Monthly Archives: July 2019

Exterior Lighting Design Guide in Southbury, CT; Landscape Pathway & Focus Lights & More

Exterior lighting has many practical uses in addition to helping your property look good. With an increase in safety, the home gets an instant facelift with lighting and enhances curb appeal. There are quite a few benefits to having the outdoor lights and with the initial cost, most find it well-worth the investment. Today, we at Sentry Electric would like to elaborate on a few advantages to exterior lighting for your home.

Outdoor Lighting Appeal

To boost your home’s appearance, outdoor lighting is an option that goes a long way. Lights help highlight the architectural features of your home and give it a good bit of appeal when the lights flip on in the dark. You can use multicolored outdoor lights to give a unique style and attract customer attention, especially if you are looking to enhance commercial property. Both homes and businesses can be enhanced with the right lighting.

Practical Outdoor Light Fixtures

Having adequate outdoor lighting is essential for homes that feature decks, patios, and other outdoor space. To relax outdoors and enjoy having company over, the evening and night are great times. A family gathering or party will not have to end just because the sun goes down with the help of enough outdoor lighting installed around the home.

Exterior Lighting Increases Safety & Security

Homes are frequently the target for burglaries and the more lights the more safety. By lighting up your home and making it harder to hide, the outdoor lights help deter potential burglars. Not only will it help decrease the likelihood of becoming a target, but it will also make movement outside a lot easier and help avoid accidental slips or falls. To help keep from tripping and to enhance the overall safety and security of your home, consider the exterior lighting.

Lighting Curb Appeal Ideas

Outdoor lighting can help accentuate the positives no matter what kind of home or business you have. To help boost your home’s value when it comes time to selling as well as it makes more attractive buyers, the exterior lighting is ideal. The extra safety precautions and the ability to use outdoor space longer as the potential buyers are a lot more appreciative. Also, the light can be used to highlight the home’s best features for selling points.

Landscaping Path & Focus Lighting

Lighting in the landscaping and along pathways can help brighten the yard. Special features, star-plants, and other spotlights in the landscaping can be highlighted with the right lighting design. Lighting designs in the landscapes does all the benefits mentioned above including increase safety, security, curb appeal, and enhanced aesthetics in the exterior of your home.

Lighting Consultations, Design, Installation & More in Greenwich, New Canaan, Darien, Norwalk, Westport, Southbury, Stamford, CT & Fairfield County, Connecticut

When you want to design the exterior of your home or business with a planned lighting system, the experts of Sentry Electric can ensure it is done correctly. Our certified experts are ready with high-quality equipment and products to design your exterior lighting. With the right installation, Sentry Electric electricians will help you get the perfect design ideal for your home and exterior along with ensuring efficient installation. Call us today to schedule your consultation.

Summer Electrical Home Improvement Projects in Westport, CT; Landscape Lighting Design & More

Summer is often the season for homeowners to engage in summer electrical home improvements. With so many options regarding installations, replacements, and repairs, we at Sentry Electric would like to take the opportunity to list the common summer electrical projects for your consideration.

Installation of Ceiling Fans

With plenty of advantages such as air circulation improvement, cooling targeted areas, and reducing the air conditioning system’s demands as well as the utility bill savings, ceiling fans are a popular addition to any home. They also assist in the winter on when in reverse as it blocks the warm air from rising. With so many styles, colors, and features, everyone can have a unique decorative feature that provides practical needs.

Installing Dimmer Switches

Instantly altering the atmosphere, the dimmer switches are a simple, but delightful application. From bright to dim, the room can have a relaxing or even romantic atmosphere, whereas brightening the room can increase energy or offer better lighting for reading and projects.

Install Deck & Porch Ceiling Fan & LED Lighting

Fans are also used in outdoor living spaces, helping cool off in the warm summers. Increase the comfort by avoiding the hot incandescent bulbs for lighting and replace them with a more energy-efficient LED bulb.

Entertainment System

Whether you enjoy optimal sound for your music, being right in the action for your favorite team, or want to immerse into the show or movie you are in the mood for, and entertainment center is a high commodity and never regrettable.

Landscape Lighting Design

During the summer, it is common to update the landscaping. Showcasing special architectural features, unique designs, star plants, and lounging areas with custom lighting designs as well as illuminating the pathways can give any landscape a face-lift and improve safety.

Living & Dining Room Lighting

When people first walk into an area, the lighting is usually among the first elements noticed. Enhance the style of any room with decorative light fixtures. Modernize the living and/or dining areas with an updated fixture or emphasize the space with a vintage lighting fixture.

Outdoor Kitchen Electrical Outlets

For the outdoor BBQs, get-togethers, and other parties are especially popular in the summer and the outdoor kitchen is a worthwhile investment. Having the proper electrical work done on dedicated circuits can easily accommodate the fridges, stoves, and other appliances and lighting in the dedicated space.

Recessed Lighting Installation

With recessed ceiling lighting installation, you can update the contemporary feel of any style. As a simple project, the recessed lighting can be an immediate solution for dark areas of the home.

Home Security Upgrades

Increase the security and protection of your home by installing home security system and motion detector lighting.

