Category — Electrical

If you’re going to remodel your home, or just looking for an easy renovation, recessed lighting might be something to consider. It’s an easy way to update your home, can be part of a green remodeling plan, and also can be a budget renovation solution (it has a huge visual impact to cost ratio.) The electrical experts at Stafford Home Service will definitely be able to help you. Even if you think there’s no way recessed lighting could work in your home, they will find a way.

Recessed lighting has a nice clean look and can be very effective at making small rooms feel bigger. Rather than installing chunky light fixtures, that take up room and clutter spaces, Stafford Home Service can install recessed lighting in your home for a simple, sleek look.

Recessed lighting can be installed in any room and is a great way to highlight works of art, mantels, photographs, or an interesting painted wall or Italian plaster feature.  Another useful way to use recessed lighting is for task lighting: Reading areas, desks, and various work spaces can all benefit from recessed lighting.  Imagine your desk free of hot, inconvenient lamps –with a flick of a switch your desk can be washed with focused light from recessed fixtures strategically placed for maximum effect.

There are four bulb options available for recessed lighting:
Incandescent
Halogen
Low-emitting diode (LED)
Compact fluorescent light (CFL).

Incandescent bulbs:
Incandescent lights are the standard lights with which we are all familiar. They have the least expensive up-front costs of the four options, are the least efficient, create more garbage and run very hot. They will also be phased out, according to federal law by 2012-2014 [http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:h.r.00006:].

Halogen bulbs:
Halogen lights are also incandescent, but they last longer and provide a greater quantity of light, per watt. They are a step up from standard incandescent but have all the same fundamental problems and will also be phased out along with standard incandescents.

LED bulbs:
If your looking for a Green lighting option, LED lights are the way to go.  According to energystar.gov, an ENERGY STAR qualified LED uses, at the bare minimum, 75% less energy than incandescent lighting and also reduces maintenance costs, by lasting 35 to 50 times longer (and more) than incandescent lighting and about 2 to 5 times longer than fluorescent lighting. LED bulbs also contain no mercury (which CFL’s do.) By using LED lighting you won’t have to replace bulbs more then once every several years (or more), which, in the long-term, is good for your pocketbook and the environment. (not to mention if you have limited mobility and have difficulty replacing bulbs)

Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs (CFL):
CFL bulbs are another green solution. An ENERGY STAR qualified compact fluorescent light bulb (CFL) will save about $30 over its lifetime and pay for itself in about 6 months. It uses 75 percent less energy and lasts about 10 times longer than an incandescent bulb.” (www.energystar.gov) Stafford home Services uses Energy Star qualified products. The toxic mercury contained in CFL’s is an issue, but is offset by the infrequency of replacement and proper waste disposal programs that are currently in effect across the US.

While LED or CFL recessed lighting fixtures are far more efficient than a standard incandescent fixture, they are a significantly higher up-front investment.  Keep in mind, If every American home replaced just one light with an ENERGY STAR light, we would save enough energy to light more than 3 million homes for a year, about $700 million in annual energy costs, and prevent 9 billion pounds of greenhouse gas emissions per year, equivalent to the emissions of about 800,000 cars.  (www.energystar.gov).

In conclusion, recessed lighting is a great option for any room in any home. With options for every price range the possibilities are endless. For your next renovation project, let Stafford Home Service install Energy Star qualified products in your home.

I was asked recently what one of the easiest ways to go green. Dimmer light switches are right there at the top.

Three quick advantages with using dimmer switches:

• Reduced Energy Consumption, Dim your lights by quarter & save up to 20 percent Dim by half and save up to 40 percent.
• Increased Bulb Life, If you are dimming the light by just 10 percent it more than doubles the life of the bulb.
• Mood, A softer light is more comforting and sets a relaxing atmosphere.

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This is a question that comes up quite often with our clients at Stafford Home Service electrical. Many people are concerned about safety or are interested in upgrading the mechanicals in their home. Here’s a quick list to help you make your decision. As always, we at Stafford Home Service are available to answer your questions and support your needs. Give us a call today and allow us to help you. [Read more →]

Kris from Stafford Home Services’ Minneapolis electricians suggested a miniature recessed light for the tight space above the basement landing. The unit he suggested, and has installed before, is the Gimbal Ring – HR-1137 from W.A.C Lighting. It’s a slick little unit at a mere 3″ high and 2 3/4″ wide. I also noticed that uses an easy to find MR11 bulb which even has LED options out there. Nice!

The Stafford team descended on Desonyer this week like an parachute brigade. A particularly effective and talented brigade at that. The week started with George from Stafford HVAC laying out the ducts and discussing placement of ducts as well as the placement of the new furnace and AC unit. He was very patient and helpful, offering many options and their benefits. These guys don’t just know how to do things one way, they are full of ideas and are flexible as heck. That’s a good thing in my book. [Read more →]

As we did our original walkthrough, Kris, from Stafford Home Services, said that recessed lighting would make a dramatic difference in the space, especially in the bedrooms. Boy was he right. Today the Stafford Home Services Electrical guys installed the lighting in the bedrooms and hallways. What an amazing difference. The ceilings are not short but they certainly seemed lower with the old ceiling units in there. [Read more →]

Jason Stinson has the most amazing sub’s (subcontractors.) They just do great work and are great people, across the board. My most recent experience with this is Stafford Home Services. They are a one-stop-shop for Electrical, HVAC, Low voltage and all the services in-between. Low voltage being media rooms, recessed speakers, sound systems, security systems and the like. [Read more →]