Most people are amazed to find out that older style fuses and circuit breakers are installed to protect the cables and circuits they control. When it comes to protection from electric shock, the majority of these older devices offer no protection whatsoever. For this reason, your installation should be protected by a Residual Current Device, in the case of a dangerous fault, or someone getting an electric shock, this device will disconnect the supply to that circuit within milliseconds, saving you and your family from what could be a potentially fatal accident. Every installation should have one installed regardless of age. Unfortunately, within installations we see every week, the Residual Current Device has either been removed or, ignored when the fusebox or consumer unit was changed at some time in the past. Older properties fitted with outdated fuse boxes with rewireable fuses were originally designed and installed over 60 years ago, this was when the number and type of appliances connected were very different to today’s modern electrical items.
As times goes by, additions are made to your electrical circuits, extra circuits are added without proper protection, extra sockets or lights are installed without taking account of the suitability of the existing circuits or the potential for faults and fire. In properties we visit regularly, these older style fuse boxes actually have a wooden frame that can lead to fire from an overloaded circuit. Don’t take the chance with your family, contact your local office today and we can arrange for a free inspection of your existing fusebox or consumer unit, we can check whether your installation is properly protected, test the installed residual current device and also advise you whether your existing earthing arrangements are adequate. As long as your property is within the CT or ME postcode areas this inspection and test is completely free, contact your local office now and request a fusebox safety check.
What is Part P of the building regulations?
Since 2005, all electrical work in dwellings in England and Wales whether carried out professionally or as DIY, and whether or not the work is notifiable to a building control body (see below), must meet the requirements of Part P of the Building Regulations. In April 2013 the requirements for England were amended. These regulations were further amended in 2015.
Compliance with Part P is intended to keep you and your family as safe as possible from electrical hazards.
The requirements of Part P apply to new dwellings and to any alterations or additions to the electrical installations of existing dwellings, including full or partial rewires.
Part P states that anyone carrying out electrical work in a dwelling must ensure that reasonable provision has been made in the design and installation in order to protect any persons who might use, maintain or alter the electrical installation of that dwelling from fire and injury, including electric shock.
Who is responsible for making sure that electrical work in your home meets the
requirements of Part P?
By law, the homeowner or landlord must be able to prove that all electrical installation work meets Part P or, they will be committing a criminal offence.
Local authorities have the power to make homeowners or landlords remove or alter any work that does not meet the requirements of the Building Regulations. They can also in the most serious cases take legal action against individuals.
What electrical work is notifiable?
From 2016, electrical work in a dwelling, or associated installations that share characteristics with a dwelling is notifiable to a local building control body where the work includes:
The installation of a new circuit, whether at low voltage (typically 230 V) or extra-low voltage.
The replacement of a consumer unit (fusebox); or any alteration or addition to an existing circuit in a special location*, whether at low voltage (typically 230 V) or extra-low voltage.
*(A special location is a room containing a bath, shower, swimming pool or a sauna heater).
An alteration or addition to an existing circuit in a room containing a bath or shower is notifiable only when carried out in the space surrounding a bath or shower.
An alteration or addition anywhere within a room containing a swimming pool or sauna heater is notifiable.
*(A special location is a room containing a bath, shower, swimming pool or a sauna heater).
An alteration or addition to an existing circuit in a room containing a bath or shower is notifiable only when carried out in the space surrounding a bath or shower.
An alteration or addition anywhere within a room containing a swimming pool or sauna heater is notifiable.
An alteration or addition to an existing circuit in a room containing a bath or shower is notifiable only where carried out in the space surrounding a bath or shower.
An alteration or addition anywhere within a room containing a swimming pool or sauna heater is notifiable.
What do I need to do before electrical installation work can be carried out in my home?
You must first check whether the work is notifiable. If it is, then you must either; employ an electrician who is registered with one of the Government-approved scheme providers, they can certify the work complies fully or, Contact your local-authority building-control about the installation work and seek their permission before work begins.
What are the benefits of using an approved, registered electrician such as ElectriciansOnCall?
We always recommend that you use an approved and registered electrician such as ElectriciansOnCall to carry out any electrical work in or around your home.
If you use us, you can expect to have safe electrical installation work done and all the work will meet the UK national standard, BS 7671 (Requirements for Electrical Installations).
