A nice shout-out for our blog

A big Thank You! to Residential Lighting magazine for a wonderful write-up about our blog:

I know you can't read that, so here's a link to the article:

http://editiondigital.net/publication/?i=63402&p=12/

They interviewed me a few weeks ago, asking me for tips for other people who might be thinking about starting a blog for business. I think the most important tip, no matter what your subject, is to just go for it! The bullet points they note are:

• Do your research.


• Don't be afraid to make mistakes.


• Let your voice shine through.


• Use visual cues.


• Link to your blog (e.g. our website is www.dominionelectric.com, our Facebook page is Dominion Electric Supply Co., and our Twitter is @DomElecSup).

I had no previous experience as a writer or a social media expert ~ Patty Jordan in our marketing department set up all our framework and just set me loose. That was over 2 years ago! My biggest fear was that I'd run out of subject matter, but I've been amazed at how easy it is (most weeks!) to find things I want to share with our audience. As a matter of fact, I have 3 more things in my tickler file that I want to talk about ~ now my biggest challenge is to find the time to cover them properly. So stay tuned.... lots more to come!

Sun Design Seminar & Open House

Last night's NVBIA Meet the Builder event was excellent! We saw so many old friends, and made quite a few new ones, too. I promised one old friend, Dave from Sun Design, that I would mention some events they have coming up, so here we go:

So the first one is tomorrow, Sat. March 26th, from 10:00 to 2:00. They are having a FREE Remodeling & Design Seminar. Call 703-425-5588 or email info@SunDesignInc.com to reserve your seats. The address is 5795 B Burke Centre Pkwy, Burke, VA 22015. Their topics are:

• Kitchen & bath trends
• 10 tips for a stress-free remodel
• Opening up your floor plan
  
  

Next, on April 2nd from 10:00 to 4:00 they are hosting a Remodeled Home Tour in Vienna. They say "Less is more -- Rethinking existing space", and this address is 1436 Montague Dr, Vienna, VA 22182. This house features:

• Gourmet kitchen addition featuring large island, eat-in area, custom storage spaces, wet bar, and computer station.
• New mud room/service entrance.
• Remodeled laundry room.
• Remodeled master bath and hall bath.
• Wet bar with kegerator and full refrigerator in the basement.
  

If you want to learn more about them, their web site is www.SunDesignInc.com.

Maryland Builder Mart

Yesterday I told you we'd be at the Maryland Builder Mart, and we were! I managed to get a couple of pictures onto Twitter, so here they are:


Clark Owens of Ryland Homes with our Debbie Fortney:




Debbie F, Liz I from Zanger, & Marie:


We got so many compliments on our pretty booth ~ Marie McLaughlin & Marcia Hussey of our Laurel store did such a great job with it!

This afternoon Debbie Fortney, Debbie Carr, and I will be attending the NVBIA Meet the Builder event. I'll try to get some photos of that one, too, so stay tuned!

Maryland Builder Mart

Dominion Electric Supply will be at the Maryland Builder Mart today (http://www.buildermart.org/). Please stop by our booth #404 to say hello!

I'll try to post pictures to our Facebook (Dominion Electric Supply Co) & Twitter (@DomElecSup) pages so you can see what we're seeing. Hope to see you there!

New LED products in stock

We have some amazing new LED products in stock at Dominion Electric Supply this month, so I wanted to tell you about them. First up, we have CSL's Eco-Downlight LED recessed lights.

This catalog page does them no justice! The web address is http://www.csllighting.com/, and we have them on display in all 3 showrooms (Chantilly, Arlington, and Laurel). The displays are fabulous ~ they show the new LED downlight right next to a traditional 50-watt MR16 low voltage halogen downlight, so you can really compare the two. I think the LED is actually brighter than the MR16, and of course they will last way longer, and they only use 16 watts, so you save 34 watts per recessed fixture. They include 3 different "optics" in the box, so you can choose a narrow (25*), a flood (45*), or a wide flood (65*). They have round trims and square trims, and all sorts of finish and housing options.

Next, we've brought in some LED replacement lamps from Philips. That website is http://www.philips.com/.

We have 12-watt PAR30 lamps, both long neck and short neck, in 2700K and 3000K. These are rated for a 45,000 lamp life, with a CRI of 85, and their lumen output ranges from 660 to 700.

I know this one looks a little Sci Fi, but when it is lit, it is gorgeous! This is their 12-watt, award-winning replacement for a 60-watt "A" lamp (your general household lamp). I have it in a table lamp outside my office, and it is lovely (and bright!). It's rated for 25,000 hours with a CRI of 80, and 800 lumens.

Next we have 17-watt PAR38 lamps in 2700K & 3000K. They have a 45,000 hour life, 85 CRI, and lumens of 880-930.



This is the 7-watt PAR20 replacement, at 45,000 hours, 85CRI, and 250 lumens.




I got to try one of these MR16's in my kitchen, and I am in love! It is brighter than my 50-watt halogens, and it uses only 10 watts. It has a lamp life of 25,000 hours, it's 2700K, 450 lumens, and a CRI of 83. We don't have this one in our stores yet, but it will arrive soon.

All of these products are dimmable, too. I hear Kichler (http://www.kichler.com/) is about to convert their under cabinet all-in-one LED unit to a dimmable unit, so we'll be changing out our stock on those just as soon as they are available. I'll keep you posted!