Electrical Industry Articles and Stories

Lighting the great outdoors requires a bit more thought now than it did a couple decades ago. The goal used to be simply packing as many lumens as possible into a landscape fixture. That was the entire point. Photocell sensors might have been used to ensure lights didn’t stay on during daylight hours, but keeping outdoor space fully illuminated – even when no humans were around – was seen as a key safety measure.

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.

The concept of 3D printing, also known as additive manufacturing, initially surfaced in the 1980s, thanks largely to the innovative work of engineer Chuck Hull. Hull invented a process called 'stereolithography', or SLA, a method that allowed for the creation of 3D models layer by layer, literally bringing ideas to life. It was a revolutionary breakthrough that sparked the beginning of the 3D printing era.

Up until three years ago, I lived with a couple small boxes of spare fuses that sat on top of the water heater in the basement, ready to be drawn from should the rare combination of, say, the toaster and microwave operating at the same time happen to shut down power to the kitchen.

In a world where electrical efficiency and streamlined design are of primary concern, the mini power center is quickly becoming a staple piece of equipment for electricians, general contractors, and electrical industry experts. It's small, it's powerful, and it's reshaping the way we manage electricity, on the jobsite and in the facilities we serve.

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.