You will not have to deal with building control directly, when the work is finished you will receive an Electrical Installation Certificate or, where applicable, a Minor Electrical Installation Works Certificate that confirms the work meets BS 7671; and a Building Regulations Compliance Certificate, this confirms the work complies fully with Part P of Building Regulations. All new installation work carried out by us will be covered under a 6-year, insurance backed guarantee for total peace of mind.
What if I don’t use a registered electrician or want to do the work myself?
You may have problems in the future selling your property if no Part P certificate has been lodged with your local authority for any notifiable work. Should the worst happen, and your property experiences an electrical fire, it will be investigated by a fire investigator. Should badly installed or dangerous issues be found within the electrical installation, your insurance company could refuse to pay your claim.
If you have any questions regarding Part P of the building regulations or a general enquiry regarding your electrical installation, contact your local office today.
Simple checks that can save your life!
Millions of people in the UK expose themselves and their families to potentially fatal electrical accidents in the home by making simple blunders, down to a lack of knowledge about the dangers of electricity.
It is important to make sure that the electrical installation in your property is well maintained, and we recommend that you use an approved electrician like ElectriciansOnCall to check that it is safe. However; there are a number of simple, visual checks that you can carry out yourself:
The socket overload checker link on the following line can be obtained using the following code.
The Socket Calculator has been brought to you by ElectriciansOnCall
Visual Checks App
Below you can download a free smartphone app that allows anyone to do a quick, visual check, to ensure their home is electrically safe.
Designed to be as easy-to-use as possible, the app highlights potential dangers in each room and explains how to resolve simple, non-technical problems. Where more serious issues are identified and flagged contact your local office for advice. The app is available for use on Android phones and on the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch.
Download it FREE now:
ios
android
If you are having an alteration or, an addition made to your electrical installation, your electrician must check, (as well as other things), that the earthing and bonding arrangements you have are up to the required standard.
This is because the safety of any new work, (however small), will depend on the earthing and bonding arrangements in place.
What is earthing?
If there is a fault in your electrical installation, you could get an electric shock if you touch a live metal part. This is because the electricity may use your body as a path from the live part to earth.
Earthing is used to protect you from an electric shock. It does this by providing a low resistance path, (a protective conductor), for a fault current to flow to earth quickly and safely. It also causes the protective device, (either a circuit-breaker or fuse), to disconnect the electric current to the circuit that has the fault. For example, if a cooker has a fault, the fault current flows to earth through the circuit protective (earthing) conductor. A protective device (fuse or circuit-breaker) in the consumer unit disconnects the electrical supply to the cooker. The cooker is now safe from causing an electric shock to anyone who touches it. The speed in which this process happens is vitally important to protect people from experiencing potentially life-threatening levels of electric shock. It is essential that this part of your installation is kept up to date and in good condition, if you have a concern regarding the earthing in your property contact your local office for advice or, to arrange a free home safety check.
What is bonding?
Bonding is used to reduce the risk of electric shocks to anyone who may touch two separate metal parts when there is a fault somewhere in the electrical installation. By connecting bonding conductors between particular metal parts, it reduces the voltage differential that may be present during a fault. The most common parts that are bonded are your incoming water and gas pipes, this protection throughout your property is vital should a cable come into contact with a metal pipe. If you have water heater or immersion tank installed, and this item develops a fault, without the pipework being bonded, all the pipework in your property has the potential to become live. If you were to come into contact with any part of the pipework, you will become the quickest way for that fault current to travel to earth. If you’re not sure if your incoming gas or water supply pipework is bonded, contact your local office for advice nor, to arrange a free home safety check.
We strongly recommend that you use an approved electrician such as ElectriciansOnCall for any work that involves your earthing or bonding, we have been advising clients since 1997 and are experienced with all types of installations. This vital piece of equipment may well save your life one day
Definitions
Bonding – A way of reducing the risk of getting an electric shock.
Conductors – Wires that carry electricity.
Consumer Unit – A fusebox that is used to control and give out electricity around the home. It usually contains a main switch, fuses or circuit-breakers and one or more residual current devices (RCDs).
Current – The flow of electricity.
Earth – A connection to the ground.
Earthing – A way of preventing electric shocks.
Electrical installation – A fixed wiring system.
Live – Active (there is electricity).
