In 2010, 32,000 lbs of unwanted holiday lights were recycled in St. Louis. Join Mister Sparky to help collect these lights at one of our locations or team locations around town.
Have you lost that twinkle?
November 23rd, 2011Mister Sparky’s Holiday Light Program
November 16th, 2011Drop off your old, broken, or unusable holiday lights by any of these locations through January 30th to be recycled!!
Holiday Light Recycling
November 4th, 2011Fire Safety Month
October 5th, 2011Sixty Two Percent of Home Fire Deaths are
Due to Families Not Having Smoke Detectors or Having Smoke Detectors that No Longer Work
Mister Sparky Offers Safety Tips as a Part of National Fire Safety Month
St. Louis (October 5th, 2011) – October is National Fire Safety month, and Mister Sparky is celebrating it by providing a series of safety tips that homeowners should know. This is the first of five releases with helpful information, and it discusses an important topic: protecting homes and families from the potential of fire and smoke.
According to the Home Safety Council, more than 3,000 people die from fires each year. Eighty percent of those occur while in the home; the majority of those happen when people are sleeping.
“A fire can build and grow in just minutes. That can cause poisonous gas to build up in a home easily. If you’re asleep, it’s an extremely dangerous situation. That’s why smoke alarms are the most important thing all people can have in their homes,” Brooke Schoene of Mister Sparky, says.
According to the National Fire Protection agency, 62 percent of home related fire deaths resulted because the home didn’t have smoke alarms, or the alarms were not functional. “If your smoke alarms are over 10 years of age, I can’t emphasize enough to have them replaced, or at least inspected at the very least,” Schoene continued.
Here are some smoke alarm safety tips everyone should know:
- Smoke alarms should be installed on every level of the home as well as outside sleeping areas.
- For additional protection, install a smoke alarm in each bedroom. This is the code requirement in Omaha as well.
- Alarms should be tested every month and the batteries replaced at least once a year.
- Install alarms near the highest pitch of the ceiling, at least four inches away from the wall.
- Avoid placing alarms too close to the kitchen and bathrooms where fumes and steam can result in false alarms.
- Purchase smoke alarms that are listed by Underwriters Laboratories (UL).
- Install special alarms for anyone in your home who is deaf or hearing impaired.
- Test smoke alarms after returning home when away for more than a few days.
“The best smoke detectors people can have today are interconnected smoke alarms. If one signals, all of them throughout the home will simultaneously chirp. This provides families maximum safety—they don’t have to wait until the smoke or fire is perilously close to alert you,” Schoene added.
For more information on Mister Sparky, visit www.Mistersparkystlouis.com
314-781-9998
October is Fire Prevention Month
September 12th, 2011Why is fire safety so important? Here are some startling statistics from NFPA:
- Unlike natural disasters, fires can be prevented.
- Every 23 seconds, a fire department responds to a fire; every 66 seconds, a fire occurs in a structure; and every 87 seconds, a residential fire strikes.
- A fire claims a civilian life every 175 minutes and results in a civilian injury every 31 minutes.
- 63 percent of home fire deaths occur in homes with either no smoke alarms or no working smoke alarms.
“Electrical failure or malfunction is a leading cause of home fires year after year,” ESFI president Brett Brenner warns. “The best way to prepare for and ideally prevent electrical fires is to be knowledgeable and aware, and Fire Prevention Week is the perfect time to learn about both fire and electrical safety.”
Fires happen every day, and the toll they take on our lives is boundless. Therefore, it is incredibly important to arm yourself and your loved ones with tools and knowledge to prevent them.
Contact Mister Sparky for your Safety Checklist, Fire Prevention and Carbon Monoxide Safety Checklists
314-781-9998
Mr. Sparky September
September 8th, 2011The Law of Averages
September 8th, 2011Law of Averages
Dear Friend:
Mister Sparky hires only the best technicians in the area and we all push each other to improve. We take great pride in providing excellent service to our customers.
Though there is nothing average about Mister Sparky’s service, this month we found some interesting averages. Maybe these tidbits will come in handy at your next trivia night.
- Think your teenager sleeps a lot? Cats average 16 hours of sleep a day, more than any other mammal.
- The average person falls asleep in seven minutes.
- The average American spends 120 hours a month watching TV, the equivalent of five complete days.
- The average American will eat 35,000 cookies in a lifetime.
- The vocabulary of the average person consists of 5,000 to 6,000 words. On average, women say 7,000 words per day, while men typically manage just 2,000.
- The average person drinks about 16,000 gallons of water in a lifetime.
- An average busy beaver can cut down 200 treesa year.
- On average, right-handed people live nine years longer than their left-handed counterparts.
- If the average man never trimmed his beard, it would grow to nearly 30 feet long in his lifetime.
- The average cup of coffee contains more than 1,000 different chemical components.
When it comes to our work, there is no “average” customer at Mister Sparky. Without you, we would be nothing. To show our appreciation, we’re offering 10% off any Mister Sparky residential service performed this September to every customer who mentions this ad.
From our family to yours,
Mister Sparky Electric
Making Your Home Safe!
August 16th, 2011Burglar-Proof Your Home!
One of the many things we love about our job is helping our Mister Sparky customers improve the safety of their homes. This month we’ve compiled some safety tips that address more than just electrical issues. We want to help protect your home from burglary.
Burglary is a crime of opportunity in which entry often is gained due to the carelessness of homeowners. Here are some tips for securing your home and making it difficult for burglars:
• Contact your local law enforcement agency and ask if they will provide a free “security walk through” of your property.
• Hints you aren’t home include closing the drapes only when you’re gone, not having garbage cans out on collection day, leaving empty cans on the curb, not picking up your newspaper, or turning on one or two specific lights.
• A dog with a menacing bark is one of the best deterrents. Don’t want a dog? Hang a “Beware of Dog” sign on your fence or put an empty food bowl in your yard.
• Prune trees and shrubs to prevent anyone from hiding behind them.
• Make sure no trees, down pipes, or lattice work provide access to upper floors. Store ladders inside or lock them securely.
• Don’t keep a hidden house key in an easy-to-find spot outside your house.
• Consider installing a burglar alarm system and motion detector lights.
• Most burglars enter through the front door! Make sure your exterior doors are made of solid hardwood or reinforced steel and are at least 1-3/4 inches thick, with heavy duty deadbolt locks. Consider installing exterior lighting to illuminate your doors.
• If you have a sliding glass door, lay a piece of wood in the lower track and place protruding screws in the upper track to prevent the door from being forced open.
• A garage door with an electronic door opener is hard for a burglar to force open. Be sure to change the security code from the preinstalled settings.
• Replace the cheap locks that come on most double hung windows with heavy duty sash locks or even keyed locks.
• Glass block windows are the safest choice for basements or ground level areas.
• Keep a detailed household video or photo inventory of your valuables to aid law enforcement agencies and help with insurance claims in the event you are burglarized. Label important items by engraving a unique marking on them.
• Keep irreplaceable items in a fire-resistant safe or an off-site safety deposit box.
I hope this helps. Until next time, stay safe.
Your Friends at Mister Sparky
314-781-9998
HGTV and DIY Networks
August 8th, 2011Mister Sparky will be on the HGTV and DIY networks, starting this week! Be sure to look for our commercial. The first person to give feedback on our commercial will be entitled to $50.00 off their next service call with Mister Sparky!
