With the summer temperatures rising and the heat settling in, keeping cool inside is becoming more and more common. Now is as good a time as ever to remodel an indoor living space, making it a quaint retreat from the heat stocked with state-of-the-art technologies. These remodeling projects can become particularly tricky when electrical work is involved, as no electric project should ever be determined as “do-it-yourself.” Our Richardson TX electrical experts at J-Five Electric can assist you in these electrical endeavors – helping you complete your dream project in no time.

Whether it is lighting or wiring, the best electrical work is essential in your newly remodeled room. Wiring a ceiling fan to keep you and your family cool is a complicated task we can accomplish with ease, allowing air to properly circulate throughout your home. Added light can brighten any room, whether it is recessed lighting to properly set the mood or wall sconces to spice up a plain wall. Our electricians can even install a new circuit for your home media center, adding a surge protector to make sure your home is the safest it can possibly be.

With these remodeling services, as well as many, many others, available, our Richardson TX electricians is the clear choice for your next home remodeling project. Even for something as simple as installing a phone line, we are the go-to electricians of the Dallas area. With any questions, comments, or to schedule an electric service today, feel free to give us a call at 972-591-0325 or visit us online today.

This Memorial Day Weekend is also Tax Free Weekend in Texas. Certain items across the state such as clothes and appliances will be duty free. Your Plano TX electrician at J-Five Electric encourages you to look into ENERGY STAR appliances and other products over the holiday weekend.

ENERGY STAR appliances and other products save you money on electricity and aides the national conservation effort. The ENERGY STAR website says all products “meet strict energy efficiency guidelines set by the EPA and US Department of Energy.”

The City of Plano has information on their website regarding the ENERGY STAR appliances Memorial Day Weekend sales tax holiday:

“Over this upcoming Memorial Day weekend, Texans won’t have to pay state or local sales tax on select ENERGY STAR products, including air conditioners, refrigerators, dishwashers and even light bulbs. Take advantage of the fourth-annual Texas ENERGY STAR Sales Tax Holiday this May 28-30, 2011, and get a break from state and local sales taxes on the purchase of eligible ENERGY STAR appliances and products.”

Your local Plano energy efficiency electrician professionals are here to help you with any electrical conservation endeavor. Your next recessed lighting, washer and dryer circuit, landscape lighting, or appliance installation and circuitry project can all be done with energy conservation in mind. Consider ENERGY STAR products like appliances and light bulbs during the tax free Memorial Day weekend.

For more information, call your Plano Texas electric company, J-Five Electric, today or schedule an appointment online.

When the temperature rises in the summer, often your electricity bill rises with it. Energy efficient choices can help alleviate high energy bills and make the summer strain on your electricity easier.

Turning off lights in rooms where no one is using them is a simple energy step to use in the summer months when daylight hours are longer. Use natural light when you can and call your Dallas TX electricians at J-Five Electric for all your residential lighting needs.

The strain on air conditioning units during the warmer months can be eased by using ceiling or oscillating fans. Fans are more energy efficient than a large AC unit.

Open the refrigerator door once while removing all the items you need instead of opening it multiple times. You might also consider washing dishes by hand every once in a while instead of running the dishwasher.

Hang clothes on a line during the summer months for energy efficiency. Your energy bill will benefit from running the dryer less. While these tips will help save energy, the professionals at J-Five Electric, your Dallas electricity company is here to help you with all your residential electricity needs. Give us a call or contact us online today.

As we continue through the spring and prepare for the summer, it is imperative to give your electrical system the same preventative-maintenance type of treatment as you would for your random appliances around the house, such as your air conditioning or heating unit or your water heater.

One thing you definitely want to steer clear of an electric arc, which is defined by Wikipedia as “an electrical breakdown of a gas which produces an ongoing plasma discharge, resulting from a current flowing through normally nonconductive media, such as air.”