Main bonding – Green and yellow conductors that connect metal pipes (gas, water or oil) from inside a building to the main earthing terminal of the electrical installation. Main bonding connections may also be made outside the building, for example where a semi-enclosed gas meter box is installed outside and it is not possible to install a bond to the gas installation pipework indoors.
Main earthing terminal – Where earthing and bonding conductors are connected together.
Residual current devices (RCDs) – A sensitive switching device that trips a circuit when it finds an earth fault.
Supplementary bonding – Green and yellow conductors that connect accessible metal parts of electrical equipment (such as a heated towel rail) to accessible metal parts of items of electrical equipment and/or accessible metal parts of items that are not electrical (such as pipes and radiators). These connections are made to prevent a dangerous voltage between two accessible metal parts, in case there is a fault. You may need supplementary bonding for rooms containing a bath or shower, except where all circuits in the room are RCD protected and the main bonding is up to the required standard.
Voltage – The force of electricity.
I’ve been told I need a new fusebox/consumer unit. Why?
Since the turn of the century when we first started to use electricity in our homes, the number of electrical devices we use day to day has steadily increased. Unfortunately, this increase in demand sometimes requires an upgrade of the electrical system, all too often domestic installations that were designed and installed to supply a much lower number of items is being expected to cope with this huge increase in demand. The single most important piece of electrical equipment in your home is your fusebox or consumer unit, this item is responsible for your safety and should the worse happen can actually be responsible for saving your life.
Fuseboxes or consumer units come from a variety of manufacturers and are made of several different materials, regardless of age they are generally made up from 2 different types, those with fuse carriers and fuse wire or fuses, and those with circuit breakers.
Type 1. Fuse carriers containing fuse wire or fuses.
Most people are amazed to find out that rewirable fuses offer NO PROTECTION against electric shock, they were only ever installed to protect the circuit. As you can see from the photograph below, they are made from plastic that can become brittle and damaged over time. There is also the high risk of installing the incorrect rating of fuse wire. This can lead to overload and fire. Some older style fuseboxes have ceramic or Bakelite fuse carriers. These fuseboxes started being installed in homes over 70 years ago when the number of appliances and type of lighting were very different to today’s modern electrical items. In addition, most of these types of fusebox also have a wooden frame or back box, adding to an already risky fire hazard. If you have this type of fusebox installed, contact your local office today and arrange an appointment for one of our engineers to call and advise you about upgrading this item.
Type 2. Circuit breakers.
Although this type of device might seem a modern equivalent to rewirable fuses, circuit breakers have actually been around for over 50 years. Over that amount of time, they can break down, overheat or generally not behave as they should. There is also the chance that new circuits may have been added over time and overloaded these already old breakers. If you think your existing fusebox may be overloaded, contact your local office today for free advice or, to arrange a free home safety check.
Regardless of what type of protection is installed in your home, there are some easy to spot signs that you would benefit from upgrading to a new, correctly protected consumer unit, these are:
A professionally installed and properly certified consumer unit WILL improve your electrical safety. Inspection and testing of your existing circuits during this installation will confirm the integrity of the existing circuits in your property as well as highlighting any issues that may not yet be apparent. For more information regarding upgrading your fusebox/consumer unit, including all certification and Part P Building Regulations compliance contact your local office today.
A newly installed and up to date consumer unit WILL improve the safety of your entire installation
Before you buy a new light bulb, read our top tips to avoid a costly mistake.
The light bulb market has gone through enormous change since traditional incandescent bulbs were removed from the market and replaced with energy-saving bulbs. Below, we walk you through what you need to know to buy the best bulb for your needs.
They could save you hundreds in the long run. There are three main types of regular light bulb – CFLs (compact fluorescent lamp – the standard type of energy-saving light bulb), halogens or LEDs. For a quick guide, below is a summary of each and how much a typical 700+ lumen bulb might cost you per year if you have it on for around three hours a day.
CFL annual running cost £2.04
CFLs are cheap and widely available in a range of sizes and outputs. Some older CFLs were slow to brighten, but this has improved considerably in recent years. They are four times more efficient than incandescent bulbs and quickly pay for themselves in energy savings – but not everyone likes the light they emit.
Halogen annual running cost £8.42.
