Seattle Commercial & Industrial Electrical Contractor
Login
4826 B Street NW Suite 101 Auburn, WA 98001
Mon-Fri: 7AM- 4PM
(253) 859-2000

Category: <span>Uncategorized</span>

Kirby ElectricBlogUncategorized
04 Jan 2016
0 Comments By dev@bigfin.com Electric News, Uncategorized

Ways You Could be Losing Energy in the Winter Time


When winter arrives, the chilled weather causes people to stay inside to keep warm and cozy. Unfortunately, this causes a lot of folks to use a ton of energy. Whether it means using a furnace increasing electricity use, bills tend to be higher in the winter because of this. On top of holiday spending with purchasing gifts, you don’t need extra bills to dampen your seasonal spirits! Discover how you may be losing energy in the winter and how to avoid costly energy bills.

  1. Close your Windows and Doors

According to The Energy Information Administration, approximately one-third of heat loss in homes occurs from just your windows and doors alone. With that being said, one of the best ways to prevent heat loss is to simply add blinds or draperies to help trap the heat to establish a thermal barrier. It is also critical to note that indoor cooling won’t occur when blinds or draperies are open during the early day time. This actually brings direct solar gain to your home to eliminate the cooling.

  1. Thermostat Set Too High

A common mistake everyone may go through in their homes is setting their thermostat high for various reasons such as: trying to make the house warmer the fastest way possible, or to maintain the heat throughout the day. Energy experts have acknowledged that households during a 24 hour period can save around 3 percent on energy bills for every lower degree you set on the thermostat. Also, do you have a digital programmable thermostat? You can actually adjust when you want your thermostat to turn on and off any time of the day. One suggestion is to have your thermostat placed at a moderate temperature of 68 degrees as you are up and about. Then, set it lower while you are out of the house or sleeping. This way, you can save around 5% to 15% a year on your heating bill!

  1. Inefficient Lighting

Are you using LED/fluorescent bulbs in your household? It may be time to do so if you haven’t considered them for the winter! Adding these bulbs could essentially save you $75 per year. Also, another reason to consider LED holiday lights is because older lights use approximately 10 times the energy of newer lights. Plus, LED lights are safer because of the fact they are cool burning.

  1. Electronic Tips

Staying at home means lounging around, which will probably cause you to watch TV and use all sorts of electronic devices. Here are a few ideas to keep in mind on how electronics are contributing to energy usage in your home:

  1. Standby mode on electronics: Even if you turn off plugged in devices and set to standby mode, this is still using energy to power little things such as displaying the time.
  2. Try considering purchasing a laptop over a desktop computer; laptops initially use less energy and don’t need to be permanently plugged in.
  3. Make sure to unplug fully charged electronics or batteries. Even at 100%, some chargers will continue to charge even when the device is not plugged in.

Want more tips? Check out energy.gov for more incentives on how to save up on your energy bill this winter.

About Kirby Electric 

Kirby Electric, Inc. is a premier electrical contractor specializing in commercial and industrial electrical construction. Our dedicated and knowledgeable team of electricians, low voltage technicians and office staff are led by senior leadership whose core philosophy is consistently delivering exceptional service. Kirby Electric offers a wide array of services to meet the needs of our customers and ensure a smooth operation of their facilities. Learn more about our services by calling 253-859-2000.

Image 1: Image courtesy of lkpro at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Image 2: Image courtesy of foto76 at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Images 3: Image courtesy of Ventrilock at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Image 4: Image courtesy of adamr at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

23 Nov 2015
0 Comments By dev@bigfin.com Commercial Lighting, Industrial Lighting, Uncategorized

How Does Lighting Affect Your Mood?

Lighting has an effect on our mood and on the intensity of our emotions. Studies have shown that the brighter the lighting, the more intense a person’s emotions become. This is why our moods tend to change with the seasons, because of the difference in amount of light received throughout different parts of the year.

