5 Steps To Selecting The Ideal Ceiling Fan For Your Room




During the warm summer days ceiling fans provide us great relief and comfort. However, choosing the right ceiling fan for a room is not as easy as it seems; you cannot just walk into a showroom a pick the one up that is visibly appealing to you.

You should consider the facts like the size of your room, the ceiling height, the quality of the components of the fan and various other details before you decide to buy the fan. An electrical contractor, who is specialized in this field, can provide you valuable tips to choose the right fan for your room, by taking into consideration the following factors.

1) Calculate the size of the room.

At the outset; the electric contractor is going to measure your room to determine its size since, the larger your room is the longer should be the blade span of your fan and if your room is too big in size, he might suggest two ceiling fans.

For a 100 square feet room, you are going to require a ceiling fan with blade span of 36” whereas if your room is somewhere close to 375 square feet the blade span should be 52”.

The contractor is also going to determine the center of your room, since installing the fan there is going to provide you air in all parts of the room and for safety reasons; he is never going to place the ceiling fan over your bed.

2) Consider the ceiling height.

The electric contractor is then going to measure the height of the ceiling to determine the type of mount required for the fan. Generally, a fan placed at 8’ or 9’ from the floor gives you the best result; however, it can even be installed at 7’ from the floor but not lower than that and some buildings make this height mandatory through a code.

If your room has low ceiling, he can install a flush mount and in case of high or sloped ceiling he is going to use a down rod to install the fan at the preferred height.

3) Select quality component.

The quality of the components of the ceiling fan is a very important factor and your electric contractor is never going to advise you to compromise on quality for price.

Always try to buy a fan having heavy, die-cast parts, since these are going to reduce the noise of the motor and would restrict the fan from wobbling. Choose mounts with sealer bearings and permanent lubrication as these last longer.

Another thing that you should check for is the weight and balance of the blades as also for a good warranty.

4) Consider alternative options.

The blade pitches of a ceiling fan range from 8 to 15 percent; your electric contractor is always going to suggest you fan blades with higher pitches, since higher it is the more is the circulation of the air in the room.

Dimmer switches, specialized lighting fixtures, controls that can program the speed of the blades to match the air temperature of the room automatically, wireless remotes, color of the fan to match your room paint, etc. are some of the other options that your electric contractor can suggest and carry out for you.

5) Evaluate your electrical needs.

Many fans use lighting fixtures; therefore, your electric contractor is the right person to suggest whether you can install these fans or not since, he can determine the type of fans that can be supported with the current electric circuits in place and whether these are required to be upgraded or not.

If you want to install fans outdoors or in damp places, your electrical contractor is going to do it with special wiring. Take his help and not only install the perfect fan in each of your rooms but also have the peace of mind.

How to Choose an Electrician For Your Home Electrical Works



One of the best ways to find a good electrician is to make sure you use a licensed or certified professional. To get an electricians license, a person must complete 6,000 to 8,000 hours of on-the-job training, at least 144 hours of college classes, and pass a licensing test or exam.

Their education doesn’t end there; all licensed electricians are required to take continuing education cources, take new licensing tests, get a certain number of hours of professional experience, and stay up-to-date with new technologies and code requirements.

Most electricians begin their careers with an apprenticeship program. This is a program that usually comprises four to five years of on-the-job training under a more experienced electrician. Your electrician will also be taking courses during their apprenticeship, and must complete both the classes and the necessary hours before being allowed to take a licensing test.

They will be working under the supervision of an experienced professional, gaining valuable hands-on experience. The next step is becoming a journeyman. Journeymen continue to take classes to make sure their license is current and their knowledge is up-to-date.

After they are a journeyman they are allowed to work without supervision. Depending on the state, this requirement is between four to eight hours per year. The classes are chosen by the state licensing board, and include education about both state and national code changes to make sure the electrician knows cutting-edge technology, as well as making sure that they will give you work that fits legal requirements.

