Christmas lights! LED vs. INCONDESCENT

Everybody wants thier Christmas lights up all at the same time.  This is the crazy time of the year for all of us.  I would like to tell you about a few things to look for when choosing your Christmas lights.  There are the options of going LED or just the good old incodescent bulbs.  Led is suppose to be a better way to go when it comes to conserving power.  The reality of it is, it takes about 14 years on the average to break even.  Most people dont do the math properly and dont really know how much money LED is going to save them.  If you take the regular incodescent bulb at 7 watts a bulb verses an LED that "lets say" saves you 90% of your power consumption.
Consider you have about 200 feet of lights on your house.  At 7 watts per foot you have 1400 watts of electricity.  The power company usually, in Ogden Utah, charges about $.08 per kilawatt hour.  1400 devided by 1000 is 1.4...  multiplied by the cost per hour of $.08 is $.112.  If you followed the math properly it is going to cost about 12 cents per hour to have your Christmas lights on.  If you multiply the cost per hour by 6 hours a day and 30 days you come up with $21.60 for the Christmas season to have your christmas lights on.  The cost for LED light is going to run about $1.50 per bulb.  Multiplied by 200 feet and we get $300.00.  Now if we would like to know when we start saving money in electricity we devide $300.00 by $21.60.  Our answer is 13.88 years.  This is how many years it will take in order to start saving money by using LED lights.  The two things that may change from these numbers are how much the power company in your area charges and how much you are paying for your LED lights.
If you have any other questions call us: 801-645-7745  Squeaky clean windows

The storm is coming!

Looks like the first big storm of the winter is on its way.  What are most people thinking about right now and what should people do to be prepared?  At Squeaky Clean Windows we provide a few services for homeowners and commercial buildings.  All of these services are usually desired before the weather turns cold and we get snow.  Christmas light installation is one of the most dangerous things a home owner can do when there is already snow on the roof.  It seems to me about 3 people every year in the state of Utah alone die from falling in the process of hanging their Christmas lights.  Roofs are most slippery when there is only a small amount of snow on it.  The season just before Thanksgiving and Christmas are the times when it is most dangerous to be on the roof.  One other dangerous item to be taking care of is installation of Heat Tape or Heat Cable.  Again, people need to be cautious about getting on the roof this time of the year.  Heat Tape can save your house from thousands of dollars in damage from water working its way in.  Ice will accumulate on specific parts of the roof throughout the winter.  Water will take the path of least resistance and that path sometimes ends up inside your home.  Wasatch Heat Cable is our partner company providing experienced and highly trained technicians to evaluate and protect your home.  One last item we provide for people is window cleaning.  Everybody wants their windows cleaned before the Holidays.  Family is coming into town and everybody is getting together.  We clean windows year round so you don’t have to.  Please if you have any questions about any of the services we provide we would be willing to help you out.

I want to share some tasty information with you.

Kimberly and I went down to Sonora Grill to eat last week. The manager was telling me about a new item they have only on the weekends. This is their fresh imported Salmon dish. I don’t know what the real name of the dish is but mention that and they will know what you are talking about. I was informed that most of the salmon you can buy in stores and you receive in other restaurants is actually farmed salmon. Farmed salmon is mostly farmed in Atlantic farm fisheries. At these fisheries the fish are actually given additives to the fish to create the pink tone in the fish they also have a higher level of mercury. This salmon at Sonora Grill is Wild Tasmanian Salmon flown in fresh, overnight to us Sonora Grill. This particular dish the salmon is rubbed in an achiote rub and lightly seared and served cold over a bed of coconut almond rice with a honey chipotle reduction sauce. I have got to tell you this really was the best salmon I have ever had. Some of you might be saying “go to Alaska and try the salmon up there”. You probably have a great point there is good salmon in Alaska but without leaving town this is probably the best you will get.


Sonora Grill has been serving these fresh imported entrées on Friday and Saturdays. I am going tonight and I heard they are going to be serving Chili Big Eye Tuna and three other kinds of fish. You have got to try this stuff. I would love to hear back from some of you on what you think of their food.

I hope you like the input I have on our local businesses. I will keep you in the loop on who I like to use for products, services, and great food.

Good vs Bad! Whitch company will you end up with?

Five ways to know if a company is going to be a good company to work with or if the company is going to give you a bad experience? There are some very obvious things to look for in a good company.


1 – How often do they answer the phone? A good company will have great customer service. They answer their phones and they don’t put you on hold for long periods of time. If they truly value your business they will give you the attention you need.

2 – How prompt and punctual are they at taking your requests and getting things done? Delays are not a good sign of a good service. If there is a time frame involved in any need a company should be respectful of your request and make sure you receive the information you request in a timely manner.

3 – What kinds of reviews do they have on the internet? Reviews can add tremendous value because it is coming from other users of the company’s service. This would also apply to referral sources if you have asked friends or family about companies they have experienced.

4 – Are they willing to go above your expectations? Find out what will they offer you as added services and warrantees. Companies that go above and beyond expectations will truly take care of the customer. You should feel like you are getting the red carpet treatment each time.

5 – What kind of growth has the company had in the time they have been in business? In the small business world steady growth is always a key factor as to whether the company is doing things right. The longer track record a company has the better. If the company has a good foundation and growth plan they probably also have a good plan on how to take good care of their customers.

Other good resources for finding out about a company are to check with the Better Business Bureau (BBB). Call the local city commerce and find out what they know about the company. One I like to use is: call the company and ask about their competitors. I personally like companies that take pride in their industry and respect the other suppliers as another hard working individual not as an enemy.

What did I get done today?

Have you ever said to your self "I didnt get half of what I wanted done today!"?  We have all made the comment to ourself.  If you commonly find yourself loosing time in the day and not able to get done what you wanted, consider this.  How many times today did you have to look for something you needed?  Did you misplace something you were using?  How much free space in on your desk, counter, or table?  One of the biggest loses of time in a persons day is spent looking for things that should be readily available or you just had it and now where did it go.  Staying organized by having a place for everything and being in the habit of putting everything back where it belongs will make life more simple, easier, productive, and over all less stressful.  Keep the desk, counter, or table free of items and clutter.
I have found many more helpfull tips in:
The Joys of Simple Living by Jeff Davidson