ATEK carries the RayTray™ solar wire management system
Call us up and we will work with you to build your ideal solar cable management solution. Have a look at a recent installation of RayTray products and notice how tight and clean the install is.
ATEK Distributing Offering a Full Line of Mersen Products
We are thrilled to announce that ATEK Distributing is now carrying a full line of Mersen products, an addition that strengthens our commitment to provide our partners with the best electrical protection solutions in the industry.
The Mersen Excellence
Mersen, an industry leader known for their fuses and similar products, stands out for their dedication to reliability, safety, and performance. Importantly, Mersen also carries the line of the former Ferraz Shawmut, preserving the legacy of another highly respected name in the electrical industry. By incorporating Mersen’s products into our distribution catalog, we are ensuring our partners have access to top-tier electrical protection solutions designed to meet the most rigorous industry standards.
Explore Our Expanded Catalog
Whether you’re looking for high-performance fuses, surge protection devices, cooling products, or bus bars, you’ll find these and more from Mersen at ATEK Distributing. We invite you to explore our online portal at atekdistribution.com to browse our newly expanded product range.
Consult with Us for Expert Guidance
In our role as a distributor, we understand that navigating a vast array of electrical protection products can be complex. That’s why we don’t just distribute products – we provide expert consultations to help you make the right choices for your projects.
With over 20 years of experience in the industry, our team has the knowledge and expertise to recommend the best Mersen products for your needs. We welcome inquiries from partners seeking advice or information about our new line of Mersen products.
At ATEK Distributing, we are more than just a distributor – we are your trusted partner in the industry. So, whether you’re procuring through our online portal or seeking consultation for a complex project, you can rely on us for top-quality products and advice backed by decades of experience.
In an industry where safety and reliability are paramount, we are committed to delivering the best. Our new line of Mersen products is a testament to that commitment. We look forward to assisting you with all your Mersen product needs.
ATEK Distribution is Spotlighting Vericom’s VC5 Series Network Cabinets
ATEK Distribution is highlighting a very special product that we’re carrying. That is the VC5 series of Network Cabinets by Vericom. The variety of configurations that you can get with these cabs is absolutely amazing. You can custom order these cabinets with combinations of different power supplies, removable and lockable half-height side panels, pre-installed cable troughs on front cabinet rails, multiple cable access points with air containment on top of cabinets, and much, much more.
We encourage people interested in buying these products to call us so we can make sure we get specifications correct before ordering. There are so many options that accurate configuration and pricing on the website would be difficult.
What Vericom Says:
Vericom Network Cabinets are designed and built to U.S. industry standards and provide a customizable solution for data center build-outs, network rooms, or IT closets. The feature-rich, robust design can be shipped as a custom-configured solution that is fully assembled with Vericom accessories pre-installed.
Available as an open frame or complete enclosure in multiple size combinations/colors and five available door options, Vericom cabinets offer a variety of options and features to meet your specific needs.
Benefits:
Security & Protection
- Locking Doors and side panels prevent unauthorized access to equipment
- Two pairs of adjustable 19″ EIA rails provide a stable mounting structure
Flexibility
- Vertical cable management channel on each side features T-shaped fingers and various sizeholes/slots for organizing cables
- Rails and cable channels can be easily repositioned in labeled, one cm increments to accommodate various equipment depths
- Removable and lockable half-height side panels
- Doors hinge on either side and swing open 180° to provide superior access for installation and maintenance of equipment
- Vertical lacing channel with PDU mounts pre-installed on rear corners for easy cable management
Multi-Use
- Available in multiple size combinations to fit in a variety of environments
- Adaptable for use in data center build outs, computer rooms or data closets
Key Features
- Pre-installed recessed casters combine convenient mobility with minimal added height to provide additional stability
- Brush cable entry slots at front and back of top panel and sliding panels on bottom
- 31.5” wide x 31.5” deep
- 3,000 lb. static load capacity
- Ships fully assembled and can be configured with accessories to match your individual specifications
- UL Listed 2416 NWIN
Smart Light Bulbs and Apps to Make Your Home Energy-Efficient
Smart home automation is a technology that has taken years to grow and develop, and now it’s ready for every homeowner. Smart home technology enables you to operate your home’s thermostat, appliances, and control lights with your phone.