Bright Light

When it is sunny outside, we tend to be more optimistic, energetic, and helpful and our well being is higher. Bright lighting also causes an increase in feelings of warmth, even if the temperature in the room is not increased. People feel warmer when there is brighter lighting because the intensity of their emotions is being increased as well. For example, a person placed under brighter lighting will crave spicier sauce, see a person as more attractive and think of positive words as more positive and negative words as more negative. If that same person were placed under darker lighting, they most likely would crave sauce that was less spicy, and wouldn’t see a person as attractive as they did in brighter lighting.

Lack of Light

Lack of light and poor artificial lighting can cause us to have lack of energy and can trigger symptoms of depression.  The brain chemical serotonin which is responsible for maintaining mood balance, decreases on dark days and increases on brighter days. This explains why we are likely to experience seasonal depression during wintertime and why our level of energy is decreased in locations where there is less lighting. Dim lighting can also result in drowsiness and lack of focus, which is why most work places have brighter lighting, to improve employee motivation.

Light does have an effect on a person’s mood. Simple adjustments in lighting both in homes and offices can make a difference in the way a person thinks and feels. If you are thinking about your office and would like to change up the lighting, give Kirby Electric a call and see what kind of changes to your lighting system you can make!

About Kirby Electric 

Kirby Electric, Inc. is a premier electrical contractor specializing in commercial and industrial electrical construction. Our dedicated and knowledgeable team of electricians, low voltage technicians and office staff are led by senior leadership whose core philosophy is consistently delivering exceptional service. Kirby Electric offers a wide array of services to meet the needs of our customers and ensure a smooth operation of their facilities. Learn more about our services by calling 253-859-2000.

09 Jan 2015
0 Comments By dev@bigfin.com Uncategorized , ,

5 Power Outage Preparedness Tips

Pouring glass of bottled water
Bottled water can be a safe alternative to tap during power outages

Even one localized power outage can make work and home life uncomfortable and even unsafe. Prepare with these tips from the CDC to ensure safety during the next Washington power outage.

1. Stay Warm

Avoid hypothermia with blankets and layered clothes like jackets, shirts, and sweaters. Top outfits off with a hat (close-fitting stocking caps can be especially insulating against cold). Gloves, scarves, and legwarmers can also aid in maintaining body heat. Exercise is another great way to naturally warm up. If a full workout isn’t possible, even walking around indoors can help.

2. Keep Food Cold

Food in the refrigerator and freezer can be safely eaten if the outage lasts under four hours, the CDC advises. If outages are longer, avoid eating anything spoiled by putting a food thermometer in dishes or fixings before you use them, tossing anything that registers warmer than 40 degrees Fahrenheit.

3. Avoid Tap Water

Treated, boiled, or bottled water can be safer than tap if an electricity outage affects the purification process. Tip: bottled water is a great emergency kit component, but don’t forget to check the expiration dates periodically and replace expired bottles as needed.

4. Be Prepared for Power Lines

Do you know what to do if a power line lands on your car while you’re inside? Exit the car only if it is on fire, the CDC cautions. To safely exit, jump out so you are in mid-air before reaching the ground, then shuffle 50 or more feet from the car, keeping both feet in contact with the ground as much as possible.

 5. Prevent Carbon Monoxide Poisoning

Even in dire circumstances, charcoal grills and camp stoves should not be ignited inside any type of enclosed area or building. When the power is out, gas stovetops and ovens become dangerous, so you’ll need to seek substitute heating and cooking methods. The CDC also recommends mounting a battery-powered carbon monoxide detector that will alert you to danger even if electricity fails.

Stay safe when using generators by never running a generator indoors. Keep your generator as far outside of your home as possible so carbon monoxide stays out of the house and garage.

How can your home or business stay safer during winter storms and electrical outages? Kirby Electric installs systems for carbon monoxide monitoring so you can concentrate on getting through power outages with less stress. Request a quote to learn more about carbon monoxide monitoring and safety systems for your home or workplace.

