When was the last time your home had an electrical checkup?

The wonderful weather of Summer presents the easy opportunity to request that an electrician visit and have your home’s electrical system thoroughly checked. Similar to the way we as people go to the doctor for a physical, a home’s electrical system should receive annual or semi-annual inspections. The main reasons we would do this are to protect the longevity of the house, protect the inhabitant’s well being and maintain the best efficiency – which can save you money on your energy bill.

Throughout the year as electrical devices in the home wear and tear, make a list and store it in an accessible place. The more work that can be done in one visit by an electrician, the more you will save versus paying for several visits. Most electrical problems should only be handled by a professional. This is mainly due to the safety risk involved as well as any job not done correctly can cost time and money in the future if not up to code. Once you have enough items on your list to take action, review the home for any other electrical problems that may have been overlooked.

This is also a great time to do an evaluation of your electrical usage needs. Do you or your family need more power in the home? If so, include that on the list and ask the electrician if an upgrade is available. Finally, in preparing for your checkup, it may also be appropriate to determine if your home could use money saving electrical fixture upgrades. For example, you may want to upgrade frequently used rooms from common incandescent lights to fluorescent ones. This will reduce the electrical consumption and lower your energy bill.

The next step is to request an estimate and evaluate the electrician. To contact electricians many people use the internet. One website that focuses on the Virginia, Washington, D.C. and Maryland area provides brief descriptions of trusted Electrical Contractors is http://www.allaroundthehome.com/electricians.asp. This site allows the home-owner to make a decision on which electricians they wish to request a free estimate from, without the fear of having to field dozens of sales calls from contractors they didn’t select.
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Solid wood countertops are natural products made of wood from trees approximately 120 years old. Wood is a living material and the more moisture receives, the more the wood countertop will expand. The wood we used in solid wood worktops has been previously kiln dried to a humidity level of 6%, and it is therefore important that the worktop is not exposed to a constantly high level of humidity. Normally the humidity level in kitchens is approximately 50-70%.

The solid wood top must be attached to the cabinet box using only wood screws and washers. It is not recommended at all to glue the top on the cabinet box; the top and the box expand and contract at different rates, therefore cracks might eventually appear, most probably on the cabinets’ surface.

The proper way of installing a solid wood top is using metal fixings along the cabinet box (see our web page).
The metal fixings must be uniformly distributed throughout the length of the top, spaced at a 1′ – 1.5′ distance from each other. Across the width, the top is usually fixed to each metal support with three screws, one in the middle, one toward the front edge and one toward the rear edge. The supports must be perfectly leveled; otherwise tensions can develop in the wood, leading to warping, cupping, or cracks.
We recommend pre-drilling the screw holes into the wood countertop, in order to avoid cracks and splits. For the same reason, it is a good idea not to over tighten the screws. The finishing will considerably diminish the extent of such movements, but will not eliminate them altogether. Due to the panel’s laminated structure, the lengthwise movements are insignificant, so the installer should pay attention to the movements occurring across the panel’s width. In order to prevent the development of inner tensions, the holes in the metal fixings should be elongated in the direction of the movements (see our web page ).
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Toilets are an essential part of our everyday lives. We tend to take the toilet very much for granted and not really like to think about it too much until we find that we desperately need a toilet and none can be found. We forget that modern toilets are a luxury in a lot of under developed countries and find it a huge inconvenience if our toilet doesn’t work.

Toilets that we are used to using are a relatively recent invention, and used to be only affordable by the very wealthy. Even now the evolution of the toilet is still in progress with technological advances including automatic flushing controlled by sensors and economy settings to allow less water to be used when the toilet fills up. The issue of hygiene is a constant one and, along with all the different types of toilet cleaners and fragranced deodorizers there are even public toilets that clean
themselves after each visit.

The prevalence of indoor plumbing has been the main factor in the availability of toilets inside our homes. It is this plumbing that ensures the toilet keeps functioning correctly and we don’t have to do anything more than pull the chain or press the handle. Before this all toilets were separate from the main house in small outhouses. The water supply that these outhouses were connected to was totally detached from the ones used inside the house.
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The following article provides a review of prominent circuit breaker manufacturers.

ABB is at the forefront of circuit breaker manufacturers, offering homes and industries the ability to achieve maximum performance while limiting the negative impact on the environment. With companies operating in over 100 countries around the globe, ABB is a leader in its field. ABB offers products from miniature circuit breakers to molded-case breakers and guarantees its products are among the safest and most dependable on the market.

Perhaps better known for home appliances and products for various industries, Siemens is also a leading circuit breaker manufacturer. In 1998, Siemens executed a major recall of one of their circuit breaker products. The breaker in question was mostly used in hot tubs and spas. Although Siemens claims they are unaware of any injuries due to malfunction, they erred on the side of caution. The breakers were found to have the potential cause electrocution of people in hot tubs.

GE circuit breakers are probably some of the best-known and used circuit breakers on the market. GE offers circuit breakers that are compliant with Federal regulations. This circuit breaker manufacturer offers a wide range of products for all voltage needs. From home to industrial electrical necessities, GE has products for both low and high voltage electrical outputs.

ITE is credited as the founder of 5 kV air magnetic circuit breakers. They were among the first circuit breaker manufacturers to offer low energy and high quality solutions to industrial electrical needs. ITE also offers medium and high voltage circuit breakers for a variety of purposes.

Cutler-Hammer (Eaton) is also a well-known circuit breaker manufacturer. Perhaps one of the most innovative technologies to come from this company in recent years is the fireguard circuit breaker. Cutler-Hammer’s FireGuard provides protection from fire hazards that result from arcing faults. FireGuard circuit breakers will likely become the standard circuit breakers used in 21st century homes because they provide advanced protection against some of the most common causes of house fires.

The reliability of Federal Pacific, an established circuit breaker manufacturer, is questionable at best. These breakers have a notorious reputation for failure to trip when hit with a power surge. Some experts claim the rate to be upwards of 25%. Failure to trip during a power surge can cause structural fires. Rumors have circulated that the company was “de-listed” from the UL, although the company states they simply “went out of business”. Regardless of the actual reason for this, most electrical experts recommend discontinuing the use of these circuit breakers since most tests show an unacceptable failure rate.
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