Vancouver Electrician - Blog Page for Superior West Electric
Enhancing Lighting in a Concrete High Rise Building
I live in a concrete high rise condominium building in the Greater Vancouver Area. What kind of options do i have to improve the lighting in my condo? I’d really like to install pot lights…. is it possible?
Pot lights are a recessed light fixtures and must be installed into something. In most cases they recess into an attic, deep joist space or into a dropped ceiling. Because you live in a concrete building with concrete ceiling, pot lights cannot be installed into the ceiling unless you install them into a bulkhead, lowered bathroom ceiling, or anywhere where the ceiling has been lowered and offers enough clearance for them to be installed. Here’s a few different lighting options you may consider:
1) Change your existing light fixtures. This is the easiest, fastest and most economical way to improve lighting. There are a lot of light fixtures available for a low price. Just be sure that if you are looking into energy savings you choose a light fixture that can use compact fluorescents.
2) Add wall mounted light fixtures, track lights and task lighting. Wall mounted light fixtures are commonly found in the bathrooms above the vanity and in hallways. In most cases, in a building that uses switched outlets, wall mounted light fixtures can be hard wired to switched bedroom outlets for permanent lighting. Track lights help improve ambient lighting in an area and can be installed through long spaces by connecting the track pieces together. Track lights work well because they allow you to direct where the light will shine and can be used to showcase artwork. Task lighting and under cabinet lighting can be installed in the kitchen and where ever cabinetry is installed. We highly recommend to our customers whenever doing a kitchen or any renovation involving a lot of cabinetry work to have under cabinet/task lighting installed. It not only makes for great work space lighting but can also brings out the colors in a decorative back splash or stone counter top.
3) Trapeze Lighting is a newer contemporary way to enhance the lighting in an area. The lights are suspended on electrical cable suspended from the ceiling or walls. Lights can be positioned anywhere along the cable runs. Trapeze lighting is typically a low voltage lighting system.
4) Lower the ceiling to install pot lights. If you are set on installing pot lights within your condo this may be the only way to go. You can lower the ceiling by about 6 ” in most cases without significantly affecting the headroom. This will give you the clearance you need to install most small 4″ Pot lights. Just be sure to check the depth required for the pot light you will be using before setting the height for the drop ceiling.
Home rewiring & Knob and Tube removal
I’m thinking of having the old knob and tube wiring in my old heritage home replaced with new wiring? What will be included in this rewire and how much will it cost?
New Westminster, Coquitlam, Burnaby and Vancouver, to name a few, are just a few area’s which still have many older homes using knob and tube wiring. Typically these homes are known as a “Vancouver Special” and were built with 2 floors consisting of a main floor living area and unfinished basement. Typically we recommend our customers budget between $10,000.00 and $20,000.00 for a whole home rewire. The price will very depending on what features the customer would like to have in place, the size of the home and overall ease of installation (accessible areas). We highly recommend enhancing the receptacle and lighting layout whenever a home is rewired. Many people are not aware of current lighting enhancements available to them and should look at this as a great opportunity to add value and appeal to there home. Pot lights and under cabinet task lighting make a kitchen a great and functional living environment and are frequently added when a home is rewired. Pot lights in bathrooms are also very popular and are frequently installed in the shower area with a proper rated shower trim.
A few new features required for rewired homes in the Greater Vancouver Area and as required by the CEC are:
a) Tamper-Resistant receptacles which prevent children from placing small objects into the slots of electrical outlets.
b) Arc fault detection for receptacles in the bedrooms to help reduce the risk of a fire.
c) Three Way Switches in stairs and Hallways
d) Receptacles located not more than 12 feet apart
e) Improved Grounding and Bonding
e) And GFCI receptacles near the kitchen, bathroom and auxiliary sinks to minimize the possibility of electrocution
Overheating Pot Lights – Electrical FAQ
I have six pot lights in my living room in a home which I just purchased. After a few minutes of leaving the pot lights on a couple of them start to turn off for a few minutes and then back on again. Any ideas?
1) There is a thermal sensor inside the pot light that turns the light off should it get too hot. Check to ensure you have the proper rated lamps installed and are not exceeding the power rating of the pot light.
2) It’s possible you have the wrong type of pot light installed. IC pot lights should be installed where ever insulation is used. It may be that you have non-IC pot lights installed blanketed by insulation and the sensor is doing its job and preventing a possible fire by turning the light off, letting the light cool down, and then turning back on.
Still having problems? Feel free to contact us via the web or contact us directly via phone to have this problem resolved.
Aluminum Wiring – Vancouver Electrical FAQ
My home has aluminum wiring in it. I’ve been told by the home inspector it’s a problem. What can I do to fix it?
Aluminum wiring is still used by electricians for larger cables to help keep the cost down when connecting to large power loads and distribution equipment. It is easier to damage and does require more care when terminating. The best thing you can do is bring in an electrician ensure the terminations are safe and corrected where necessary. Generally, they will use short pieces of copper to bridge the aluminum wire to the switches and receptacles. In most cases the adjustment takes about 1 day to complete for a small home or condo.
Whenever aluminum wire is used be sure to use aluminum rated wire nuts and anti-oxidizing compound on all terminations.
Important! Many receptacles and switches are rated for copper only and should not be connected directly to aluminum. Connecting a standard copper only receptacle or switch to aluminum wiring poses a serious fire risk!
3 Phase Service – Vancouver Electrician FAQ
I have a motor rated at 220V single phase I’m using at home in my workshop can I use it in my commercial workshop that has a 120/208V three phase service without damaging the motor?
Yes. 208V is a standard three phase voltage. The 220V rating of the motor allows it to be used in both a 240V single phase system as well as 208V system. You will not have quite as much power as you would when you were using it at home which provided you with a 120V/240V service but will likely not notice the difference. By the way 208V will actually give you a measured voltage probably closer to 210V-215V.
