Categories Lighting

14 Lighting Upgrades That Brighten Small, Dark Rooms

lighting upgrades

Studies have shown we respond well to light. Dark rooms are best for sleeping, but during waking hours, light can literally brighten our moods. Lighting upgrades don’t necessarily need to be electrical. You can uplift the mood of a small, dark room in several ways.

Mood-Uplifting Electrical Lighting Upgrades

When you ask someone – anyone – what’s great about the winter holidays they almost always say “the lights!” We express our joy by adding lights in December, but why not create happiness year-round?

Here are 14 lighting upgrades to brighten spaces, especially small, dark rooms:

  1. Burst chandeliers – They are called “burst” or “dandelion” designs and are dramatic focal points for any room.
  2. Desk lamps – Explore the décor options of these small, multifunctional lamps. Desk lamps don’t have to be limited to lighting desks or tables…
  3. Floor lamps – You can also buy compact floor-lamp tables that offer surface space in small settings.
  4. Flush chandeliers – These have the attraction of chandelier light fixtures but hug the ceiling for more headroom.
  5. Flush-mount ceiling lights – A dark closet was conformed to a cinematic event with 6 of these light fixtures.
  6. Glass lamps – These open themselves and a room to take advantage of space.
  7. Long-neck lamps – These are truly “uplifting” because they take lighting higher than traditional table lamps.
  8. Pendants – There are unlimited designs and features but keep them in sync with room size and headroom.
  9. Recessed lights – Recessed lighting is an old standby but always effective.
  10. String lights – They aren’t tacky or childish; they’re great. Would you like a flameless fire pit? What about a lightweight, creative way to divide a room? String lights are the way to go!
  11. Table lamps – Industrial, rustic, retro, or linear…Table lamps add form and function to every room.
  12. Under-cabinet lights – Highlight a small bar or refreshment area or even better, increase utility lighting in kitchens and hobby rooms.
  13. USB lamps – Small homes can have functional charging stations hidden in table lamps and end tables themselves.
  14. Wall sconces – Limited wall space is no problem with attractive sconces.

Interior Design Hacks to Brighten Rooms

There are many reasons to work with your local electrician for complex electrical installations or upgrades. Safety first, but you can also void warranties and risk property damage with DIY (do-it-yourself electrical lighting upgrades.

If you want to add light and action to small, dark spaces, try these tips:

  • Add white-based multicolored rugs
  • Consider 2700K LED bulbs
  • Eliminate dark lampshades
  • Get rid of heavy curtains
  • Include bright artwork
  • Incorporate metallic furnishings
  • Keep windows sparkling clean
  • More mirrors, mirrors on the walls
  • Paint flooring white
  • Refloor with light woods
  • Use high-gloss paint for ceilings
  • Use shades of white room designs

TIO Electric Lighting Upgrades for Phoenix, Tucson, AZ

Arizona homeowners literally take ownership of their homes’ upkeep. We do what we can to enhance property values and maintain a better quality of living. The smartest homeowners know when to seek professional assistance.

If you request any kind of home service in Maricopa County, you expect knowledgeable, professional guidance. You deserve honest and accurate information. That’s why Turn It On Electric is the Phoenix area’s premier electric service company.

We’ll provide industry-best electrical solutions for your home repairs or renovations. We take ownership of our work. If you have questions about lighting upgrades for your home or office, contact TIO Electric.

Categories Lighting, Outdoor, Residential

Pool Lighting Ideas to Transform Your Outdoor Space

pool lighting

Your swimming pool lighting can be so much more than a white light at the deep end! Phoenix is our country’s leader in backyard swimming pools. We are also the flagship for pool lighting creativity! Here are lighting ideas that will enhance the beauty and pleasure of swimming at home.

5 Landscaping and Pool Lighting Upgrades

Did you know…?

