An Everyday Occurrence
Imagine sitting at home, relaxing after a hard day. Your aircon is keeping you as cool as you like, your freezer is full of good stuff to eat for the next few weeks ... then, 5 miles away, a lightning bolt strikes a power cable ... CRACK ... the power line is cut and you're plunged into darkness.

Latest statistics show that around 3.5 million Americans suffer a power outage each and every week, normally due to severe weather conditions (lightning, storms etc.). That's a lot of people fumbling around in the dark trying to find a torch ... with batteries that still work!

But you don't need to be one of them. Installing a standby generator for your home will ensure this kind of thing doesn't happen to you.

So What Are Home Generators and Why Would You Want One?
Power outages can be caused by lightning strikes, freak weather, construction gangs or even vehicles colliding with power poles or installations. However they are caused, these outages needn't cause you severe problems if you have a home standby generator.

Home generators (or standby generators / emergency generators / backup generators as they are also known) are permanent fixtures that are designed to restore power to a home or office within seconds of a power outage.

There are various types of generator which run on different fuels, for example, diesel fuel, natural gas, and propane. By far the most popular are the natural gas and propane types as they run off fuel that doesn't have to be changed or 'cycled' every few weeks.

Connecting Up
The generator is connected to your home's main electrical panel - you need a qualified electrician to do this. In the event of a power outage, if your generator has an Automatic Transfer Switch, the generator will automatically start and restore power to your home within seconds.

The units are normally set up outside your home and can produce anywhere from 7 kW to several hundred kW. Larger stand-by units can power an entire home, while smaller models will power selected appliances

By: Mark Byrne
There are many types and brands to choose from, but here's a list of the most popular generators for the home around at the moment.

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The summer is finally here. Goodbye cold weather and heating bills! Hello shorts and air conditioning bills. You can almost hear the electric bill rising over the gentle hum of your home’s two air conditioners. Do you sometimes feel that you can never get ahead?

A recent study showed that the average household spends $1,400 annually on energy. A good deal of that, say energy conservationists, is money wasted. Cutting back on energy use doesn't mean you need to be living in a cave, trying to read by the light of the fire. These days, you can help the environment and your pocketbook without any major sacrifices.

According to the pages of popular science magazines such as National Geographic and Popular Science, there a number of things you can do this summer to cut your home energy costs while helping the environment. By taking some of these relatively simple steps, you can cut your energy bills by one-third or more.

Upgrade Your Thermostat – You can cut your energy costs by investing in a programmable thermostat. These allow you to cool your home at different temperatures for specific times of the day. For example, you can program your AC to turn down, during the day, when no one is home and then crank it up again 30 minutes before you return. Installing a programmable thermostat costs around $100 to $150 but the energy savings can be substantial. You can easily cut your heating and cooling bills by 10% annually just by turning your thermostat back 10% to 15% for 8 hours a day.

Go Green –Planting just three shady trees around your house not only can cut $100 to $250 off your annual heating and cooling costs, but will also make your yard kook more attractive, too. Leafy trees shield the house from direct sunlight, keeping temperatures down, while still permitting sunlight to hit your house during the winter months.

Keep It Clean - Keeping your air-conditioning unit clean and in peak performance is another big money saver. It can be a good idea to bring your AC unit in for a professional tune up. Air-conditioning filters should generally be checked every month or so to see if they need to be cleaned or replaced. This is pretty easy and easily can be done on your own. Another helpful tip is to dust off your refrigerator condenser coils. This will make it run more efficiently.

Buy a Better Bulb - Compact fluorescent light bulbs require 75% less energy than traditional, incandescent light bulbs, and they last up to 10 times longer. These bulbs now come in smaller sizes that can fit into any lamp, and a wider color spectrum than they used to. By replacing just four well-used 100-watt incandescent bulbs with equivalent 23-watt fluorescents will save you $108 over three years.

Be a Fan of Energy - As many as 73% of homes have ceiling fans, but not everyone uses theirs. You should start. A ceiling fan can balance out a room's temperature, allowing you to turn down the AC and still feel cool.

Get Unplugged - Even if all of your home electronics are turned off, many continue to use energy. The main culprits are your televisions, VCRs, DVD players, stereos, phones and microwave ovens. Pretty much anything that has a clock, a remote control or an on/off light falls into this category. In fact, idle TVs and VCRs cost consumers $1 billion annually, or $30 per household.

Fight Leaks – That cooled air you’re already paying for may be leaking right out of your house. Leaky windows and ducts are two ways that cool air can be lost, which makes your air conditioner work even harder. Having your ducts properly sealed and insulated could save you as much as 10% in energy costs. So if you think your duct system is faulty, try to have it checked out by an HVAC, heating- ventilation and air-conditioning, technician.

Be a Savvy Shopper - By far the biggest way to save is to invest in energy-efficient appliances. When shopping around, look for the Energy Star label. There are more than 35 product categories that qualify.

By: J Simkhai
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Lighting is one of those home improvement projects that everyone loves to do. Change that old chandelier to a fancy new one, or that small lighting fixture to a larger one that adds more light in the room. And one of the most popular ones, change that small light to a nice new ceiling fan. These are all great improvements to your home and relativity easy to do yourself, but whether you decide to do it yourself or hire an electrical contractor to do the work there are some things you need to consider before you go out and buy those new lighting fixtures.

The first thing you need to consider is the power requirements of the new fixture. If you are changing an old fixture with only one light bulb to one with two light bulbs, this will most likely not be a problem. But if it is a larger fixture or a chandelier you will need to take this into account.

You can go about this by finding out what is on the existing circuit that you intend to change the fixture on. Go to your main electrical panel and turn off the breakers until you find out which circuit the fixture is on. Next you will need to find out what is on that circuit, so with only that breaker off check and see what other fixtures or devices do not work. Next you will need to add up the current draw on the existing circuit, as per code you are only allowed to draw 80% of the current provided for by the circuit breaker protecting the circuit. For example if it is a 15 amp circuit breaker you are only permitted to draw 1200 watts, which is a total of twenty 60 watt light bulbs. At first glace this may seem like a lot but I have seen people have 20 60 watt light bulbs on a single chandelier. Checking to make sure that you don’t overload the circuit is very important; you will also need to make sure that the switch or dimmer is rated for the proper current draw of the fixture.

The next thing you need to look at is the weight of the new fixture, the box you are attaching it to has to be rated for the weight of the new fixture. Different electrical boxes have different ratings as far as the weight that can hang from them. This will only come into play with larger fixtures or ceiling fans. A ceiling fan must be hung from a box that is rated for a ceiling fan. If you are installing a heavy fixture or a ceiling fan you will most likely need to change the box also.

The National Electrical Code allows you to hang up to 50 lbs. from any electrical box that is threaded to accept No. 8-32 machine screws. Make sure your electrical box is securely fastened before you hang a new light fixture from it. If your light fixture weighs more than 50 lbs or is a ceiling fan, you will need to install a fan brace box. Check the label to make sure the box is designed to support the weight of your fixture.

Considering these aspects in advance will help you be better prepared for the project before you purchase the fixture. It will also keep you safe and compliant with the National Electrical Code.

By: John Pielecka
John has been in the electrical industry for over 20 years and is currently running wireityourself.com an online do it yourself home wiring site.

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