If you have plans to start a career as an electrician, you may already know that the profession is growing faster than other occupations. While you can make a decent living as an electrician, one way to increase your wage potential is to obtain training in a growing specialty such as green energy and energy-efficient electrical installations. If you are at the beginning of your electrician training, you can incorporate courses in these topics in your studies. However, if you are already working in the profession, you can partake in continuing education that focuses on the following topics.
Energy Audits
When homeowners and small businesses want to make their property more energy efficient, one of the things that energy companies suggest is getting an energy audit. An audit will provide your customers with a detailed report of their energy use and list recommendations for making their home or business more energy efficient.
The assessment is especially helpful for people who live in older homes with outdated wiring, inefficient electrical devices, and old major appliances. Your recommendations can help your customers plan appropriate electrical upgrades. They may even hire you to perform that work.
Some energy companies provide customers with a list of recommended energy auditors. Once you gain your training, contact your local energy company to find out how you can be added to the list. You never know—you may be able to gain customers from referrals via the energy company.
Lighting Upgrades
Upgrading lighting devices is one of the easiest ways a homeowner can improve the overall energy efficiency of their house. While some lighting upgrades are easy to perform, like installing individual LED light bulbs, others are best left to professionals, as in the case of replacing custom energy-efficient recessed lighting or providing complete lighting overhauls. You can also offer lighting design and outdoor lighting upgrades as part of your services.
As part of your marketing as an electrician that specializes in helping customers make their home more green and energy efficient, make sure to include your lighting skills on your print ad materials and on your website.
If you have little to no experience in lighting upgrades and design, simply sign up for a refresher course with the place where you received your initial electrician training.
Occupancy and Motion Sensors
Leaving lights on around the house or having the HVAC system run in unused rooms wastes energy that ends up costing homeowners money each month. However, you can help your customers with this problem by offering to add occupancy and motion sensors to rooms and outdoor lighting systems.
Occupancy sensors will detect when there is human activity in a room or in a certain area. The sensors will turn off the lights and shut down the AC or heat in that part of the house.
The sensors can be mounted on walls or ceilings. They can communicate with programmable thermostats to work with an existing HVAC system. The sensors can also work in conjunction with your security system to help you know when intruders enter your property.
You may need to take refresher classes in lighting and sign up for basic HVAC courses to gain the knowledge needed to offer occupancy and motion sensor installations to your customers.
Complete Electrical Retrofits
When people move into older homes, they may find out that the wiring in the structure is too outdated to handle modern appliances and the load of multiple electrical devices such as computers, stereo systems, and mobile device chargers. In addition, old wiring can make homes fire hazards. So make sure that when you plan your electrician education, you take electives in residential wiring.
For all the topics described above, look for classes at trade schools, local colleges, and industry organizations by visiting sites such as http://hvac-tech.com.
Share13 December 2016
After my children started school, I knew that I had to do something to improve their comprehension. I started slowly by working with them with their homework, and then I slowly gravitated towards working with them to master the core concepts they were learning in school. It was a lot of work, but my efforts really paid off. After about three months, my children's teachers were reporting improved grades and better mastery of most of the core concepts. This blog is here to help other parents to know how to improve their own child's education so that they can enjoy a happier life.