Electical Contractor

The June 29, 2012, derecho storm, which traveled from the Midwest to the Mid-Atlantic, knocked out power to almost 3.5 million customers, some for up to a week. Many people scurried out to purchase generators.

I’m sure you’ve heard that you need the right tool for the job, but have you ever considered that you might need the right tool for you? Nothing affects how easily a job can be done as much as having the correct tools and knowing how to use them properly.

With lighting and communications technology evolving rapidly, lighting manufacturers are under pressure to determine how to best reach out to and train busy electrical contractors (ECs) on new and existing products.

While most users in an enterprise network want mobile devices connected over Wi-Fi or cellular wireless networks, a large number of users still have cable connections. Generally, these users require high bandwidth and processing speeds and/or secure connections.

Once the owner has secured funding for an energy services project, the next step is installation design.

From talking to electrical contractors lately, I know it’s still tough to get profitable work in the current economy. However, I also find most of the contractors who have prepared well for such a poor economic situation are maintaining a substantial workload.

According to the Energy Star program, lighting accounts for nearly 20 percent of the average U.S. home’s electricity use and close to 35 percent of the total commercial building electricity use.

Lighting continues to be a huge chunk of a building’s annual energy costs—between 20 and 40 percent. While the need for light will never go away, analyzing its costs through energy modeling can help secure the installation of more efficient technologies.

Last month, I discussed the issues of industry standards for fiber optic and copper cabling. Manufacturers write standards so they can build products that are compatible with products from other manufacturers, since multiple sources are mandatory in today’s marketplace.