The Internet of Things is arriving in a big way. Smart thermostats, smart refrigerators, smart home security systems and more are all moving toward one integrated home system. One day soon, all your HVAC equipment, electrical work and appliances will be connected and in communication with each other. The next leap forward in smart homes is coming to your kitchen – the smart stove. Before you know it, your range top and oven will be sending you text messages when it's time to pull out the roast. Really.

Texting and Tweeting from the Oven

Smart stoves are quickly on their way to the marketplace. General Electric recently announced an initiative to bulk up the internet integration capabilities of its appliances. Stoves, for example, will soon be able to send you a text message once they've preheated, or cooked a meal for a specified amount of time. Not paying attention to your phone? The stove will also be able to flash the lights of whatever room you're in to give you the alert, if your other electrical work is hooked into the smart system.

The benefits don't stop there. If you leave the house and forget to turn the stove off, it can shut down automatically. It can also do this if the smoke detector goes off, potentially saving you from catastrophe. The smart stoves will also be able to interact with social media applications like Facebook, Twitter and Dropbox. That's right – soon your oven will be able to tweet out a photo of your perfect apple pie and you won't even have to lift a finger.

A New Way to Interact

Smart stoves are just the start. "Owners can create recipes that suit their lifestyle and integrate GE's connected appliances into the rest of their Internet-connected lives," Logan Garrett, a member of the Wi-Fi connected appliances team at GE Appliances, said to the Motley Fool. "We think this is the beginning of a new way for consumers to interact with their home appliances."

One day, smart kitchens could even come up with suggested recipes based on the ingredients you have on hand, which it would already know via inventory software. All you'd have to do is gather the items and mix them together. Technology already exists to determine when a dish is cooked properly, so the oven could handle the temperature and time settings all on its own.

If you need advice on how to get cutting edge technology into your kitchen to take the guesswork out of cooking, or need any other help with your electrical work, call an expert electrician today.

Up/Down LED Panel Light that provides usable downlighting and ceiling accent lighting simultaneously. Without any visible bulbs, this dimmable light panel delivers 5,400 lumens of natural white illumination through a transparent lens with a frosted center. The LED panel lasts five times longer than fluorescent panels and can be used for many applications, including suspended office lighting, pool table lighting, restaurant lighting, decorative or painted ceiling illumination, and retail shop lighting.

Depending on the size of your warehouse, as a manager (or owner) of that facility; you probably know that your building consumes a considerable amount of energy.

From your lighting system to your heating and cooling, to make such large buildings meet “workable” conditions can be tough and expensive. Although, this post is here to gather 5 critical ways on how you can meet green initiatives for your companies warehouse operations, all while maintaining those workable conditions your employees require.

By implementing the following ways, you will be able to realize a great reduction in not only energy waste, but also overhead costs associated with powering that wasted energy month to month. So there are two major benefits from all of this; one being you will create a more sustainable warehouse all while secondly reducing month to month expenses associated with operating your warehouse.

Without further ado, here is the first of many on this list of ways to save energy in your warehouse facility…

Imagine how great it would be to have the same amount of light that is outside, inside. Best part? It won’t be coming from artificial lights which cost money to run, but rather a natural light source that costs nothing other than installing skylights for that light to come in. This will easily and greatly reduce the amount of time that you need any type of light on in your warehouse.

Allow sun to illuminate your facility by installing skylights throughout your building!

These days HVAC is nearly installed in every building, including warehouses. Multiple things could be messing up your efficiency when it comes to heating, ventilating, and cooling your warehouse, and they all go back to that HVAC system.

For starters, ensuring that your professional building commissioning company to run a full audit of your warehouse, and they will tell you exactly what you need to work on for your building to be running exactly how it was built to run.

Conclusion

The process of addressing (let alone fixing) these issues and areas of concern may seem overwhelming, but keeping the end goal in mind will make the efforts to make these changes in your warehouse much easier. Taking it one at a time will make all the difference, but ensuring you are working on them overtime will be all that is needed. Just remember, all of these critical ways to reduce energy are going to not only make your company more sustainable, but it will also save you tons in overhead.

Have any other ways to save energy specifically in warehouses? Comment them down below to help out other warehouse managers / owners alike!

These days’ computers exist in our homes within one form or another. These machines are quite valuable and expensive, and damaging them is not a good feeling. As computers run on electricity, improper use and function can result in electrical related damage. Keep these following simple tips in mind when working with your computers.

We have previously talked about the proper use of extension cords in the past, but this is especially applicable for computers. Extension cords are not meant to be a permanent solution when it comes to placing your computer away from an electrical socket. An extension cord can hinder surge protection and make the computer vulnerable to shocks that can damage the computer hardware.

If you have a computer, laptop, or monitor, the power cord likely has three prongs. These are not suggestions. Too many times people will try to fit these cords into two-prong sockets. The button prong that only appears on some cords is actually the grounding cable. This protects us from electrical currents that can spread to the metal casing surrounding the computer. If the grounding prong is not connected properly, you are risking a chance of serious electric shock.

Electricity powers computer hardware, but too much of it can damage the components. With a GCFI outlet you add another layer of protection to your devices. If there is an electrical storm or problem with your home electrical system and a surge occurs, you can rest assured that it will not reach your devices.

If you have an office setup that includes a monitor, computer, and printer a surge protector is highly recommended. The surge protector will shut off when a surge is detected and protect the electrical devices. Make sure that you know the load that the electrical devices have and check that both your electrical circuit and surge protector are rated for that load. If not, you will find the surge protector or breaker tripping constantly.

If you are setting up an office with computer hardware and electrical equipment, or require GCFI outlets in your home, contact your local Expert Electric. We can help to review your setup and provide you with solutions to keep you and your hardware safe.

Time, experience and technology are constantly improving the way we do things. This includes how we build homes. We need electricity in our homes, but at times, it can prove to be dangerous. Because of this, we are constantly learning new ways of making electricity in the home a little safer. New guidelines and updated code requirements are designed to make homes safer, but older homes that were built more than 30 years ago are still using outdated wiring methods. An electrician in Beverly Hills can help you determine what kind of wiring is in your home and whether or not it is outdated and in need of updating. You can rely on The Electric Connection to tell you what you need in order to make your electrical wiring as safe as possible.

An initial inspection will need to be done to verify the condition of the home’s wiring. There is a chance it has been updated at some point. One of the biggest hazards that may be lurking behind your walls is cloth-insulated wiring. This is typical in homes built before 1950. The cloth breaks down over time and leaves wires bare and prone to electrical fires. If this is the case and the cloth insulating the wires has become brittle, it is important to have the home rewired.

Beverly Hills electrical codes do not typically require homes with outdated wiring to be redone, but it can save you a great deal of money on your homeowner’s insurance as well as give you peace of mind that your home is not a fire risk. If you are not sure about the status of your current electrical wiring, call for an inspection. An electrician, like those at The Electric Connection, can give you the details you need to make an informed decision about what to do.