April 2018 – Fetrow Electric is proud to be selected to be the electrician for the Merkey Meeting House in Bethel PA.
Pastor Jake Meyer painstakingly undertook the renovation of an 18th century church into a modern house of worship. From the post and beam / mortise and tenon construction, cedar shingle roof to the masonry stone work, every detail was meticulously crafted to match the original construction. Fetrow Electric worked closely with Pastor Jake as well as each sub-contractor to provide a modern electric system in a centuries old rehab. It was a fun and challenging project that Fetrow Electric Service Company was proud to be a part of.
LED’s
As more and more fluorescent and incandescent lamps are disappearing from the market we field more and more questions regarding LED lamps. While LED’s are the lightingof the future here are some thing to consider before purchasing LED lamps:
Color- When you purchase an LED lamp you will want to consider the color of the light. Incandescent lamps were limited in their color choices and many people remember the choice of either cool white or warm white when it came to fluorescent lamps. However, like most advances in technology LED lamps come with many color choices. The LED colors are represented in a scale ranging from 2500 to 5000. The higher the number, the brighter (bluer) the light. The lower the color temperature the warmer (oranger) the light. The old ‘cool’ white was about 4100 and the old ‘warm’ white would have been about 3200.
Dimmable- Not all LED lamps are dimmable. If you intend to use the LED lamp in a dimmable fixture please verify that it is labeled as a dimmable LED. Also, LED lamps may not dim correctly in your old style rotary dimmer. Switching to dimmable LED lamps may necessitate that you replace the dimmer to get the lamp to dim correctly.
Should I replace my Fluorescent light with an LED rather than repair it? – The advice we offer when it comes to this question is simply this. If the lamps are still available and the fluorescent light came be repaired with just a lamp replacement than just replace the lamps. If the ballast needs replaced in the fluorescent light than we advise that you replace the light with an LED.
Knob and Tube wiring:
If you live in an older home you may have knob and tube wiring and been faced with the question, should I replace it? The recommendation is always that knob and tube wiring should be replaced. It is an ungrounded system that is likely approaching 100 years old. However, we understand that is not always possible or practical. When deciding what to do with the knob and tube in your home consider the following. Is there a heavy appliance (air conditioner, toaster, microwave etc) plugged into the circuit. If so, consider installing a new circuit for that appliance rather than replacing the entire circuit. 2- If the equipment requires a grounding (3 wire) plug, it should not be plugged into a knob and tube circuit and adapters should not be used under any circumstance. For any knob and tube circuit that remains in service, we recommend installing arc fault protection for that circuit. And as always, if you have any concerns please don’t hesitate to call us. We will be happy to schedule an appointment to evaluate the wiring in your home.