Standby Generator Installation

Investing in a standby generator can help you retain lights when the general power is lost during summer storms or other technical difficulties occur. The generator will be activated within seconds as the transfer switch will automatically disconnect your home from the grid whenever there is a power outage. With the generators powering off once the main power is restored, the generators are effectively powered by either the home’s natural gas or propane supply.

Electrical Fixture Installations, Repairs & More in Greenwich, New Canaan, Darien, Norwalk, Westport, Southbury, Stamford, CT & Fairfield County, Connecticut

For your electrical repairs, replacement, installation or maintenance services in your Stamford & Fairfield County home, call Sentry Electric today and let us serve you with quality electrical services.

Electrical Terms for Dummies in Norwalk, CT; Volts, Circuits, Breakers, GFCI & More

When you are using your homes electrical system you should have a good understanding about how it works. The best way to know it is working right and you are using it correctly is to make sure you know what the terms mean. There are many terms that might be used when talking about the electrical system that might make you feel unsure. The great thing is you don’t have to be a professional to have an understanding about what is being used and why. When you know what the terms mean you can use them when you call for a professional electrician. You can also learn more about the system that will help you know when there is a problem that might need your attention. Sentry Electric outlines some terms you need to know about when talking about your electrical system.

Volts

One of the terms that you will hear when people are talking about their electrical system is volts. If you have every traveled outside the US you will want to know more about the volts. One of the reasons is that the volts that are used here in the United States is different than other areas of the world. The volts are the number that is used to tell the force of the current that is running. The type of volts that are being used can require you to use a converter to allow you to use your charger and other electric items.

Electrical Circuits

The next term that you might hear is circuit. The circuit is a loop that is created to form the wiring that will create the electricity that is needed to give the appliances and fixtures what they need to function. The circuit might be the lights in the house or the washer and the dryer. There can be many circuits that are created that can be a part of your house. They are all started in the circuit box that has a breaker to allow the circuit to be broken if a problem exists.

Circuit Breaker

When it comes to the circuit you also will need to know about the breaker. The breaker is a part of the system and is there as a protection. The breaker is in each circuit and when there is a surge that could cause your appliances and fixtures to become damaged they will trip. When the breaker trips the circuit is cut and stopped and this will prevent the electricity from finishing of the loop. You may need to reset the breaker if it were to trip.

GFCI

There is a breaker that is there for the loop that is created but more than that there is a GFCI which is called the ground fault circuit interrupter. This is something that is often on the outlets that are in areas where moisture may be a problem. The GFCI is a button that can be tripped for that single outlet. You can reset it right at the outlet instead of going out to the circuit box.

Electrical Repairs & More in Greenwich, New Canaan, Darien, Norwalk, Westport, Southbury, Stamford, CT & Fairfield County, Connecticut

Sentry Electric has the ability to come out and inspect your electrical system. Call us today to meet with our experts.

Electrical Outlets Not Working in Darien, CT; How to Reset a Tripped Circuit Breaker & More

Troubleshooting dead electrical outlets in your home is one of the things that you should know how to do yourself.
Most homeowners assume the worst when an outlet goes dead. Luckily, the problem is usually something simple. Taking a few steps before you call for help can save money and you can probably fix the problem without the use of a tool.

Check to See if Other Electrical Outlets are Not Working

The first step is to see if other outlets are dead. Do this before you head out to the circuit breaker box by switching other lights on and off and testing nearby outlets for power. You should also unplug lamps and appliances from dead outlets to rule out the possibility that a short or overload from one of them is creating the problem. Use a piece of tape or stickers to mark off any dead outlets so you’ll know where they are when you turn the power off.

Reset a Tripped Circuit Breaker

Once you have unplugged all the devices from the dead outlets you will then check for tripped circuit breakers or blown fuses. These are located in the electrical panel that is located close to where the electrical wires enter your home. In most homes this is in the garage, the basement or a utility room. Open the metal door to reveal the fuses or circuit breakers and make sure you turn your computer off before you switch any circuit breakers on and off. You will know which breaker is tripped because it won’t be lined up with the rest of them. Turn it to the “on” position. Don’t be alarmed if the breaker “gives” a little instead of feeling solid. This is normal. You will then switch it to off to reset it. You should here a click. Next, you will push the handle firmly to “on”, so it’s lined up with the rest of them. If it pops back over to the tripped position, there may be a problem in the wiring or something that’s plugged into the circuit.

Can a Circuit Breaker Fail Without Tripping?

If you don’t see a tripped circuit breaker, firmly press every breaker to the “off’ position and then switch them all back on. If this doesn’t reset a tripped breaker without tripping again, there may be a potentially dangerous short circuit or ground fault condition. You will need to call an electrician to locate the problem.

What is a Blown Fuse in House?

If you overload a circuit, your system will cut off the electrical flow to prevent circuit damage or a fire. You will quickly be able to locate a blown fuse by looking for charring or a broken filament. You can fix the problem by simply unscrewing the blown fuse and replacing it with one of the same type and amperage.

Electrical Services in Greenwich, New Canaan, Darien, Norwalk, Westport, Southbury, Stamford, CT & Fairfield County, Connecticut

If you can’t easily troubleshoot a dead outlet and you discover that the problem needs the attention of the experts, you can call Sentry Electric for help. We will respond to your call quickly so you can avoid having more problems.