Using apps on your smartphone, you can make your house run more energy-efficient, and perhaps the best part is that you can do it remotely.
But controlling lights with your phone and other smart home solutions require a little more than just downloading an app. Whether you have an iPhone or Android smartphone, here are the steps and hardware you’ll need to make your home more energy efficient.
How to Control Lights with an Android or iPhone – The Software
When it comes to connectivity for controlling lights with an Android or iPhone, there are two factors that come into play – your home’s connection to the internet, and downloading the right app.
Home automation lighting systems require an internet connection, and while there’s a few different ways to establish that connection, each has its pros and cons.
There are Wi Fi smart lighting systems, which enable you to operate the lights remotely, but won’t work unless your internet connection is established. If your internet goes down, so too will your ability to control the lights.
Blue-tooth based systems are very popular, as they require BLE-enabled smartphones for operation. They operate remotely, and require a hub that’s typically connected to your home’s router.
Likewise for ZigBee and Z Wave technology, as they will also require a hub. This technology is established through a WiFi connection, and the hub’s connectivity to the internet is required for operation.
How to Control Lights with an iPhone or Android – The Apps
The software and the apps that are available to control your lights with an iPhone or Android are the same. The top choices for the lighting component of your smart home system are as follows:
Smart Life – Smart Life is probably the most popular and widely used app to control lights from your iPhone or Android. It works with just about any software from any manufacturer.
Philips Hue – Philips Hue is another app that will control lights with your phone, but it is exclusive to Philips Hue smart lights and accessories. It enables cool features, such as brightness, color, and schedules.
Hue Disco – Since Smart Life will take care of controlling lights with your phone in a pragmatic way, you should also be aware that there are some fun apps out there too. The Hue Disco app connects your lights to your music, and turns any room of your house into a club style dance floor.
While these apps will do a fantastic job of controlling lights from your phone, they will not control other components of your smart house. Multi-tasking smart home apps will not only control your lighting, but will also control thermostats, appliances, and other smart systems in your home.
Smart Plugs
Smart home automation requires a number of components, and once you have your smart lighting system and software, and the right app on your iPhone or Android, it’s time to review other components that round off your smart home lighting system.
Investing in smart light bulbs for every single light socket in your home may become more work and cost more money than you intended. A nice component that makes it unnecessary to even change the light bulb is a smart plug.
The best smart plugs will enable everything from a bedside light to a lamp in the office to become controllable from your phone. They plug right into an electrical socket and connect to your phone via WiFi.
Smart Outlets
Another component for smart home automation that are not light bulbs are smart outlets. Smart outlets replace your current, generic outlets and add several pieces of functionality.
Smart outlets connect to your iPhone or Android, and enable you to set schedules. They also have another great feature, as they allow you to control each electrical socket independently.
Staying Safe Because of Smart Lights
Making your home more energy efficient is one fantastic use of controlling lights from your phone. But automated lighting systems have another benefit that brings peace of mind – security.
It’s a practice that goes back generations, but how many times have you left the lights on before you left your home for a vacation? It’s such a common action for people to take that outside lights that are on during the daytime make homes targets for burglaries and break ins.
Timers on outside lights have long been available, but using your phone to control your lights while not at home is a new ability for homeowners.
Smart lights enable you to set schedules for individual lights, and turn them on or off remotely and randomly, which gives anyone watching the impression that you are actually home.
Security and energy efficiency are common reasons that people are beginning to embrace controlling lights from their phones. But it’s also kind of fun, and when you combine that with peace of mind, it’s a no-brainer to install a smart home lighting system.
3 Sources of Renewable Energy for Home
Photo 41595344 / Alternative Energy © Ilfede | Dreamstime.com
There are many great reasons to make the switch to renewable energy sources for your home, and you don’t have to be part of the renewable energy generation to save money on utility bills, and receive some nice tax cuts.
While those are nice incentives, most people are attracted to renewable energy because it also combats climate change. Sustainability is a great model for future homes, and here are three different ways that you can turn your dwelling into an alternative energy home that’s doing good for the planet.
