By Kellie Pearson

The holidays are just around the corner. Children all over the world are making their Christmas lists to send to Santa. Here at Mr. Electric® we have a Christmas list too, except it is not for Santa, it is for you! Our main Christmas wish is for everyone to conserve energy more effectively. Learn how you can make our Christmas dream come true with these four tips.

An energy audit can provide an up-close look at the efficiency of your home and additional suggestions for ways to reduce energy your consumption. Nothing makes us happier than helping you find more ways to save on energy and electricity bills.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from Mr. Electric! Make sure to get started writing those letters to Santa – we hear he is pretty busy this time of year!

We all want the best for our children, and one of the most important ways we can help the next generation is by ensuring that they are receiving the highest quality education they can. But what if I told you there is an element to education that most people overlook when discussing ways to change education, even though it has been proven to improve behavior and focus, reduce disruptions and increase reading speed and learning capacity?

Though often overlooked, Research has shown that full-spectrum, cool white light is best for encouraging concentration in a classroom, so swapping out outdated fixtures for newer technology could be a great start to better classroom lighting.

Although fluorescent fixtures are popular in schools, the way they flicker (often imperceptibly) especially if a child has a visual impairment that necessitates a brighter environment. Try to position the lights (or the students) so that the task lighting is on the opposite side of their dominant (writing) side. This ensures that their writing arm won’t block the light, and distracting shadows won’t affect their work.

Teachers should try to avoid standing in front of lights or windows when talking, because these can easily distract or bother students. Though it can be difficult, students will focus and learn better when the teacher eliminates as many distractions as possible. And who among us hasn’t caught themselves drifting in a daydream out a window, whether interested in the topic at hand or not?

There are many programs and initiatives for better classroom lighting in place, though many are local to specific regions. Have you heard of any neat programs geared towards smart classroom lighting? Let us know in the comments!

I’ve saved hundreds of dollars on electricity in the last couple of years. During the summer in Los Angeles, the biggest dollar gobbler on our household electric bill is air conditioning. My wife and I need a cool bedroom at night or we don’t sleep well — 75 ̊or lower. I learned a trick with a bedroom ceiling fan that really saves on electricity.

Ordinarily, a ceiling fan lowers the temperature a couple of degrees. When it’s 82 ̊at bedtime, that helps a little, but we still have to run the A/C. In earlier summers, we just turned on the air conditioning and set the thermostat for 75 ̊. All night long, the compressor on the roof turned on and off, and was on about half the time. It’s a 4-ton air conditioner, so every hour it costs us 50₵ ( If it’s on for 4 hours, that’s $2 a night or $60 a month. That’s just for nights, let alone hot summer days.

Some homes have even larger air conditioners. Depending on the size of yours, air conditioning will run you 18-67₵ per hour for electricity. That’s $22-$80 a month if it’s on four hours a night.

I got wise the last two summers. In L.A., most nights, the temperature drops below 75 ̊. If we’re not using the A/C upstairs where the bedroom is, as soon as it’s cooler outside than in, I open a few windows. I don’t run the A/C at the same time that the windows are open for obvious reasons. I don’t want to make it hard on myself, so I open only four upstairs windows that slide easily. One is a tiny window in the bedroom. I also open doors so that air can circulate from the open windows into the bedroom. Then, I turn on the ceiling fan in our bedroom, just enough to get the air moving throughout the upstairs. That draws in cooler air through from outside. I leave the windows open and the ceiling fan on low the rest of the night.

I still set the thermostat on the air conditioning to 75 ̊ and sometimes when I first go to bed, it comes on. But usually only briefly. This ensures that the bedroom is down to 75 ̊or lower all night long.

Except during bad heat waves, the temperature is usually down to about 70 ̊ in the upstairs by 7 a.m. Then, first thing in the morning, I close all the windows and turn off the A/C. Closing the windows keeps the house cool into late afternoon. So, we’re actually saving on electricity during the day, too. (It helps a lot that we have a huge ash tree shading our roof.)

