbs. They are doing this by introducing MEPS (minimum energy performance standards) for all lighting products.

These bulbs use tungsten elements and have higher efficiency levels compared to incandescent ones; they are longer lasting too. Unfortunately, there are many disadvantages to halogen lights. Typically, these lights are best used to light smaller areas that require focused lighting. However, most people tend to use them to light larger spaces and they end up consuming much more electricity than they should. The Government is phasing out certain types of halogen lights too.

These are a very popular choice and many homeowners use them. They are energy-efficient, have a lifespan that’s 4-10 times longer than that of any incandescent bulb and are available in cool/neutral/warm tones. They are more expensive than incandescent bulbs, but are far cheaper to run in the long term.

Today, these are proving to be a highly efficient alternative to CFLs or incandescent bulbs. Their initial cost is significantly higher, but they offer 80% energy efficiency and last for a number of years. Since they last for so long, they are easy to maintain and are a good home lighting choice.

For any additional information about the different types of bulbs and advice on which type will be best suited for your usage and home, call Allround Electrical at 1300 169 263 and speak with our experts. We can provide you the best electrical solutions at the most reasonable pricing. You can also drop us a line via email or use this contact form and we will revert without delay.

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Finding a good electrician can be a challenge. The Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, DC area is filled with electrical contractors making big claims, but how do you know who you can trust? Whether you need your entire home rewired or just a relatively simple project completed like a new outlet for your clothes dryer, it’s important for your home and family’s safety to find a licensed electrician to do the work. The same is true of your workplace, where employee and client safety is a major concern.

If you’re on the search for a good electrician in the area, it’s essential to choose someone who has gone through the training, apprenticeship, and other steps necessary to be licensed by your state, whether it’s Maryland, Virginia, or the District. Working with electricity can be hazardous, both to the workers and to your home. Even a small short circuit can cause a home fire, endangering both your property and your family.

Answer that question of how do I find a good electrician by asking friends, neighbors, and colleagues for recommendations. If you’re a new homeowner or new to the area, online directories like Angie’s List can give you unbiased reviews of DC area electric contractors. The Yellow Pages can also be a good place to start.

If you’re asking yourself how to find a good electrician in the DC area, we hope you’ll consider Kolb Electric. We’ve been helping Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, DC homeowners like you with their electric needs for nearly 90 years. Kolb Electric is a full-service electrical contractor and all of our electricians are licensed to work in your area. We offer free, fair estimates as well as 24-hour emergency service, seven days a week. To learn how Kolb Electric can solve your electrical needs and/or to schedule an appointment, call us at 877 287-1179.

Any business knows that productivity is key to growth, let alone staying afloat. Whether you are talking about a production line, a traveling salesperson, and yes even your office space; productivity is going to be the main driving factor which will allow your business to not only stay in business, but also experience growth year over year, month over month.

Here we are going to describe 23 ways to improve office productivity which will in turn allow you to realize higher profits, more output, and less money being wasted to lost productivity.

First on the list? Improving office productivity through computer applications:

Science proves that taking more breaks allows us to be more productive.

How does that work if we technically will have less “work time” by taking all these breaks?

It gives us time to collect our thoughts, time to let our mind roam, and even some time to talk and bounce ideas off of others.

So, instead of making employees hate working because you limit them to one break a day; let them take a short one every hour or two and watch the ideas and productivity outputs increase!

Not only should you be organizing your desk, but also the entire office.

A cleared out area allows for a clear mind to work at much higher levels of clarity. Whether you have a cubical office design or a more open concept; requiring all areas of the office to be clear on either a weekly or daily basis should be a must.

Sure, not everyone likes to clear. But, if you give employees 10-15 minutes to clean their area at the end of every day I’m sure most people will be happy to do so (especially if you explain it is part of your initiative to improve productivity in the office)!

Some people have a habit of checking their email every 10 minutes while they are waiting for someone important to get back to them.

In reality, the likelihood of them replying back right away even if you get back to them quick is slim. On top of that, it seems down right desperate.