About Kirby Electric

Kirby Electric is a premier Seattle electrical contractor specializing in commercial and industrial electrical contracting. As your local commercial electrician, we can help with any electrical needs when it comes to upgrading older buildings, including equipment hook ups, rewiring or relocating panels, and lighting upgrades. We also work with electrical companies like Puget Sound Energy, Tacoma Public Utilities, Lakeview Power and others that will provide a rebate for upgrading to a more efficient lighting upon approval of the project. Contact us today to learn more about our services or to get a quote.

11 Dec 2014
0 Comments By dev@bigfin.com Electric News, Low-voltage, Uncategorized , , , ,

New Home Safety Monitoring Light Bulb

safety monitoring
A new Kickstarter Campaign is receiving lots of publicity for its goal: to prevent home burglaries. Boston Business Journal reports on how the Kickstarter BeON Home  hopes to deter criminals—using a light bulb that re-creates lighting habits when residents are away from home, even going so far as to turn on lights when the doorbell sounds.

The new bulb has additional intelligent attributes that users can trigger from an app:

  • Defense against power outages that eliminates returning to a dark house
  • Emergency lighting prompted by smoke detectors
  • Natural fading and dimming that makes indoor light more comfortable

Specs are simple but smart. BeON bulbs rely on 800 lumens of LED, Bluetooth technology, a microphone, processor, and rechargeable battery. Lights transfer information with one another, so every bulb in the building can be smarter and more efficient at all times.

What Could a Security Bulb Do For Businesses?

BeON Home plans to ship their intelligent bulbs out in summer 2015. There’s no information yet on whether the bulb could spawn an idea for commercial light safety, but it could be a promising way to reduce shrink and prevent loss solely or paired with traditional monitoring systems.

Keep Your Business Safe Now

Smart bulbs may not have reached the commercial and industrial markets, but you still have the ability to keep your company’s building safe now. Kirby Fire/Security makes it easier to manage all your monitoring services. Fire alarm design and installation, 24-hour UL monitoring, and CCTV are some of the ways we enhance commercial buildings.

A Strong Case for Effective Safety Monitoring

Commercial safety monitoring is important to a business’ bottom line. Not only does loss prevention affect business plans and budgeting, but damage from a disaster like a fire could potentially raise legal issues if necessary standards aren’t met.

Fire alarm installation is a simple but highly effective way to increase the safety of employees and protect property and products. If you’re unsure whether your business needs fire alarm monitoring, look at the following 2009-2011 statistics from the U.S. Fire Administration:

  • “An estimated 86,500 nonresidential building fires were reported to United States fire departments each year and caused an estimated 85 deaths, 1,325 injuries, and  $2.6 billion in property losses per year.”
  • “Smoke alarms were not present in  52 percent of the larger, nonconfined fires in occupied nonresidential buildings.”
  • “Outside and special properties accounted for the most nonresidential building fires ( 21 percent), while storage buildings accounted for the most nonresidential building fire deaths ( 29 percent).”

Security monitoring is another important way to safeguard against burglary attacks. In burglary cases, the loss isn’t always just from product or equipment theft, but also from damaged sustained to property during break in. Replacing windows and doors adds up to another expense.

The City of Woodinville, WA points out that “Businesses are four times as apt to be burglarized as homes, and small businesses are targets in over half of the commercial burglaries committed.” Among other safety steps, the City recommends not only installing an alarm, but posting visible notices stating an alarm system is in use.

Do you know which monitoring systems your business needs to prevent loss? See the   tools we use to keep businesses protected.

About Kirby Electric

Kirby Electric is a premier  Seattle electrical contractor specializing in commercial and industrial electrical contracting. As your local commercial electrician, we can help with any electrical needs when it comes to upgrading older buildings, including equipment hook ups, rewiring or relocating panels, and lighting upgrades. We also work with electrical companies like Puget Sound Energy, Tacoma Public Utilities, Lakeview Power and others that will provide a rebate for upgrading to a more efficient lighting upon approval of the project. Contact us today to learn more about our services or to  get a quote.