Light from a halogen bulb is similar to an incandescent in colour and quality, as both use a tungsten filament. There’s little difference between the two in the amount of energy used and halogens are significantly more expensive to run than other energy savers. With an expected life span of less than two years, a halogen bulb is unlikely to pay for itself before it fails.
LED annual running cost £1.71
These use almost 90% less energy than a traditional incandescent, making them the most energy-efficient type of lighting. LEDs are usually more expensive to buy, but can last up to 25 years. In the long term they are the cheapest option. An LED could save you more than £180 in energy use over its lifetime, compared with an old-style incandescent bulb.
3. Get the right light bulb brightness and colour.
Decide what type of light you’d prefer. This breaks down simply into brightness, otherwise known as watts or lumen output; and the colour of the light, measured on the Kelvin scale. Don’t be put off by these technical terms – here is a short explanation of each.
Watts and lumens (brightness) In the past, when nearly everyone filled their homes with incandescent bulbs, brightness was measured in watts – which is actually a measure of power. Since the introduction of energy-saving bulbs, this is a less useful measure of brightness, as new bulbs use a lot less power to produce the same amount of light. So, instead, light output is measured in lumens. Remember, the higher the number of lumens the brighter the light.
Use this chart to see equivalent watt and lumen output for old-style incandescent and the three types of energy-saving bulbs (LEDs, halogens and CFLs).
As a rough guide, around 400 lumens would be suitable for a bed-sized table lamp, whereas you might want between 1,500 and 3,000 lumens in total (from more than one bulb) for a good-sized living room.
Now you have decided on how bright you want your bulbs, you need to decide on the colour of the light. Kelvin scale (colour of light) Many of us have felt the sinking feeling of getting a new bulb home, switching it on and being bathed with a stark white or bluey light that’s more akin to a trip to A&E than a warm cosy living room. The colour of light is measured on the Kelvin scale, which is actually a measure of temperature. This is why light bulb manufacturers often refer to colour temperature on the packaging. Now we don’t need to get into the ins and outs of the Kelvin scale in this guide, save to say that the numbers you see on the side of the bulb packet denote the colour of light that the bulb will emit. Most people have become used to the warm yellowy light given out by the old incandescent bulb, which is 2,700 on the Kelvin scale.
Midday sunlight is about 5,500k, sunset or sunrise lighting is around 2,500k and a candle is around 1,600k.
The colour of light can impact everything, from your mood to the colour of the vegetables on your chopping board, so it is important to get the colour of light that you prefer. Use the picture below to match the Kelvin scale rating with the colour you are after and go armed with this when you head out to buy your bulb. CRI (colour rendering index) To complicate matters further, each bulb is given a CRI score. CRI stands for Colour Rendering Index and is a measure of the ability of a light source to accurately represent different colours. Put simply, you want to make sure you get a bulb that makes your tomatoes look red, rather than a strange orangey colour. The image below shows the impact of CRI – the left-hand image is shot under light with a CRI value of 100, the image on the right is a CRI value of 80. Traditional incandescent and halogen bulbs have a near perfect CRI and score in the high 90s. LEDs and CFLs are a little behind this and are more likely to have a CRI value in the mid 80s. 80 is considered an acceptable level, although like many things it comes down to personal preference.
As you can see in the images above, there are a few errors in the colours in the right-hand image. The carrots are not quite as orange, the work surface appears slightly cold and blue and the green is also a subtly different shade. A CRI score of 80 is still pretty accurate and suitable for most lighting situations, however if you want a light to pick out a particular work surface or perhaps even a painting, you may want to pick a light source with a high CRI value.
4. Find the best shape
Now you have your bulb fitting and the colour and brightness in the bag, you will need to decide the shape of the bulb you want. Again, there is a bewildering variety and different brands have a subtly different look and characteristics. See the graphic, above, for the most common shapes. If you are just replacing a blown bulb, it’s useful to take the old one to the shop to match it with ones on the shelves. Each of the different shapes provides a slightly different spread and angle of light, from the almost 360-degree spread of a globe or golf bulb, to the narrow beam of a spotlight. The ‘right’ shape of the bulb and spread of the light is essentially down to your personal preference, but do consider how the bulbs will look when they are switched off as well as on, and whether they will fit sensibly in their chosen location. For example, you wouldn’t want a large stick shape if it will protrude from the top of your bedside lamp.
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