Your first priority is to keep your home safe. That includes safety from fire, flood, and robbery/forced entry. Security lighting is an essential part of any home security system. Bright lights reveal intruders, draw attention to their location, and can…
How to Safely Use Outdoor Lighting This Christmas Season
Outdoor lighting is pure magic. The shimmer and sparkle. The glory of a tree set ablaze in multi-colored, white, or pure blue glow. While wrapping every inch of your porch awning or your front-yard foliage in glowing bulbs sounds like…
Build an Electrical Circuit for the Science Fair!
It’s back to school season and your children are suddenly busy with new classes, books, bus routes, and hopefully no teachers’ “dirty looks.” While the Science Fair may not come until Spring, preparing a topic now will help your middle…
It’s Sunny, So Why Did My Power Go Out?
If your power goes out on a sunny day, you may be confused. Where’s the storm? The fallen trees? Why did my power go out? Determining the cause of a power outage when it’s least expected can be a surprising…
Hot Tub Wiring 101: What You Need To Know
Updated August 2019 There are few things more pleasurable than a long soak in a hot tub. After a long day of working in the office or in the yard, it’s truly a treat to immerse your tired body into…
Stay Cool This Summer
It’s finally here! 80-degrees of gorgeous, non-stop sunshine. Time for beach, bar-b-cues, and all the street fairs and parades you can handle! How to best enjoy the festivities while keeping your home cool and sparing your electricity bill? The following…
Intelligent Utility and Your Smart Meter
You’re intelligent, so why shouldn’t your utility reader be the same? Smart meters, now becoming popular worldwide as well as in California, Maryland, Texas, and Florida, are electronic devices that monitor and record your home’s electrical use. These models are…
Create a Comfortable Home Atmosphere
Your home is where you lay your head. It’s your zone, your happy place, the space in which you can truly be yourself and share beautiful times with your family and friends. Honoring that space and all that it means…
Power and Water Do Not Mix
You know this: never mix water and electricity. Blow drying your hair in the bathtub? Bad idea. Swimming during a lightning storm? Worse. But why? While most of us learned in childhood not to mix water and electricity, the reasons…
Household Electric Car Chargers: What You Need To Know
As you may already know, Portland is a major market for electric vehicles. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, for every 1,000 households in Portland, there are 8.8 EVs. That’s more than any other metropolitan area in the nation….