Geothermal Energy
When it comes to renewable energy for homes, most people immediately think of solar power. But while solar is popular, geothermal heating and cooling has been around much longer, and is a fantastic alternative to solar panels.
Geothermal energy works by taking advantage of the earth that’s below the surface we walk on everyday. Just a few feet down, the ground is at a near constant temperature year-round, and is naturally warmer than the outside air during winter time, and cooler in the summertime.
A clean energy company will install a series of pipes that run underneath the ground. Then, a pump is installed to either pull air from the pipes beneath the ground and heat the home, or the pump will vacuum warm air out of a home, and release it into the pipes. The cool temperature below ground will then cool this air, and recirculate it.
The Price of Geothermal Energy
Geothermal energy is best installed prior to construction of a home, but is not required. Pricing for geothermal energy varies by locale, and Home Advisor’s geothermal energy calculator says that prices can run anywhere between $3,500-$16,000.
While this is no drop in the bucket, the Department Of Energy (DOE) estimates that most homeowners reclaim their costs with lowered utility bills and tax incentives within 5-10 years of installation.
Solar Power
Power from the sun is one of the most abundant resources on the planet, and is another fantastic renewable energy source for your home. Commercial solar companies and local contractors are available for installation just about everywhere, as solar power becomes more popular and affordable.
But choosing a company for installation might be the easy part, as there are many different kinds of home use solar panels and brands. One of the most important things to keep in mind when choosing solar panels for your home is how much roof space you have.
Power solar panels are rated by efficiency (among other criteria), and if your roof space is small, then you may have to pay for more expensive, and more efficient panels. Whereas if you have plenty of roof space, efficiency won’t matter as much in favor of more panels.
The Price of Solar Power
While the DOE has revealed that the price of solar power installation has dropped every year since 2009, it should be noted that it’s still quite expensive. Home Advisor’s solar power calculator says that prices vary by locale, and can cost anywhere between $16,000-$31,000.
Tax incentives and utility costs will eventually offset this investment, and while it may make sense to wait for the installation cost to keep dropping, you’d be missing out on savings every utility bill cycle.
Wind Power for Homes
When people think of wind power, images of open fields with giant fans twisting in the wind come to mind, and seldom do people think about at home wind turbines. Wind power for homes is an alternative to solar panels, but there’s a couple of reasons why you don’t see many (if any) homes with giant fans spinning on their roofs.
The first reason is that most people don’t live in an area that averages 14 mph winds, which is the necessary speed to generate enough kilowatts to power a home. That will disqualify most of the people in the land.
The Price of Wind Power for Homes
The other reason that wind power for homes isn’t the best alternative to solar panels is the enormous cost. Wind turbine installation typically comes with a price tag between $65,000-$95,000. That means it will take a long time before the cost offset from utility and tax savings makes it worth it.
However, wind power is a great renewable energy source for homes in remote areas that can actually take advantage of a prevailing wind.
Renewable Energy & Climate Change
One thing that should be noted is that while calculators and break even points on utility costs justify the price of installing renewable energy sources for your home, there is no way to truly quantify the effect it will have on the planet.
Renewable energy and climate change go hand-in-hand, as both lie ahead for everyone. More and more people are choosing to make their homes more eco-friendly and sustainable, and there are also a lot of companies that are helping them do it.
Green Energy Companies
The green energy revolution has started, and there are now countless companies that are investing and creating either new sources of renewable energy, or making current sources more efficient.
Clean energy companies, however, exist in many forms, as it starts with research and development, and ends with a distributor and contractor. Homeowners who install geothermal energy, solar power, or wind power will likely only interact with distributors and contractors.
These clean energy companies are staffed with people who’ve also made the same choice as their consumer counterparts – they chose to work in an industry that promotes renewable energy and combats climate change. It’s a mutually beneficial relationship that will hopefully serve as the model for the future.
Other forms of renewable energy for homes are in the works, but for now, these are the three best options for homeowners. Geothermal energy, solar power, and wind power have been giving homeowners who’ve had them installed peace of mind that they’re doing something active to combat climate change every single day. That sounds a lot like a home we’d all love to live in.