Veery few windows and doors have alarm sensors on them these days. Most monitoring is done with wireless motion sensors that cover windows and doors / entry points to the House. If you really want to have sensors on the windows then a good electrician will be able to extend the low voltage wires.

Dennis Gehman

Gehman Design Remodeling

www.gehmanremodeling.com

Harleysville, PA 19438

John,

There are options available to go solar and be completely independent of you local utility provider. However, this type of set-up (solar+storage) is much more costly than the traditional "grid-tied" system mentioned by Mr. Cook. There are significant developments in the works for the energy storage industry and speculation suggests that batteries will become more reasonably priced in the next 3-5 years or so.

Until then, many folks are opting to install a grid-tied solar panel system, which can often offset 100% of your utility bill (minus a nominal monthly interconnection fee of $5 or so). In some cases, fully offsetting your electric bill isn't possible because of shading or roof complexity. When battery storage becomes more affordable, you can add storage and truly become energy independent!

Hey John! 

Try searching on this webiste http://www.lampsplus.com/products/light-bulbs/ they offer a pretty good selection of different bulbs for all of your lighting needs! 

Hope this helps! 

Hire a reliable electrician who has many years of experience. Do not settle for the best price.

First of all, will the electrical box be able to support the new fan? A paddle fan takes a special box rated for the extra weight. You can get one for an "old work" set-up and use the same ceiling cut-out. It's a little tricky getting the old box out, especially if there are a lot of wires coming into it.

There are numerous companies online that offer custom lighting products. Googloe search for them.

Thanks,

Use a tester to verify the power is off before starting repair. Use pliers with insulated handles. Wrap electrical tape around switch or outlet screws before installing into box. Make sure all devises are grounded, including metal boxes.

Here's the scoop:

It all depends on your usage and how much room you have for panels, but we routinely knock out 100% of our clients' electricity bills.

However, the system will almost certainly be what we call "grid-tied", meaning that you will still be connected to your utility. This is important as solar tends not to work so well at night. So what will happen is you will produce more during the day than you need, pouring the extra power back into your utility and running up a credit, essentially using the utility like a "power bank". You then pull power from the "bank" at night. Note that this may happen on a daily level, or over the year, with your system producing a net surplus some months, and using that surplus in months where production is less.

The upshot is that, while your net consumption of power from your utility over the year may be zero (or close to zero), you will still "need...power from your local power company" in order to compensate for variances in solar production.

In addition, different financing methods may work best with different production goals, due to the way your utility prices the power you use, i.e. in a tier structure, versus how your solar is financed. This is a bit more complicated, but I'd be happy to walk you through it if you want to give me a call - John Cook, (888) 603-4255.

I hope that wasn't too technical or convoluted, but I wanted to make sure you had the facts. Good luck!

While adding PV panels is a noble endeavor, it is unlikely to produce more than about one third of your annual electrical requirements.  Less than that, if you have air conditioning, even in a newly built, energy efficient home.  The financial savings, though, will continue to climb over time, as more dams and coal power are elliminated, and the cost of generation climbs steeply.  The payback time will shorten, and the lifecycle of the panels will net a return toward the rest of the power you use.