By implementing 2-3 time periods (again, depending on the department) that people should check their email; you will end the constant refreshing of email pages by a lot of your work force. This allows people to get back to work and pay much more attention to their work at hand.

There can be multiple things wrong with your lighting system that might be throwing off people in the office.

First of all, if you have fluorescent lights then you might just have a few (or a lot) of lights in your office that flicker or even worse, buzz. This can cause eye stress, annoyance, and a general distraction.

On top of that, you may have either an under-lit or over-lit office. Both are bad, and it’s up to you to find the optimal light output for your office. This can be done by surveying employees on your lighting system and going from there.

Lastly, low quality light can be an issue. An easy way to not only improve the quality of light but also get rid of flickering and buzzing light issues is by upgrading your reduce your energy usage by up to 30% or so. Sounds like a win-win situation here!

Not only will they help with productivity, but they will also clean the air of toxins which will keep the air fresh and not-so-stuffy.

Stop making it so difficult to get around. Make it easy to get to the bathroom, to the trash, or even to an outlet.

Time is money, and if people are having to spend time just to get to the most basic things you aren’t setting up your office for success (literally).

Using office design to increase productivity can be difficult, sure. But it doesn’t have to be all that complex. You could even get some people together to brainstorm what could be done to best optimize the space you have to best serve efficiency in the office. So while there will never be the “best office design for productivity” hack or tip (due to all offices being different), you can always use some general guidelines and common sense to help you out.

Wherever the noise may be coming from, while it may not effect everyone it may be effecting some people.

Now, this can be an easy fix if the noise is coming from within the office. To solve this issue, all you need to do is address the area of concern and fix it. But, what if the noise is coming externally on a frequent basis?

Well, you can do either of two things. Firstly, you can try to address or confront the external noise producer and see if there is anyway for it to stop at least during your time of work. If that doesn’t work, then you might need to install sound proofing technology into your walls. This can get pricey sure, but you’ve got to weight the benefits of having less noise in the office versus the cost it is going to be to make the upgrade.

Although you might think that you won’t be able to get everything in if you shorten meetings, you would be mistaken!

In fact, having shorter meetings make them much more focused and thus; more productive. Even if you have two meetings over one a week because they are shorter, it is much better to have two 10 minute meetings over one 30 minute one that lacks purpose.

On top of that, do you really need to have a meeting? Or, are you just holding meetings to “have a meeting?” If it is the latter, try scheduling meetings only when they are needed, rather just out of habit.

Looking for ways to motivate the office into getting stuff done? 43Folders.com and it’s a simple concept: work for ten minutes, break for 2, then repeat this 5 times (or an hour).

You might say, “are you mad?! No way I’ll let my employees take a break every 10 minutes.” But here it out…

Maybe you shouldn’t implement this tactic specifically, but make a variation that works for your needs but still allows for productivity to be most optimal. And yes, there will be times when extreme concentration is required for more than 10-20 minutes, and obviously this doesn’t have to be a “set in stone” type deal. Instead, make it a generally accepted practice to partake in such method of break and work balancing.

(We already talked about more breaks in #3, but we thought this hack was worthy of its own).

Have you ever listed a job listing opportunity with one of the qualifications as “multitasking?” If so, you’ve got it all wrong. In fact, you should be listing a qualifications as “the ability to be laser focused on one thing at a time.”

Multitasking Parkinson’s law” in short says that we will fill whatever time is allotted to complete a given task.

Why do you think people with a 3 month deadline to get a presentation done still find themselves struggling to get it ready to go last minute? Because they will fill the entire time they are given to finish it. This goes with any task, and if you shorten the time allotted to finish tasks you will see more getting done because people will work to fill the allotted time given.

This of course can be used too far and not given enough time to get things done with all the proper due diligence required. Finding a good balance of long enough but not TOO long will be difficult, but start looking into deadlines and what exactly defines how far out they get set and start thinking about setting shorter (yet still doable) deadlines.

Studies show that standing will not only improve health, but it will also improve productivity. Focus goes up and thus more work can get done.

call center workers showed that pollution in the office reduced productivity levels. As you can imagine, pollution is a major issue in a lot of places, especially in bigger cities.