Category: Lighting

Is Installing a Ceiling Fan Really Worth It?

Published on

What if one appliance could make your room more comfortable, lower your heating and cooling bill, produce useful lighting, and add a splash of decorating style all at once? Would you be interested? Many people would be surprised to learn that the appliance is an affordable, time-tested ceiling fan.

 

Looking to install a ceiling fan in your home? Call The Happy Outlet at 775-841-9473 today.

 

Benefits of Ceiling Fans

Ceiling fans offer a host of benefits to homeowners. These include:

 

  • Reduced energy costs: Ceiling fans don’t actually reduce the temperature of a room. However, the air they circulate can make a room feel three to four degrees cooler. By setting the thermostat a little higher to take advantage of the fan’s air circulation, you can save up 30 to 40 percent on your utility bill. Ceiling fans with the Energy Star label can help you save even more.

 

  • Added decorating style: With so many different kinds of ceiling fans on the market, it’s easy to find the perfect one to complement any decorating style. Ceiling fans for kids’ rooms are available in all kinds of themes from ladybugs, flowers, globes, sports, and more. A unique ceiling fan is not only functional, it can also serve as the focal point of a room. Some fans even offer interchangeable blades so that you can change the style of the fan without having to replace the motor.

 

  • Layered lighting: Most ceiling fans come with an added lighting fixture that you can use to add a beautiful, layered texture of light to your room.

 

  • Versatile placement: Ceiling fans aren’t just for the living room. Install them in bedrooms, kitchens, porches, or any room you want constant air circulation.

 

  • Year-round use: You might think ceiling fans are just for summer use. Not true. Ceiling fans have a switch on the base that allows the blades to reverse to help disperse warm air downward during the winter.

 

Looking to install a ceiling fan in your home? Call The Happy Outlet at 775-841-9473 today.

 

5 Best Rooms for a Dimmer Switch

Published on

best rooms for a dimmer switch

Dimmer switches make your lighting truly customizable. Instead of simply choosing between bright or pitch black, set the mood however you please and save some energy while you’re at it!

If you are thinking about adding some dimmer switches to your home but you aren’t sure where to start, we’ve got you covered. Here are the five best rooms for a dimmer switch recommend by our team of expert electricians at The Happy Outlet.

1. Living Room

The living room is a great place to start if you want to give dimmer switches a try, because it’s the room where you spend most of your time. Use your dimmer switch while you watch your favorite TV show or movie so that you get a theatre-style experience without totally sacrificing visibility. Dim the lights and pass the popcorn!

2. Dining Room

Nothing sets the tone for a romantic dinner date or a cozy gathering with friends like perfect lighting. Use your dimmer switch to enhance the ambiance for your dining experience, and add a couple of candles while you’re at it.

3. Kitchen

If you have ever snuck out of bed to make a midnight snack, you can appreciate the value a dimmer switch would bring to the kitchen. Chop, smear, mix, or heat safely without the added risk of waking up the rest of your family. If your kitchen is adjacent to your living room or dinning room or if you have an open floorplan, it can be advantageous to have consistent dimming abilities in all three rooms.

4. Bedroom

In the bedroom, we recommend a double dimmer switch: one for lighting, and one for your ceiling fan. This gives you total control over your lighting and temperature preferences while you sleep. Dimming the lights can be ideal for winding down with a book before your drift off or setting the mood for romance.

5. Master Bathroom

A bathroom might seem like an odd space for a dimmer switch—but stay with us. Picture the scene: you wake up in the middle of the night, and nature is calling. You don’t want to stumble to the restroom in the dark, but you also don’t want to blind yourself or a loved one and disrupt everyone’s slumber. A dimmer switch is the perfect solution to this predicament. Dim lighting can also help you ease into the morning while you get ready for work. The possibilities for a bathroom dimmer switch are endless.

Do you agree that these are the best rooms for a dimmer switch?

Do you think some of these lighting options are overkill, or would you use a dimer in every room? Share your favorite spots for a dimmer switch with us in the comments below, or on Facebook.

If you are interested in installing dimmer switches to any rooms in your home, call us today at The Happy Outlet.

