Renovating a home can be fraught with complications. Budgets and timetables get buried in the dust. While there are some quick fixes that can make big changes in your home, just try getting a tradesperson to speak candidly to you.
Well … we tried for you. And we lucked out.
Sheldon Szikla is a Toronto-based master electrician with decades of experience. As owner and operator of Metro-Wide Electrical Contractors, he’s seen it all.
Even something such as lighting your home properly can make all the difference, but many homeowners do it all wrong.
Szikla wants to fix that. So he’s sharing some quick, expert tips to keep you out of the dark. Here's what the electrical expert says you should know:
The Lowdown On High-Tech
What’s so smart about having smart home technology if you don’t need it or know how to use it?
If you only want high-tech electrical because your friends have it, you may not need high-tech electrical. Do you really need to adjust your temperature from Thailand?
The best feature of a smart home is the "good night button." This allows you to turn everything off, lock your doors, turn on your alarm, and close the garage door when you get into bed.
That said, you need to have it set up throughout your house, otherwise, it just won’t work.
Variety Is The Spice Of Light
As an electrician, I love pot lights. They pay my bills.
But when I walk into a home and all I see are pot lights, it looks to me like a landing strip. And it seems to me that somebody’s designer ran out of ideas.
Don’t be afraid to switch it up a bit. There are so many different lighting options that can brighten a room and help to keep your home decor from looking dull.
Less Is Not Always More
The old adage, "you get what you pay for" is true in every aspect of home building. Particularly when it comes to electrical.
There are a lot of fly by night operators in the electrical field who charge less but fail to provide the little things you will miss once you’re living in the house.
Spending a little extra money goes a long way with electrical.
Dimmable bedside switches for your lights are a wonderful feature that can be a gamechanger when going to sleep.
And don’t just think of the bottom line when it comes to bath fans. I’ve been in $3-million homes with a $17 bath fan in the master and heard complaints about how noisy the fan is.
A Brighter Future
If you find yourself having to backtrack down a hallway every night to shut off the lights, something’s gone wrong in the planning.
Good electrical in your home should not be noticed. And a responsible electrician should be giving thought as to how you will live and engage in your house.
Demand a customized plan from your electrician and make sure that the plug and switch placement is specific to your unique layout.