Checking your electrical system should be a regular spring routine. In an effort to control arcing, here are some things to look for as your perform your routine maintenance.

• Check for burn marks: Burn marks at the main electrical panel can be a sign of arcing inside the panel. Arcing, which can be caused by loose connections or even damaged insulation, can lead to a bad fire.
• No unnecessary ignitions: All paper items or anything material that is considered combustible must be removed from the area of the main electrical panel. Items such as flammable liquids or even cardboard should be removed. Sparks caused by arcing can ignite these materials.
• Check each outlet: Make sure you know where your loose-fitting plugs are, as they can be a sign of a worn-out receptacle. These should be replaced immediately, as they can cause overheating and electrical fires.

For all of your maintenance issues, make sure you have a well-trained professional assigned to the task. Call our Dallas TX electricians at J-Five Electric today to schedule an appointment for your spring maintenance project. Contact our Dallas electrical company today, or visit us online for details.

Remember when saving on your light bulb meant switching from a 100-watt to a 60-watt bulb? While that did save a little money, that doesn’t compare to the money you could be saving if you use energy-efficient lighting such as an LED bulb.

An LED (light emitting diode) bulb is made to save money on your electricity. Regular incandescent bulbs can cost as much as 10 times its original purpose depending on how often it is used. While LED bulbs cost a little more, they last much longer than incandescent bulbs while using much less watts of electricity. LED bulbs use roughly five to 10 watts. The savings can really add up when LED bulbs are used in commercial environments.

LED bulbs are durable in that they hold up better to accidental bumps than incandescent bulbs. They do not have a filament, which means they will not get damaged under certain circumstances when an incandescent bulb might break. Additionally, LED bulbs do not cause heat build-up, which makes them more of the safety choice than incandescent bulbs.

LED bulbs are an excellent choice for the home or office, and our Dallas TX electricians are very knowledgeable in the topic. Give our Dallas electrical company a call today, or contact us online for more information on LED bulbs and their many advantages.

One of the main issues for homeowners is maintain safety in and outside of the home. Keeping a porch light on can increase safety, but it also can run up your light bill in the long run.

Rather than relying on a porch light, our Dallas TX electricians suggest installing motion sensor lighting, which will not only provide safety but also save energy. Motion sensor lights automatically turn on when they detect motion in the range of its sensors and turn off after a certain time span. This serves as a cost-effective way to help protect you and those around you.

All families are recommended to switch to motion sensor lighting for the following reasons:

No surprise criminals: A burglar is expecting a home to be empty when he doesn’t see a porch light on. Once the intruder steps into sensor range and the lights come on, a burglar will flee quickly.

Animal deterrence: Motion sensor lighting can be great for those who live in rural areas that often feature the occasional raccoon or deer. These animals are not fond of sudden lights, and they will help to keep the unwanted pests away from your property.

Night-time safety measures: If you live in an area without many street lights, motion sensor lighting will be beneficial as you make it to your driveway during the late evenings. No longer will you have to tiptoe in an attempt to not trip over stairs or anything else in your hard.

Additional security: Many homes have home security systems that will monitor all indoor intrusion. Motion sensor lighting will help motion all outdoor intrusion, giving a home full security.

Motion sensor lighting is an excellent option for your home for various reasons. Our Dallas TX electrical company can install these lights for you at an affordable rate. Call us today, or visit us online for additional information.

February is the month of love and enchantment. When it comes to your home, chandeliers can help enhance February even more.

Chandeliers are perfect lighting options to bring elegance, romance or extravagance – or a combination of everything – to your home. There are several chandelier types on market for the average homeowner to choose from, but any of these lighting fixtures are great for high-vaulted ceilings, and they add value to the décor in any room.

Most chandeliers provide an intimate atmosphere with dim or soft lighting. While some chandeliers appear as lights, others appear as candles. The options will depend on your taste and your expectations for the room you’re augmenting.