When it comes to lighting pools and pool areas this year, less is not more. Some pool owners are abandoning the sole underwater light under the diving board for exciting illumination. You can install rows of lights along the sides and/or both ends of the pool, for example.

The types of pool lighting options are:

  • Fiber optic – Safer because they attached to a “dry” power box, but lighting effects may be lessened
  • Halogen – For a very large pool, halogens are initially low-cost but need frequent changes and can get hot
  • LED – Brightly travel long distances underwater for the most energy-efficient lighting option
  • Solar – Not a permanent pool lighting option, but a nice add-on

Swimming pool lights can be categorized as:

  1. Feature lighting – We install halogen or LEDs to dramatically highlight one area. Your slide, a waterfall, or what about a landscaping arrangement of rocks and plants? Feature lighting “spotlights” focal points and areas of interest.
  2. Floodlighting – We recommend flood lights to illuminate even larger areas of your swimming pool area. LEDs conserve energy, last longer than halogen, and replacement bulbs are easy to find. Halogen flood light bulbs are cheaper but won’t last as long as LED.
  3. Flush-mounted lighting – Flush-mounted lights are the most popular option for pool wall lights. These LED or halogen “seamless” lights are a bit more complicated to install but they’re worth it. The illumination is amazing.
  4. Pool garden lighting – Garden lights won’t illuminate your pool area but emphasize the beauty of nearby nature. They can be subtle or pop with look-at-me! drama.
  5. Surface-mounted lighting – LED or halogen surface-mounted underwater lights are attached to the interior surface of the pool’s edge. The downside is, that they break easily because kids tend to climb on them to get out of the pool. That’s why we often recommend flush-mounted lighting.

Pool lighting upgrades will increase your property value, but even if you don’t plan to sell, the enjoyment factor makes them a great home improvement choice. However, you can add floating LED lights that are battery-powered. These are fun and safe alternatives to a pool lighting investment.

Turn It On Electric: Pool Lighting Electricians in Phoenix

Working with electricity around water is never something any homeowner should attempt. All pool lighting options must be installed by a licensed, trained electrician. A pool lighting project in Phoenix is fun and affordable. Let’s explore your options! Contact Turn It On Electric.

Categories Lighting

Landscape Lights: What Is Uplighting?

landscape lights

As you consider landscape lighting options, you’ll love the choices. But you might be puzzled by similarities in various types of landscape lights. For example, flood lighting is one thing. Spotlights are not the same as flood lights. Uplighting is something else entirely. What’s the difference?

Uplighting, Spotlighting, Floodlighting, and Landscape Lights

Uplighting, Spotlighting, and floodlighting are 3 categories of landscape lights. All three lighting options accomplish different objectives.

  • Floodlights – These are usually shorter beams. Use floodlights when you want to illuminate a wide area.
  • Spotlights – These landscape lights can travel longer distances. They’re used to highlight sky from the ground in advertising and ground from the sky when searching for people on the run, for example. Spotlight beams are narrower than floodlights.
  • Uplights – Spotlights and floodlights can be mounted at different levels, but uplights are always mounted on the ground. The beam is shorter and narrow. This concentrated landscape lighting makes it easier to control exactly where and what you want to illuminate.

Ways to Use Uplighting in Phoenix Landscaping

Most property owners know that uplighting will emphasize – highlight – a portion of your home or yard. It’s also a security feature. What homeowners don’t know is uplighting creates shadows. And shadows add subtle, attractive drama to your landscaping.

In addition to highlighting landscaping or creating dramatic shadows, uplighting can be used for:

  • Backlighting – This is a way to create a silhouette. As an example, one landscaper says using uplighting to backlight begins with an interesting tree, shrubs, or a fountain. Rather than positioning the uplight in front of you, install it behind the object. “There are endless options for silhouette garden lights,” she says.
  • Wallwashing – This is the effect created when spacing several uplights in a way that emphasizes the texture of exterior walls. This is becoming extremely popular because modern exterior materials are more versatile and exciting. Draw attention to your home’s limestone, poured-in-place, or textured concrete outside walls… One Arizona architectural structure has a rammed earth exterior.