If you need any electrical repairs, replacements, or upgrades in your Carson City home, contact The Happy Outlet! Give us a call at 833-2B-HAPPY to schedule an appointment and get started.

The Dos and Don’ts of Christmas Lights

Published on

The Dos and Don’ts of Christmas Lights

It’s almost time to deck the halls and sing some carols. Thanksgiving is only days away, and Christmas time will be right on its heels.

Are you already planning your outdoor Christmas lights display for this year? At The Happy Outlet, we want to encourage all of our customers to decorate safely. Here are some dos and don’ts of Christmas lights from our team of electricians.

Do:

  • Purchase Christmas lights and equipment rated for outdoor use.

Electrical decorations and supplies rated for outdoor use can handle winter’s extra moisture and precipitation. Don’t risk using indoor decorations outside since they are not designed to withstand the elements and could be dangerous if exposed to water.

  • Upgrade to LED bulbs.

If you plan on replacing some or all of your Christmas lights this year, consider opting for LED bulbs. LEDs use anywhere between 25% – 80% less energy than regular incandescent bulbs, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. They can also last 3-25 times longer. LED lights will save you money on your utility bill for December, and they are much better for the environment.

  • Inspect extension cords, light strands, power strips, and other equipment.

If you use the same lights for many years in a row, they might be starting to wear out. Check for worn or frayed cords, exposed wires, or any other damage that might be dangerous. Investing in some new lights will be a lot less expensive than dealing with the aftermath of an electrical fire.

  • Plug Christmas lights into grounded GFCI outlets.

Make sure all of your outdoor outlets are grounded with three prong holes and have GFCI receptacles with “test” and reset” buttons. GFCIs are designed to protect you from electrocution.

Don’t:

  • Overload your circuit breakers.

If you need to plug in several strands of lights, use power strips with surge protection. Don’t daisy chain tons of lights together and wind up tripping your circuit breakers or causing a fire.

  • Use inadequate extension cords.

If your extension cords have frayed wires or loose prongs, throw them out and replace them. If your extension cords are too short, don’t try to stretch them. Buy longer ones that better suit your display.

  • Hang up your lights solo.

Use the buddy system if you plan on climbing on a ladder or your roof. Make sure there is someone else around to hold your ladder steady or call for help if there is an accident.

We hope you use these dos and don’ts of Christmas lights while decorating this holiday season!

Ensure your household stays safe throughout the holiday season with these essential safety tips! But before you plug in those Christmas lights, give us a call for any electrical repairs or electrical upgrades you need to make them shine.

For electrical repairs, replacements, or upgrades in your Carson City home, contact The Happy Outlet! Give us a call at 833-2B-HAPPY to schedule an appointment and get started. Donate seven cans of food for FISH Holiday Baskets and receive 5% OFF your total invoice for any service.

5 Fun and Spooky Electrical Halloween Decorations

Published on

Electrical Halloween Decorations

Halloween night is right around the corner, and homes all over Carson City are preparing for tricks, treats, and frightening fun. If you’re searching for Halloween decoration ideas to delight your neighborhood this year, we’ve got you covered.

Why settle for old-school jack-o-lanterns when you can harness the power of electricity to spook your whole street? Here are five fun and spooky electrical Halloween decorations from your friends at The Happy Outlet. Whether you like happy and tame Halloween vibes, a yard of terror, or something in between, these decoration ideas will help you have the most festive house on the block.

Halloween Lights

If you’re going for a cheerful Halloween look that is friendly for all ages, Halloween string lights can be a great way to dress up your porch, patio, balcony, or windows. You can find a wide variety of string light options, from classic orange, to spooky purple, to fun shapes like ghosts or pumpkins. If you want to save some money and you like to DIY, you can also repurpose Christmas lights for temporary Halloween use by attaching simple household items like tissue paper and string. See this tutorial for creating your own ghost string lights.

Inflatables

Inflatables can be used in a playful yard or a spooky yard. You can find cute inflatables with casper the friendly ghost peeking out of a happy pumpkin. You can delight movie lovers with a larger than life Jack Skellington towering in your yard. Or you can dress up a spooky graveyard with a menacing gargoyle on each side of your front door. The inflatable possibilities are endless.