Installation for the do-it-yourselfer is relatively simple, but it’s always best to call a professional for installation purposes, especially when dealing with electrical wiring. It is suggested to use low-watt light bulbs, as high-watt bulbs run risk of creating too much heat. It also is suggested not to hang chandeliers in rooms that are near water, such as kitchens or bathrooms.

Let our Dallas TX electricians handle your chandelier installation and all other electrical remodeling tasks to better your home. Call our Dallas electrical company today, or visit us online for information.

If you live in north Texas and you and your family woke up to no electricity and all the cold you could stand, understand that this not only may be routine but also repetitive for the next couple of days.

Most of the state will be experiencing rolling blackouts, which basically is an intentional electrical power outage initiated in this case by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT). These blackouts also are referred to as load shedding, as they rotate outages in an effort to compensate for an electrical shortage because of plant trips occurring because of the icy weather conditions.

Rolling blackouts are last-resort efforts to avoid total blackouts. They usually affect residential neighborhoods and small businesses. ERCOT hasn’t speculated on a time duration, but it has suggested the outages will take place all around the state and can last anywhere from 15 to 45 minutes per neighborhood. Some neighborhoods will experience multiple outages. All critical-need customers (hospitals, nursing homes, etc.) are not expected to be affected.

Households experiencing outages longer than the expected delay may have other weather-related issues causing electrical problems. During this span, all homeowners are asked to reduce their electricity usage during this span. One tip includes turning off all unused lights. Another tip involves unplugging all unused appliances and electronic devices.

More tips can be found on the Public Utility Commission of Texas website. Our Dallas TX electric company can assist you with tips, as well. Feel free to call our Dallas TX electricians, or contact us online for information.

Whether it’s your 60-inch television or the small lamp in the baby’s room, keep in mind that everything electrical can be measured in terms of how much energy it uses.

In looking at the amount of electricity used, one device that has proven to be reliable and somewhat inexpensive is a watt-hour meter. With the cheaper wall-socket models priced roughly around $25 (give or take a few dollars), a watt-hour meter measures the electricity used at that given moment, as well as over a period of time.

A watt-hour meter is plugged into an electrical outlet. The device (your TV, the lamp, etc.) is then plugged into the meter. The meter then will display how many watts (kilowatt hours) that device uses. Watt-hour meters are extremely beneficial in calculating how much power is used for large appliances (refrigerators, washer machines, etc.), as well as vampire appliances (appliances that use – or “suck” – power even in off or standy mode) such as that lovely big-screen TV in your living room.

Many electrical experts will suggest investing in a watt-hour meter, as they will assist in you saving money each month. Our Dallas TX electrical experts are available to answer all of your questions about the meters or anything associated with electrical energy. Feel free to call our Dallas electrical company today, or contact us online.

Extension cords are among the most common electrical devices found around the house. They are the reason your TVs, lamps and radios all run under one socket.

While this is convenient for you, not using the proper extension cord can be very dangerous for you and your family. According to the U.S. Product Safety Commission, roughly 50 people are killed and 4,000 are injured from accidents involving improper usage of extension cords.

An extension cord’s ability to safely provide electrical power is based on length and gauge. The longer an extension cord is, the lower its gauge number will be. In other words, the longer it is, the thicker the wire is. Electrical experts say you want to use the shortest cord possible to reduce the chance of major injury.

There are three types of extension cords – heavy duty, medium duty and light duty – which are made for specific electrical appliances. Heavy-duty cords are designed to work for the larger appliances and power tools in a home. Heavy-duty cords work great for electrical devices with 10-15 amps of load.

Medium-duty cords are built for your laptops, portable DVD players, netbooks and other like devices. These cords are for devices of roughly 10 amps. Light-duty cords are designed for basic use with clocks, lamps and other small electrical devices. These are usually for devices no more than seven amps.

Our Dallas TX electricians can assist you with choosing the proper extension cords for your home living. Call our Dallas electrical company today, or contact us online for information.