Types of Uplighting

For a special event, temporary uplighting can be strategically placed. Yes, it’s a bit tricky and yes, the light fixtures have a tendency to fall over if not positioned correctly. You can rent special-event uplights for landscape lighting.

The overall best investment is wired landscape lighting for your home using LED bulbs. LED uplighting is best for outdoors because they burn cooler and last longer. Because they generate less heat, they use less power. If you’re planning an event, you can change the colors, too.

Phoenix, Tucson-Area Landscape Lights Installation

Landscape lights are a fun, elegant way to provide additional security and beauty to your outdoor space. Turn It On Electric has specialized in landscape lighting solutions for Arizona for over 10 years. We’re here for you now and we’ll be here when you need us. To learn more about landscape lighting in The Valley, contact TIO Electric.


Categories Electrical Wiring, Residential

Understanding Baseboard Outlets

baseboard outlets

We need and appreciate electricity. It offers us a superior quality of life, safety, and security. It provides “illuminating” lights and insights.

We looked up and saw too many overhead wires above our homes. Then we began looking around and saw too many electrical wires and cords inside our houses. Underground wiring for improved landscaping is a priority in many housing communities. And now, baseboard outlets are trending inside those homes.

Baseboard Outlets: Out of Sight, Out of Mind

Do you know why so many room layouts are appealing in decorating and home improvement magazines? One reason is that you don’t see a lot of electrical cords running from lamps and appliances to wall outlets.

The illusion is real. One interior décor pro says she not only Photoshops® electrical cords but also eliminates the wall outlets in advertising images. Strategically placed cookbooks and bottles of oil are often used. But if professional architectural photographers cannot hide the outlets, Photoshop can remove outlet covers.

Baseboard outlets are one way to eliminate “cord clutter.” And you don’t need to be a minimalist to appreciate that advantage. “When I see tangled cords around the office power strip or worse – in my living room – I think it tangles my mind, too,” said one Phoenix homeowner. “It’s just disorganized.”

Houzz says baseboard outlets simply look more refined. You get a cleaner wall appearance.

Kitchen Outlets Can Be Creatively, Strategically Located

Wireless appliances may be in our future but for now, we’re seeking creative ways to manage electrical efficiency and appearance. Kitchen designers in particular are beginning to research eliminating or at least disguising visible electric outlets. Because most small appliance cords are no longer than 24 inches, this can be trickier than you think.

In addition to baseboard outlets, you can install:

  • Appliance garage – This is a kitchen cupboard created especially for coffeemakers, toasters, food processors, etc. Your local Phoenix electrician will know code requirements for the safe placement of plug-ins.
  • Architectural art – If you can’t beat ’em, decorate ’em. If you want a professional artist to create an outlet-hiding wall painting, it’s a very popular trend. (This may work for one area of the kitchen but incorporating electrical outlet art into every wall is overkill.)
  • Backsplashes – Some new-home kitchen backsplashes are designed to hide electrical outlets. The outlet covers themselves blend into the backsplash design. You can even install Legrand adorn® pop-up outlets that make your outlets (almost) disappear.
  • Underneath – This is another way to hide outlets. Locating them under the cabinet or underneath countertops is a great idea if you store unused appliances out of sight. Your kitchen counters will have a clean, minimalist appearance that is eye-pleasing.

Electrical Design for Your Home

All electrical reconfigurations require the expertise of a licensed electrician. In Central Arizona, Turn It On Electric professionals are known for their technology training. We also understand the need to customize electrical solutions for per-room form and function.

