Saturday, September 26, 2015

What are the Best Energy-Efficient Lights?

Traditional incandescent bulbs use a lot of energy to produce light. The kicker is that 90% of the energy is given off as heat. That lost energy is like money thrown in the garbage. There are a few different types of energy-saving lightbulbs that provide the same brightness choices and colors you've come to expect.

The light emitting diode (LED) are my favorite for home applications. Although once known mainly for indicator and traffic lights, LEDs in white light, general illumination applications are one of today's most energy-efficient and rapidly-developing technologies. ENERGY STAR-qualified LEDs use only 20% of the energy and last up to 25 times longer than the traditional incandescent bulbs they replace. Twenty five times longer!!! That's astounding.

Retrofitting the recessed lights in your Los Angeles
home or business can save you money over time on energy and light bulb replacements. A lot of money.

LED bulbs are currently available in many products such as replacements for 40W, 60W, and 75W traditional incandescents, reflector bulbs often used in recessed fixtures, and small track lights. While LEDs are more expensive at this early stage, they still save money because they last a long time and have very low energy use. As with other electronics, prices are expected to come down as more products enter the market.

Joe, from Kilowatt, upgrades the lighting for a terrific school in North Hollywood.

Tuesday, May 19, 2015

Rewiring Historical Home In Los Angeles

One hundred years ago homes were electrified with ungrounded cloth-covered wire. The connections inside the walls were not contained. Every time I look at wiring like this I am grateful for the electrical codes we have today that keep families so much safer.

We are working on a beautiful historical home with gorgeous vaulted ceilings. There was access for rewiring so we had a challenge on our hands. See how we successfully pulled new safe modern wire in a way that kept the integrity of this architecturally significant house.