Category: Blog

If you are considering landscape lighting for safety and beauty in your home, there may be spots in your yard or porches you completely overlook. Many people adapt to inconvenience or believe they know their spaces well enough to avoid a trip and fall. However, with summer coming up, you will likely have more yard or pool parties, which increases the possibility of guests having accidents. Here are six spots to consider installing new landscape lighting in Trumbull, CT:

• Stairs: Porch lights do not always illuminate stairs. That makes it easy to trip on them or even miss the staircase altogether, causing falls. With the right light, your visitors will not only find the staircase, but also know the number of steps and their depth, making them safer. Besides overhead lights, consider putting light ropes on each stair to really make them visible. Nothing will put a damper on a barbecue or pool party quicker than a 911 call, so make your stairs easier to navigate.
• Railings: Lighting stairs makes an enormous safety difference, and you can enhance that further by also lighting the railings. Place lighting on porch railings, too, so people are less likely to fall over them after drinking too much. If you have a pool, light the railings near steps or ladders so guests always know where they can enter and exit the pool.
• Deadbolts: If a porch light burns out while you are out, getting back into your house may be an awkward exercise. No one enjoys fumbling for a keyhole after a night out, so consider lighting deadbolts and other door locks, too. Visitors will find knobs easily and you will never struggle with your key, even when the porch light is out. This also helps if you need to enter your home quickly.
• Hardscapes: Stone patios in a central position and paver paths create dramatic effects for all yards. You can make them glow at night with the right strategic lighting. Guests can also enjoy these features better since the lights help them see loose stones or uneven terrain.
• Pools and hot tubs: Hot summer days are perfect for swimming except for one disadvantage: sunburn. Rather than worry about your risk of cancer, you can swim or use your hot tub at night and reduce this danger. However, that is impossible without hot tub or pool lights. Allow us to illuminate your pool or hot tub so you can enjoy it 24/7.
• Water features: Lighting for pools and hot tubs makes them useful for nighttime and turns them into glowing features. The same effect also works for fountains or fishponds, which often remain daytime scenery. If you have a waterfall or riverbed, the light becomes especially magical and offers an otherworldly appearance. This all helps safety, too. Small children are at risk of drowning in uncovered pools and water features, and keeping these amenities in the dark increases that risk. Add lights and make it easier to watch younger guests hanging out in your back yard.

For skilled installation of landscape lighting in Trumbull, CT, call New England Electrical Contracting, Inc. to schedule an estimate.

There are a lot of things that can happen during a lightning storm, including your electricity going out for an extended period of time. Think about how much residential homes and commercial buildings rely on power. Large appliances like freezers, refrigerators, computers, televisions, lighting and even Wi-Fi devices all run on electricity. So if you experience a major lightning storm and your home or business is struck, all your electronic units are at risk. This is why it’s important to install the right surge protector: one that protects against lightning.

Here are a few things your licensed electrician in Trumbull, CT wants you to know about whole house surge protection—especially if you live in an area where lightning strikes are a real threat.

Protect your home and electronics

When lightning is a threat to power, be it minor or major, you risk having some or all of your electronics being damaged. This is where a whole house surge protector device comes in handy. It is typically installed in an easily accessible spot, but connected to your home’s main electrical box. These devices are capable of defending against most power surges brought on by tripped circuit breakers, power company malfunctions, nearby lightning strikes and more. Here are some tips to protect your home against lightning storm damage:

• If your local weather person predicts an impending lightning storm, or you notice the signs of one approaching, turn off any electronics you do not absolutely need to be using. This includes the TV, radio, lighting and computers.
• Should you experience an outage, turn off or unplug any electronic devices not plugged into a surge protector. Doing this can help to avoid a power overload when the outage is over.
• Private water well owners should switch off the main power to the well pump during a severe storm to avoid lightning damage. A damaged well pump will leave you without water until a repair company can come out and fix it.
• Surge protectors are your best chance at preventing a total power outage. Of course, you can use several around your house to plug multiple electronics into. Or, to protect everything from your smaller electronics to large appliances and the HVAC system, consider installing a whole house surge protector.
• Whether your power is prone to getting knocked out during a lightning storm or due to other regularly occurring events, you may want to have a standby generator on hand.

Since your power can be out for anywhere from a few seconds to many days, depending on where the lightning strikes and how strong the event is, it would be wise for you to consider installing whole house surge protection. This can save your electronics from complete destruction and your electrical system from frying. It’s worth getting for your safety and peace of mind.

If you are interested in learning more about installing equipment to protect your home or business against lightning, don’t hesitate to contact the team at New England Electrical Contracting, Inc. Speak to a licensed electrician in Trumbull, CT about surge protection from lightning today!

Some areas are more prone to power outages than others, and we’re not talking about little outages that last a couple minutes to a few hours before electricity is restored. It’s the outages that are caused by violent storms, bad weather and lightning strikes that are the worst. These natural elements can mean severe electrical outages, often leaving residents and business owners without power for days at a time. This is a major inconvenience, but if you are no stranger to power outages, then you are likely familiar with backup generators—and keeping them in good condition so they work when you need them to.

With that in mind, let’s check out some tips for regular and annual standby generator maintenance from an electrician in Trumbull, CT:

• Perform visual checks: Keeping the unit and components clean can help to avoid issues with your backup generator. A simple wipe-down is a good way to remove light dirt and dust from grills, but you should also look for and clear away debris—like leaves, other plant parts and grass—from both the inside and outside of the generator. Clogs from debris buildup hinder proper operation, especially when exterior exhaust and intake vents are clogged.
• Install in an ideal location: Smaller portable generators are best stored indoors, where there’s not much chance for moisture formation or temperature fluctuation. For built-in outdoor standby generators, make sure they’re installed away from water sources, protected from wet or humid weather conditions. Don’t keep them near sprinkler heads or rain gutter downspouts, as water is likely to reach the unit. For your generator to remain reliable, check all major components for rust and corrosion often, and get damage fixed immediately.
• Replace spark plugs and the air filter: While it’s recommended that you pull the spark plugs after one year, air filter replacement depends on use and the environment where you live. Even with minimal use, spark plugs can get dirty, and may even corrode inside your standby generator. When you pull them to install a new set, you will notice them covered in a dark layer of corrosion. As for the air filter, it allows fresh air to pass through, but it can’t do this if it’s dirty and clogged. How often you change the filter depends on the surrounding air quality. Typically, filters should be changed anywhere from twice a year to once every two years.
• Check and change the oil regularly: Since your standby generator is motorized, you will first need to check the oil level, then refill or change the oil as necessary. A good suggestion from the pros is to keep an extra bottle of oil on hand for times of extended power outages, because if the unit is lacking oil, it will shut down to preserve the engine.

While you should be performing regular maintenance on your home generator, there may be some important annual maintenance that requires the skills of a professional electrician in Trumbull, CT. When yearly standby generator service is needed, know you can call on the experts at New England Electrical Contracting, Inc. Contact us today with questions or concerns.