Flood Lights

You may have seen yards at Christmas time with classic warm flood lights illuminating wooden cut outs of Santa Claus. But have you ever considered using blue or green flood lights to cast an eerie glow across a graveyard full of tombstones? If you have creative decorations that lose their visibility at nightfall, flood lights offer the perfect solution.

Fog Machines

Nothing seals the deal in spooky better than some ghastly fog. Adding a fog machine to your Halloween display takes it to the next level and shows the neighborhood that you are seriously spooky! You might assume that adding a fog machine would be outrageously expensive, but you can find smaller ones for less than $40.

Animatronics

If your goal is to make your yard as frightening as possible, you might want to consider investing in some animatronics. Maybe all you need is this terrifying moving doll wandering your porch, or maybe you want to go big (and go home) with this enormous smoking dragon in your yard. Animatronics can bump your yard display up from a creepy candy stop to an actual haunted house.

Are you using any of these haunting electrical Halloween decorations in your display?

Share photos of your front yard with us on Facebook as we all get excited for Halloween night! If you need any electrical upgrades or repairs so that your Halloween decorations can work properly, give us a call any time.

If you need any electrical repairs or upgrades in your Carson City home, contact The Happy Outlet! Give us a call at 833-2B-HAPPY to schedule an appointment and get started.

3 Types of Light Bulbs (and Their Energy Efficiency)

Published on

 

Not all light bulbs are made the same. And when choosing the right lighting for your Carson City home, you’ll want to have an idea of the three major types: incandescent, fluorescent, and LED. While there are countless variations of these three types, it is important you first know their general differences.

The Happy Outlet would like to discuss the 3 major types of light bulbs available for your home, as well as their energy efficiency.

Incandescent

Being the oldest of the three, the incandescent light bulb has been around since the late 1800s. These light bulbs consist of a glass case, with a filament inside. This filament channels the electrical current, using the energy to heat up and provide light. This bulb is notable for being extremely hot to the touch when left on for a long period of time.

The incandescent bulb has the shortest lifespan of the three bulbs. Their lifespan is a measly 1,000 hours of light, which is a fraction compared to the other bulbs. However, they are the least expensive, and come in a variety of sizes and colors. They have the benefit of turning on instantly, and they provide a warm, comforting light with good color and contrast.

Energy Efficiency: Incandescent light bulbs are the least energy efficient of the three major bulbs. Since they utilize heat to provide light, they burn through energy more fiercely than their other counterparts. In general, if you would like to remain energy efficient, consider using the other two light bulb types.

CFL

CFL (Compact fluorescent lamps) have been available since the early-to-mid 1900s. They work by ionizing mercury vapor, which emits electrons in a gas. This then creates an ultraviolet light, further causing the bulb to glow.

CFLs have a much longer lifespan than incandescent bulbs. They last 6-15 times as long (6,000-15,000 hours) due to their more efficient electricity usage.  However, their initial cost is more expensive. Therefore, you’ll want to use CFLs for when you plan on lighting areas for long periods of time.

Energy Efficiency: Thanks to their innovative way to provide light, CFLs are more energy efficient than traditional incandescent bulbs. They use about 75% less energy, while having a much longer lifespan.

LED

LED (Light Emitting Diode) bulbs are the most recently invented type of bulb, made in the 1970s. They emit light by releasing energy in the form of photons, filling little holes in the LED. These holes work in conjunction to give the bulb light.

LEDs are the longest lasting of the three bulbs. Their lifespan is measured differently from incandescent and CFL bulbs, as LEDs don’t burn out. Instead, they slowly dim over time. Overall, you can expect an LED to last about 50,000 hours before the light output is severely decreased. However, even when LEDs are at full power, they are not as bright as the other bulbs. Their initial cost is also the most expensive.

Energy Efficiency: Aside from being the longest lasting, LEDs are also the most energy efficient light bulbs! They use 90% less energy than incandescent bulbs and are Energy Star certified for purchase.

When finding the right lighting for your home, be sure you know the three main types. And when you are ready to install new lighting in your home, contact The Happy Outlet for our affordable electrical services. Contact us at 775-841-9473 to speak with Carson City’s electrical experts.