If you work with an unlicensed electrician, you might face legal ramifications. Apprentices are unlicensed, and must work under the supervision of a licensed electrician.

Depending on the state, you might not be required to use a licensed electrician, but if you are in a state which requires it, you can be charged with a crime for hiring an unlicensed electrician, and the penalties can range from a small monetary fine to jail time.

It is never worth the risk of hiring an unlicensed electrician. Even if it’s only a small job, you should only ever choose a licensed electrician. Not only do you face legal penalties, but you are placing trust in someone who is not qualified for the job.

You will have someone working on your home or business who doesn’t know what they are doing. Electrical wiring problems are the number one cause of fires in building, so you are risking not only your livelihood but your family and coworkers safety by using an unlicensed electrician.

You might save money now, but this will likely cost you in the future. Training to become a licensed electrician is hard work, so you can be sure that the person you are working for is qualified to do the work.

They will know how to do their job correctly and safely. They have also shown that they care about their reputation and the safety of their work is important to them. The license is proof that the person you have hired is qualified, skilled, and dedicated, and you can be sure that they will handle any task they give you professionally and with pride.

Paint Roof White – Reflecting The Sun Energy For Cooler Living Rooms




Not too long ago, there was a time when roofing contractors did nothing more than just to build and repair roofs of houses. However, as per the report by National Centre for Atmospheric Research or NCAR, roofing contractors are going to play a significant role in repairing not only the roofs of the houses, but the planet too.

Using a computer module, NCAR studied the future effect of climate change on urban areas and estimated as to how much the darker colored roofs and road surfaces absorb the sun’s energy. Dark colored surfaces like black roofing materials absorb more solar energy than the lighter colored ones and release the heat back into the atmosphere.

This phenomenon increases the temperature in the atmosphere, significantly and is the major cause for the Urban Heat Island Effect (UHIE), which makes the heavily populated city areas warmer than the nearby rural areas. You can take the example of London; due to Urban Heat Island Effect, the city experiences higher temperatures at night than the surrounding rural area, which are cooler by about three degrees.

Such a thing has much more effect in warmer climates and the air conditioning units work overtime to give people comfort, thus consuming more energy. According to the report of NCAR, if people paint their roofs white, they will do their bit in reducing the temperature of their cities.

The white colored roof are going to reflect most of the sun’s energy back into the atmosphere, absorb lesser heat and thus reduce energy consumption. Since the air conditioning units do not have to work overtime to keep the buildings cooler.

As a result, the environment is going to get benefitted immensely since, according to the findings of NCAR, the carbon emissions are going to get reduced drastically with every house in the world having a white colored roof.

If globally every house has a white colored roof, there is going to be a reduction in the emission of the harmful CO2 gases by 44 billion tones, every year. In other words, it is equivalent to the effect of not a single motor vehicle plying on the roads for 11 years.

The United States department of energy has already started painting the roofs of its departmental buildings with white color and though two million square feet got completed so far; the department is already experiencing energy savings worth half a million dollars, every year.

White color not only helps you to save money on energy spending, it is good for the environment too and even extends the life of your building roof by deflecting the Ultra Violet (UV) rays of the sun, which are harmful for the bitumen based roof materials.

However, if you reside in a cooler climate, painting your roof with white color can actually increase your energy consumption and carbon emissions. Since the white color keeps the building cool, you will require increased heating inside your building.

One more thing that you should remember is the location of the roof, since a white colored pitched roof within a city can divert Ultra Violet rays to the adjacent buildings thus increasing the energy consumptions of those buildings.

Overall, the concept of white colored roof is a good one; you should select to color your roof accordingly or in other lighter shades if you live in a warm climate, to do your bit for the environment. Just be careful with the location of your roof.

For more information on how to reduce your home energy consumption, check out the Earth4Energy download page. I’ve even written a short review about the program on this blog. Please read it to learn what it has to offer.