Outdoor residential lighting has come a long way since your grandparents’ youth. Fifty years ago, most Tallahassee-area homes illuminated their outdoor spaces with front and back door lights. Some used porch lights, and perhaps a floodlight or spotlight for the driveway. Back then, lighting was primarily used for security purposes. To help people safely navigate their way around the exterior of their house at night. Presently, there is a much wider variety of outdoor and landscape lighting to choose from. People have discovered that outdoor lighting adds a nighttime design element to their yards and homes.

Tallahassee-area residents are blessed with an abundant supply of electrical energy. It is primarily produced by the burning of clean natural gas. Tallahassee’s Electric Utilities Department delivers efficient service at competitive rates, and strives to provide a quick response to power outages and interruptions.

Tallahassee-area Homeowners have been lighting their homes with incandescent light bulbs for more than 120 years, but that form of lighting will soon dim. In April, the Biden Administration issued new rules that will force manufacturers to phase out incandescent bulbs before an outright ban on their sale in July 2023. Because the rules are based on energy efficiency, it also effectively ends the production and sale of most halogen lighting (a type of incandescent lighting).

Given our subtropical climate, Tallahassee-area residents love their air conditioning, especially during the heat and humidity of the summer. Although hard to believe, 60 years ago most area homes did not have air conditioning. Whether window units or central AC. Before 1960, most people cooled their homes with open windows, hoped-for wind, and various electric-powered fans.

The Tallahassee area’s electrical grid is quite reliable, but power outages can and do occur on occasion. Generally speaking, our power outages tend to be short in duration and localized to smaller areas. However, powerful storms and hurricanes—like 2018’s Hurricane Michael—can cause widespread outages that can last for days and even more than a week. Whatever the cause and duration of an outage, you can take steps to help minimize their impact on your home and family.