ELECTRIC NOTES

SWIMMING POOL SAFETY ALERT

As the summer season sets in, swimming pools, whether inground or above, become a beehive of activity. They can also be a hazard, especially to children, if safety rules are ignored. Each year, about 260 children younger than 5 drown in swimming pools, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. In addition, the suction from drains in swimming pools and spas can trap swimmers underwater. To help protect your family and guests, take the following steps.

General Pool Safety

• Place barriers completely around the pool, closely supervise young children and be prepared in case of an emergency.

• If a child is missing, always look first in the pool. Seconds count!

• Keep rescue equipment and a phone near the pool.

Water and Electricity Don’t Mix

• Know where all the electrical switches and circuit breakers for pool equipment and lights are located and how to turn them off.

• Refrain from swimming before, during or after thunderstorms.

• Have an electrician who is qualified in pool and spa repairs inspect and, if necessary, upgrade your pool.

• Ensure that all electrical wires and junction boxes are at least 5 feet away from water.

• Install ground-fault circuit interrupters (GFCIs) on underwater lighting circuits and on all outdoor receptacles and test GFCIs monthly.

• Use battery-operated appliances instead of cord-connected appliances in and around water.

Limit Access to the Water

• Gates should be self-closing and self-latching. The latch should be out of reach of small children.

• For above-ground pools, steps and ladders to the pool should be secured or removed when the pool is not in use.

Entrapment Dangers

• Never use a pool or spa with a missing or broken drain cover.

• Have a professional regularly inspect your pool or spa for entrapment or entanglement hazards.

• If someone is trapped against a drain, cut off the pump immediately. Instead of trying to pull the person away from the powerful suction, place a hand between the drain and the person’s body to break the seal.

Pool your savings

Did you know that the amount of energy used to operate the cleaning and filtering equipment of a pool for one swimming season can equal the energy used to power an average home for the same period?

Pool pumps typically range from 1/2 to 3 horsepower and run four to 10 hours a day, using about three times the electricity of a new refrigerator. Nationally, electricity for pool pumps is expected to be near 10 million kilowatt-hours in 2010.

One way to save is to replace your old single-speed pump with a variable-speed pump, according to the Cooperative Research Network. Such a pump can save up to 50 percent in electricity costs if run on the lowest speed, which is sufficient for standard maintenance. But the pump will have enough power for intensive use such as vacuuming or backwashing.

You could also consider installing a properly sized solar-powered version. A solar-powered pump can run on DC power supplied directly from the solar panels, resulting in more efficiency than typical AC pool pumps.

CO-OPS CELEBRATE 75 YEARS OF RURAL ELECTRIFICATION

Your electric cooperative is one of approximately 900 in America. Like all of them, your co-op is independent and collectively owned and governed by you and your fellow member/customers.

Electric co-ops serve about 42 million Americans, yet they remain deeply rooted in the communities where they started 75 years ago.

As late as the mid-1930s, nine out of 10 rural homes lacked electricity. But on May 11, 1935, President Franklin Roosevelt signed Executive Order No. 7037, establishing the Rural Electrification Administration. The REA included a lending program that began the next year with the passage of the Rural Electrification Act.

The agency, part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, was the precursor to today’s Rural Utilities Service, which makes loans and loan guarantees to electric cooperatives and telephone, water and sewer utilities that serve rural areas.

Electric cooperatives like yours continue to operate as democratically governed businesses. Collectively, cooperatives generate nearly 5 percent of the electricity consumed in the U.S. each year.

CAULK YOUR WINDOWS IN EIGHT EASY STEPS

Every article about saving energy tells you that caulking around windows and doors is the simplest way to keep air from leaking into and out of your home.

That’s only true, of course, if you know how to do it correctly. Here are some simple instructions for using caulk around your home to keep your expensive air-conditioned or heated air indoors where it belongs—and the outdoor weather outside.

1. Choose the caulk.
Caulk is a flexible sealer made from silicone or paintable acrylic latex that you can work into cracks and gaps around your house to fill them in and prevent air from leaking through them into or out of the building. You’ll find it at the hardware store in a plastic or cardboard tube or cartridge. If you want to paint the caulk to match your window frames, buy a type that’s paintable. If you want to caulk less often, silicone might be a better choice, as it’s less prone to cracking. It’s not paintable, but it comes in a variety of colors. You’ll use about a half cartridge on a typical-sized window.

2. Use a caulking gun.
Applying caulk directly from the tube is a headache unless you’re just filling in a tiny area. You can buy a caulking gun at a hardware or paint store for less than $15.

3. Decide where you will caulk.
Any hole, gap, crack or opening on the inside or outside of your house needs caulking. The biggest gaps often are around windows and doors. Seal gaps and cracks around exterior light fixtures, outdoor taps, openings for exhaust fans and places where cable and phone lines pierce the wall.

4. Prepare the surface.
Clean and dry the area you will caulk. You will apply the caulk between the window frame and the stucco or siding on the outside of your house or at the joint between the frame and the drywall indoors. Scrape away any old caulk and loose paint, and scrub off dirt from that area. Allow the surface to dry thoroughly before caulking.

5. Load your caulking gun.
Slide the tube of caulk into the caulking gun. Snip the tip off of the tube, making as small a hole as possible so you can control the amount of caulk that squeezes out of it. Secure the tube snugly into the gun.

6. Apply the caulk.
Hold the gun at a 45-degree angle and squeeze a small bead of caulk into the tiny line that separates the window frame from the stucco, brick or siding. Use your finger (you may want to wear thin rubber gloves) to carefully smooth the caulk into that tiny opening. Repeat the process until you have caulked all the way around the window frame.

7. Let it dry.
Allow the caulk to set for 24 hours before painting it to match your window frame.

8. Don’t stop now.
Repeat the process on any gap or crack that exposes your home to the outdoor weather. You’ll save more on your energy bill than you spent on the caulk and caulking gun.