Found 123 results for the keyword(s) ‘Electrical’

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  Why do my lights flicker when appliances turn on.

  Theoretically, room lights should never be on the same circuits as any large appliances.Why? Because if the appliance, be it a refrigerator, a large TV or a hot electric fry pan, blows a fuse, you don't want to be thrown in the dark.When these are on the same circuits, on the same fuse or circui...
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  Block Heaters: knowing if they are on and making them energy efficient.

  We all invent things in our heads: "I which I had a gadget that would?." Then every once in a while we discover that someone has invented it.I live in Montreal. Winter is cold in Montreal and we are familiar with outdoor electrical outlets all over to keep our cars running. I always wanted an...
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  Solar powered garden lights.

  Making electricity directly from light has become a common practice. We have small calculators that have no batteries and only require a lamp near-by. We have remote ocean beacons that function non-stop without fuel. These do have batteries, but they are charged all day long by the sun. We ca...
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  Voltage surges blowing up appliances.

  Nancy from Welland, Ontario has had a terrible saga with her electrical appliances literally blowing up. We have been writing to each other for some while now trying to find the elusive problem. Read it through, you may learn about how to hunt down problems, and learn a bit about electrical sys...
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  Tip -- spacing forward a loose electrical outlet.

  Last year we showed a viewer tip on putting washers behind the electrical box outlet mounting bracket to hold the outlet firmly forward when the electrical box had been mounted too deep in the wall. Dwight sent us another way to do it that is actually easier than playing with a pile of washers.D...
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  How do I separate the outlet from the light switch in the bathroom?

  David wants the electrical outlet in the bathroom to be on all the time and not just when the light switch is on. How do you wire that, he asks?You may or may not be able to do it with the existing wires.Start by opening up the light electrical box. Turn off the light switch. Measure the volta...
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  Why can't I find electrical cheater plugs any more?

  One viewer caught our camera in a renovation store and asked why he saw electrical cheater plugs in Quebec but can't find them in Ontario?First, what is a "cheater plug"? That is the little gadget that was so common when we first changed from two prong outlets to three prong outlets. The idea wa...
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  Can I change one of the double outdoor lights into a plug in socket?

  One viewer asked if they could convert one of the two lamps in a double outdoor light into a socket?If all you want to do is to run Christmas lights that do not have a ground plug, you can simply screw in a two prong outlet into the light socket. If your total wattage does not exceed the wattage...
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  Can I insulate my electric in-the-floor heater?

  Debbie from North Bay, Ontario has electric heaters sunk right into her floor. Very few people even know that these things exist, but if you have a baseboard heated house you know how hard it is to get heat in front of a patio door or some other place that needs heat but there seems no way to ge...
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  Air tight electrical boxes

  Vapour Barriers should go on the "Warm in Winter" side of the insulation so that they can stop all the moisture in the air from going through the wall, but stop it where it is still warm and there will be no condensation. The problem is that a lot of air, and a lot of moisture can go through ele...