Let's give a warm Drogen Electric Supply welcome to our newest staff member...

Hello! I’m Handy Andy…your home contracting professional, and I’ve been asked by the folks at Drogen Electric Supply to share some helpful tips and techniques for making your home repairs and upgrades easy! Not only will I show you new products, I’ll also give you installation ideas to help you save time and money. From repairing lamps to replacing switches, I’ll be there to walk you through it….step by step.

Use my tips below to start saving money right away!

Remember...electricty is dangerous!    If you are not positive you can do these projects...contact a qualified electrician...or click here!

Tip #1 - Attic Fan Installation

Temperatures outside really soar in the summer. And so too do temperatures in your attic. When attics aren't properly ventilated, temperatures can reach 150 degrees in the attic. And in the winter, humidity builds in your attic. That's why it's so important for homeowners to replace their old attic fans. It's an easy do-it-yourself project, and it can also save you a lot of money on your electric bill.

Installation:

1. Before you do anything, turn off the circuit breaker.
2. Then go on your roof and decide whether to put your new fan in the same spot as your old one. The fan should be placed as close to the ridge as possible because heat rises. It should also be on the back side of your house so it can't be seen from the street.
3. If you're going to put it in the same spot as your old one, you need to pull out all the nails or staples out of the flashing. They'll be located on the bottom half of the fan. You'll use a flat bar for this job. Make sure to take your time. It's common for people to rush through this and they end up tearing shingles, causing leaks.
4. Once the nails or staples are removed, loosen the shingles all around the top of the fan, and then pull the old fan out.
5. If you're putting the fan in a different location, you need to cut out a hole. To do that, you'll need to mark your spot from the attic... so your hole is in between the rafters.
6. Drive a hole through the roof so when you get on the roof, you'll know where to cut your hole.
7. Then, using a reciprocating saw, cut a 14 ½ inch hole in the roof. Start your cut at the bottom and work up.
8. At some point, you'll have to disconnect the wiring from your old fan. You can either do it from the attic or from the roof when you pull out the old fan. If you are uncomfortable with the electrical components in anyway, call an electrician. They'll charge about $100 to wire your fan. If you want to do it yourself, in most cases it's fairly simple because you already have the wiring from your old fan. So in most cases, you'll just have to attach the box to the existing wires.
9. Make sure you color code the wires. You can either do the electrical from the roof or from the attic. Which one you choose will depend on your attic space and height.
10. Put sealant all around the flashing of the new attic fan, and slip the fan up under the shingles.
11. Screw the bottom half down and put sealant on top of the screws so they won't leak.
12. If you didn't do most of your wiring on the roof, now you need to go into the attic and attach the control box to the existing wires.
13. Then you attach the control box to the joist. And that's it !

Most new fans have thermostats that allows you to set the desired temperature so the fan will automatically turn on when it gets so hot in the attic. Some even have humidistats that will take the humidity out of your attic in the winter. Attic fans come in different sizes. Buy the size you need according to the square footage of your house. Also look at the warranty on the motor, some models will quit working after only a year and a half. Electric Attic Fans can cost up to $200. And you'll spend another $8 to $10 a month to operate it. But in the long run, it should pay for itself because it'll make your air conditioner work less, saving you up to 30% on your electric bill.

Tip #2 - Smoke Detectors

Safety during a fire is no joke. Eight out of ten fire deaths occur in the home, and an appalling number of households are badly unprepared to react when fire hits home. You literally cannot have too many smoke detectors in your house. Building codes require a smoke detector in every bedroom of a new house. Older homes should at least have one detector in every section of the house with bedrooms (like a hallway outside adjacent bedrooms, for instance). We’ll highlight a few safety features you can deploy around the house to ensure the safety of your loved ones.

FACTS 
(from the National Fire Protection Association, and First Alert)

Types of Smoke Detectors & Alarms

Battery operated & wall-mounted units have been around for awhile. They are reliable but they offer only a minimum of protection. Batteries can die if left unattended or untested. The best this unit will do for you is make a lot of noise once it’s triggered, but it does you no good if you are not at home to hear it go off.

Hard-wired dedicated alarms draw power from the electrical system in your house, so you’ll avoid the danger of failing batteries jeopardizing your safety. They usually have battery backups in case power fails during a fire (a home fire that starts in your breaker box or electrical system will knock out power to this type of hard-wired alarm system). New homes sometimes dedicate a single circuit solely to smoke detectors. Some systems link multiple detectors around the house to a single circuit, so if one detector in the house is triggered, all the alarms in the house go off. This still offers no protection if you’re away from home when the alarms go off.

Monitored Smoke Alarms – Home-based, non-monitored detectors can only sound an alarm within your home, so who will hear the alarm if you’re sleeping, or not at home? The best protection available today comes from security systems installed in the home and monitored by private security agencies. They can wire your home to protect against break-ins, and at the same they can monitor smoke alarms tied into that security system. Once a monitored smoke detector is triggered, it will set off alarms in your home so you’re alerted to danger. It will also immediately send a signal to a monitoring station. That station then immediately notifies the fire department. They do not call your house and request a password to verify the alarm as they do for some intrusion alarms. So while you’re helping your loved ones to safety, the fire department is dispatched without the need for you to stop the life-saving process to make a phone call.