You might wonder how much running a ceiling fan is going to cost for maybe 10 hours each night? One thin dime. It’s 1₵ an hour — probably even less as I run the fan at the lowest speed. If I used an electric fan in my home office during the day instead of the A/C, that would run 2₵ an hour. Or if I wanted to splurge and use a whole house fan, that would run 4₵ an hour. Compare that with 18-67₵ for air conditioning.

My strategy will work for you if you live in a part of the country where it cools down at night during the summer. You should have screens on the windows to keep out mosquitos and other bugs. If worse comes to worse, you can buy screens that you can put in place each night between the jamb and the sill. Your hardware store should carry something like that.

Of course, you’ll also need a ceiling fan in your bedroom. We’re lucky — our house was built in the ’70s, when ceiling fans were the rage in L.A. But they’re not a big ticket item. You should be able to find a high quality ceiling fan at a lighting store or on the Internet for as little as $35. They run more if you want one with light bulbs and, of course, you can spend a few hundred for a special look. They come in all different colors and styles. Hunter and Casablanca are among the better brands. Installation runs about $100 though occasionally more if your ceiling isn’t built to easily take a fan and a new electrical junction box is needed. Ceiling fans almost never break. They’re pretty much like the Eveready Bunny.

If you haven’t already tried this strategy for saving on your electric bill and decide to try it (it’s not rocket science!), let me know how it goes.

For more information about ceiling fans and a photo, click here. If you’re in L.A. and would like a ceiling fan installed, please give us a call at (800) 990-9400 from 8-5. We’ll be happy to help you save electricity, money, and the planet.

Kim Hopkins CEO, The Electric Connection

Technology is advancing at a dizzying pace. What used to be the ‘latest’ and ‘most advanced’ devices yesterday becomes redundant today. When people embrace any technology, they do so because it adds convenience, comfort and safety to their lives in one way or the other. When it comes to your home, all these three aspects matter a great deal. It’s why many people are now veering towards the smart home concept.

Sure, many homeowners already have Internet-based security systems and landscape irrigation systems that are connected to timers etc; but smart homes are designed and set up to do much more than that. Having a smart home is a lot about Wi-Fi connectivity and more. Take a look at some concepts; this will help you create a plan for your smart home.

It’s not uncommon for companies that launch smart home products to say that connecting their devices to the Internet is a breeze. Sure, they are bang on spot most of the times, but what actually matters a great deal is the Wi-Fi connectivity in your home. These are some of the things you will have to keep in view while planning your smart home:

This is vital, and it’s something you should keep in view while planning your first smart home. The longer the distance the radio waves have to travel, more the connectivity issues. The best way to overcome this kind of an issue is to install the Wi-Fi router at the center of your property and on the ground floor.

You will find a number of products which claim they are able to extend the Internet connection in your home. The simple fact is that multimedia over coaxial power-line adapters, network extenders etc tend to slow down the signal by around 50% and that reduces the consistency of the network. Of course, you won’t find any issues with driving a motion sensor or a smart bulb; however, you might just find it challenging to stream a movie to your tablet/laptop, only because it can’t figure out which Wi-Fi router it should connect to.

At times, installing a network of Ethernet cables turns out to be the best solution. You can use cable runs to install your smart home hub devices in spots that are more accessible. The devices that are connected to these hubs will function more smoothly if you do this. If your home is already wired for telephones, hardwiring for Ethernet won’t be too difficult. You will need to speak with your electrician and check whether he would be able to run an extra cable to the point you need it at, without too much of drilling and sawing.

When you are planning your smart home, ensure there are sufficient power points at different places in your house. While certain devices may be battery-powered, many aren’t. So whether it’s a Wi-Fi router/extender, web security camera etc, you will need a power point to plug them in. And of course you don’t want power cords dangling all over your smart home.

Very simply put, if you are building a new smart home or remodeling your existing one, sit down and plan not just for the current smart devices you plan to install, but for future ones as well. Map out a detailed plan and get some advice from the installer too. Coming back to the first point – focus on getting a very good Wi-Fi router and ensure its positioned at the right point on your property.

Very importantly, get a professional to do all the wiring work once you have your entire smart home plan in place. For more information about smart home device and hardwiring solutions, call Allround Electrical at 1300 169 263. You can also drop us a line via email or by filling out this contact form.

Thanks for reading,1300 169 263