We will work with you or your architect to design safe, utilitarian, attractive electrical solutions for your home. Let’s plan your baseboard outlets! Contact TIO Electric.
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Categories Residential

Does Whole-house Surge Protection Really Work?

whole-house surge protection

If you’re depending on power strips to save your office electronics from power surges, you may be in for a shock. Literally. Many surge protectors are too limited to safeguard electronics and appliances against powerful voltage surges. After many years of use, power strips can lose their protection so some power strips are nothing more than extension cords. A whole-house surge protection device (SPD) is the safest way to protect your home and expensive electronics.

What To Know About Whole-House Surge Protection

In order to understand power surges, think about your home’s water pressure. The water flowing through your plumbing system travels steadily at a serviceable speed. We seldom experience dramatic water surges.

Let’s say your washer is filling, and you notice a slight decrease in water flowing from the kitchen tap. When the washer stops filling, the water flow gently returns to normal.

But what if instead of a slight decrease in pressure, your water shut off completely? Then when you regain pressure, instead of a slight increase, your water gushes – surges – from the faucet at super-high pressure!

That’s what happens during an electrical power surge.

Perhaps one room’s lights briefly dim when something large, like an air conditioning unit powers on. That is a problem, but it’s nothing like what happens when your neighborhood grid experiences an electrical power surge. 

Home power surges can be caused by:

  • Appliances – On a busy Saturday morning, you may be running the washer-dryer, dishwasher, and cooking pancakes on an electric griddle. If your home doesn’t have the proper wiring, something as small as turning on a hair dryer can trip your breaker.
  • Demand – When the entire neighborhood is overusing at the same time, power surges can result. This is why many service providers increase costs during peak usage.
  • Power lines – When power lines are damaged, there can be an electrical surge to one or more homes.
  • Wiring – If you suspect your wiring has issues, it probably does. An electrical inspection can save money (and lives).

Does whole-house surge protection really work? Short answer: Yes.

Small power fluctuations may go unnoticed but can end electronics’ lifespans too soon. But a power surge can destroy microwaves, refrigerators, computerized stoves, computers, and more in seconds.

A whole-house SPD is a good investment. It can increase your property value. It can save expensive appliances. The peace of mind they provide is truly priceless.

How Much Electrical Protection Do You Need?

A whole-house SPD can be singular, multi-level, or installed to work with another SPD. Plug-in surge protectors may not work alone but they offer increased safety when paired with a whole-house SPD. In addition to one whole-house surge protection installation, many homeowners opt for additional phone/cable line protection.

To protect against powerful exterior surges as well as in-house appliance overload surges, consider a whole-house SPD that can provide:

  • Indicator light so you know when it’s stopped working
  • Point-of-use protection at all wall outlets
  • Protection installation at the main panel
  • Surge detector/audible alarm
  • Up to 40,000-amp power surge protection

A whole-house surge protection system requires good grounding. Your Central Arizona electrician will confirm your home’s grounding system safety before installation.

Questions To Ask About Whole-house Surge Protection

One frequently asked question is, “Will my homeowner’s insurance cover the losses due to electrical power surges?” Most homeowners insurance will cover natural and man-made disasters that cause power surge damages. But when it comes to technology and electrical components, the details can get fuzzy. Check with your insurance professional.

Other questions to ask your electrician about whole-house surge protection include:

  • Can it protect all incoming electrical lines?
  • Does it safely restrict and limit voltage?
  • What happens if/when there is a power surge?
  • Will it meet Underwriters Laboratories (UL) standards?

Protect Your Home Safely, Effectively

Simply put, whole-house surge protection devices can protect your home and electronics from high-voltage damage. You should never DIY (do-it-yourself) any electrical project. Installing whole-house SPDs is especially high-risk, so be sure to discuss it with your electrician beforehand.

It’s always a good idea to research whole-house surge protectors but be cautious. Some of the “best of…” internet sites are paid to rate products highly.

Turn It On Electric whole-house SPD pricing is uncomplicated and affordable. With higher prices driving today’s economy, you’ll be surprised at this low-cost protection for your Central Arizona home or office. To learn more, contact TIO today.