 If you’re not at home when the detectors are triggered, you will still get help in saving your home because the monitored system calls for help while you’re away.

Three key points on smoke alarms – Placement, Testing & Maintenance.

Placement - Alarms should be placed on a ceiling at least 4 inches from the nearest wall, or high on a wall, 4 to 12 inches from the ceiling. This way you avoid “dead spaces” where turbulent, churning hot air may not make contact with a surface or a corner.

Keep alarms away from windows, doors & fireplaces because drafts could deter smoke away from the detector.

Since smoke always rises, place one of your smoke detectors at the highest point of a home or floor, such as a vaulted ceiling.

If your home has a number of ceiling levels (overhangs, interior stair landings etc.), you should place a smoke detector on every horizontal ceiling surface. Smoke rising from a fire in one corner of a room could get trapped under an overhang long before it churns enough to reach a higher point, so a detector placed only at the highest interior point will not detect that smoke in time to warn you of fire.

Testing – Push the test button on each battery-operated detector at least once a month. Use a broom handle if the detector is out of reach. A dying 9V battery will emit a low-power chirping signal. When you hear the chirp, change the battery. Batteries should be changed every time you change your clocks back or forth for daylight savings (in other words at least twice a year).

Maintenance – Manufacturers suggest cleaning detectors of cobwebs, dust and cooking grease to ensure proper performance and avoid “nuisance” alarms (the kind that are set off by conditions other than a legitimate fire or smoke situation).

Tip #3 - Installing a Ceiling Fan

Choosing the right ceiling fan isn’t exactly a breeze. There are hundreds of models on the market, enough to make your head spin, ranging in price from $20 to $2,000. Styles run the gamut as well, from old world opulence to futuristic chic, to kids themes, both boys and girls, to Key West cool.

And simply flipping a switch won’t do for some higher end models - wireless remotes are the latest rage. While cosmetics are important, you certainly want a fan that will fit your décor. You want to make absolutely sure your fan has the right dimensions. The key to a ceiling fan is to have a fan with a 14° pitch.

"Pitch" is the angle of the fan blade and many lower end models come with an 8° or 10° pitch, which really just slices the air and doesn’t provide much draft. 14° pitch is the optimum angle. Any more than that and you risk burning out the fan’s motor. You also want to be sure your fan is the proper diameter for the size of the room. Here are a few rules of thumb: a room 15"x15" or larger will require a 52" fan, a 42" fan is sufficient for a 12"x12", and you can even drop down to a 32-incher for an 8"x8".

Don’t let the idea of installing a ceiling fan intimidate you, it’s really not that tough. Perhaps the most important step in hanging a ceiling fan is making sure the electricity is turned off at the breaker box. Simply turn the light on and flip the breakers until you find the one that supplies power to that outlet box. Now it’s safe to dismantle the existing light fixture and disconnect the wiring. The only tools you should need for this job are a flathead and phillips head screwdriver (magnetized preferably), a pair of needle-nosed pliers and a good sturdy ladder - this job requires a six-footer. For this room we’ve chosen a moderately-priced, brand-name fan, 52" in diameter; you can find one at any home center. We have to do some pre-assembly from the ground. The first thing we have to do is strip the wires on the fan motor so that we can connect the ball/downrod assembly. This requires running the fan’s electrical wires through the rod. But be sure to slide the ceiling canopy on first. The hanger pin and an anchoring screw will lock the ball/downrod assembly to the motor. Now it’s time for the second most important job - installing the mounting bracket.

We’re going to go ahead and mount it to the existing light box that was here. You need to go up in the attic though and make sure it’s mounted to solid wood, if there’s a 2"x4" running between the rafters that it’s on. If not, you’re going to have to go ahead and add one or buy a metal kit to hold it up in place.

We were able to use the existing screws on the light box to install the mounting bracket. Now we hang the motor assembly and begin wiring it up. Since the power source for this fan and lighting assembly is the existing wall switch we will have to attach two supply wires from the motor, a black and a blue, to the hot wire in the ceiling. The black wire supplies the fan, the blue supplies the lights. White to white neutralizes it and the green is the ground wire. Be sure to secure all the wires with the plastic connectors that are provided to keep it all nice, neat and safe.

It’s a good idea to go back out into the garage, flip the breaker back on so that you have power, and test it at this point before you screw it all together just to make sure it works. Yeah, we’ve got power. So everything is hooked up fine so now we’re going to go ahead and dress it up and make it look good.

The rest of the installation is a breeze. Simply connect the blades to the holders and mount them to the fan motor. This is where a magnetized screwdriver comes in handy. Connecting the light fixture on this model is a cinch. After removing the cover plate, we wire it up because it’s manufactured with male/female adapters; there is no way to get them crossed and everything just snaps together. Three screws secure the light fixture to the motor assembly. Now we install the light cover. Snap on the extensions to the pull chains and screw in the bulbs. Well, we’ve already turned on the power so now is the test. Lights work. The blades still spin.

Not only will a good ceiling fan provide comfort and style, it should also help to lower your utility bills by allowing you to keep your thermostat higher in the warmer months and lower in the cooler months. In the summer you want the fan to run counter-clockwise so that it creates a downward draft. Reverse the motor and create an updraft during the wintertime, this will keep the warmer air circulating that normally hugs your ceiling