Electrical Industry Articles and Stories

Yeah, I’m sure you know the saying — “When all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.” And I’d imagine you probably chuckled, just a little anyway. A friend of mine gave his small boy a hammer for his birthday. And the kid beat on everything, all day long, when Tommy was at work… including the gas meter in the yard.

I'm working on upgrading the electrical outlets around the outside of our house. In addition to adding more receptacles around the perimeter, I'm finally getting around to "electrifying" the shed and lean-to in the backyard.

Rooftop support systems are an integral part of conduit, piping, and mechanical installations that often go underappreciated. These unsung heroes of the rooftop world provide a stable and secure foundation for equipment, ensuring that everything from HVAC units to solar panels stays in place, regardless of weather conditions or external forces.

During the Industrial Revolution, which started in the 18th century, the origins of automation emerged, leading to significant technological change. This era introduced the use of mechanized equipment, such as the steam engine and the spinning jenny, revolutionizing the manufacturing process by reducing the reliance on manual labor. These advancements laid the foundation for what we now know as automation.

Recently, my wife and I had the “pleasure” of visiting a relatively new hospital complex. For almost a year, I watched the 5-story edifice being built as I traveled up and down Highway 49 in Northwest Arkansas.

Rooftop solar panels, once a bit of an oddity, are becoming a common addition to homes across the United States. In 2020, the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s residential energy consumption survey found that almost 4% of U.S. single-family homes were using panels to generate electricity and the market has continued to grow since then, with capacity climbing by 34% in 2021 and an additional 40% in 2022.