Welcome to my blog page where I like to break the mould of a typical Electrician and offer advice by sharing my knowledge and experiences.
What is a Class 2 light fitting?
Class 2 light fittings, also called double insulated lights, are designed to operate without the need for an earth wire. They usually have two layers of insulation which cover the live parts, for example the cables inside the fitting.
Many properties that we visit don't have any adequate earth wire present so homeowners find that they are unable to have their nice new chrome light fittings installed as without an earth there is a risk of electrocution with these fittings
An RCD, or residual current device, is a life-saving device which is designed to prevent you from getting a fatal electric shock if you touch something live, such as a bare wire. It can also provide some protection against electrical fires. RCDs offer a level of personal protection that ordinary fuses and circuit-breakers cannot provide.
An RCD is a sensitive safety device that switches off electricity automatically if there is a fault.
To those not keyed into the world of electricity, we wouldn’t blame you for not knowing about RCD’s and how essential they are to keeping you and your family safe at home. But don’t worry, because that’s why we exist; To make sure you can be as safe as possible in your own homes!
Now the nights are turning chillier, thoughts are turning to keeping warmer particularly at night when the central heating might be switched off.
Choosing an electrician can sometimes feel like a minefield. For those of us outside of the world of wires and circuit breakers, the various terminology and qualifications electricians use can sound like complete gibberish.
There are many electrician's out there, you only have to do a search on Google to find your local Electrician, but have you ever questioned their knowledge and experience? The answer is probably no, right? After all, they are qualified as an electrician, they should know everything about electrics, right? Wrong.
You must do your homework before selecting a tradesperson, sadly...
So this week has seen a couple of jobs that included installing new protective bonding in customers homes.
My customers did not know what is was or that it even existed until their boiler engineer told them they needed to have it when carrying out an annual service. Once we had spoke about it, they realised the importance and one customer was actually astounded that no one had ever told her about protective bonding before.
I am sure there are lots of local residents that are in the same position it may be time for your Local Electrician to explain to you a little more...
Hi and welcome to your local electricians blog
This last week has been a strange week, the snow has made travelling around Bexley and Bromley some what difficult, we still managed OK and thankfully didn't have to delay a single job due to weather!!
So whilst getting around at a snails pace I have had a few conversations this week with different people about the same subject.
The topic was earthing, what is it and why is it needed?
With Christmas just around the corner this is an expensive time of year for us all and the last thing we need is a hefty bill on top of everything because we had to call out a tradesperson over the Christmas period.
It has been a while since I have written a Blog, as some of you may know we have updated our website so we have been busy with that, let me know your thoughts by the way.
This week I wanted to talk about outdoor lighting as it is this time of year that we have many customers calling wishing to have their security lights replaced or checked for functionality, or simply upgrade their outdoor lights.
Nurses Day is being celebrated on Friday 12th May in the U.K. Nursing staff are the superheroes of health care. They're there when needed most, changing lives with their unique set of skills.
We wanted to celebrate Nurses' Day to give something back to our servicemen and women by offering a massive 20% of all electrical works for serving members of our NHS, police, firemen and women and ambulance staff.
Hi and Welcome to the Blog of Your Local Bromley and Bexley Electrician.
Spring is around the corner, the weather is improving, time to start opening the garden for the summer.
Gardens and garden lighting in particular are now just as important to many homeowners as the interior of their home. However, when lighting up an outside area it is important to ensure it is installed professionally and safely. NICEIC recommend that you should always use a registered electrician to carry out any work so it is safe for use.
SAFETY TIPS FOR THE GARDEN
Welcome to my blog, this week I would like to talk about the benefits of LED Lighting and how simple it is to save money and replace your lights for LED.
If you have a home with lots of spotlights you will know how frequently the halogen lamps can blow, normally leaving 2 options:
1 – keep changing them and have a large stock of spares.
2 – leave them and then get frustrated as the number increases.
Now the nights are turning chillier, thoughts are turning to keeping warmer particularly at night when the central heating might be switched off.
Electric blankets have long been popular option for having a warm toasty bed to sleep in at night Used correctly, they are safer than hot water bottles which carry a scolding risk particularly if the lids are not secured correctly.
Hello welcome to the first blog of 2017, wow what a year.
I hope your Christmas and end of year celebrations went off without a bang, especially where the electrics are concerned.
It’s now been 1 whole year since the changes in electrical regulations meant that any new fusebox installed in your home now needs to be made of a non-combustible or metal material. As a result lots of local residents require new fuseboards and as part of the process we would ordinarily visit to assess the current electrics.
Twas the night before Christmas and was quiet in the house
The children are sleeping and your settled on the couch
You glance across the room at your wonderful tree
And crack a wry smile for LED
The lights twinkle and shimmer in rather quick haste
the low running costs and long life leave a good taste
remember to blow out the candles and turn of the lights
Put out the fire also, Santa’s coming tonight!
The morning has come Christmas day is here
The excited children screeching in your ear
We at M.T.R Electrics want to wish you all a very happy Christmas. Every year over the Christmas season a number of families in the UK suffer as a result of poor electrical installations; this can be due to additional loads placed on an already suffering property or by introducing a hazard such as badly designed or maintained festive lighting. Christmas lights for both indoor and outdoor are a big part of the Christmas celebrations, but, consider if you are you putting your home and your loved ones at risk...
Christmas Lights – Our Top Tips:
Saving money and Christmas don't go exactly hand in hand with each other.
However, Christmas doesn't have to be a huge big spending frenzy and it is possible to save money particularly on your energy bill this Christmas.
M.T.R Electrics show you how you can save money on electricity and other energy in your home without going without – and your guests will never even know!
Christmas is a time of year for fun and celebration; it is the time when we light up our streets almost in competition with each other. Year after year we add to our lighting displays, and not content with just lighting we also have motorised displays, all of this is great and adds to the Christmas atmosphere, and we at M.T.R Electrics would like to help you continue with this excellent tradition in a safe and considered way.
Getting your home prepared for winter is no different than making sure your car is safe on an icy road.
We depend on a safe and reliable electricity supply more than ever in the Winter - many people leave appliances working when they leave for work in the morning - things like tumble dryers, slow cookers, heating and lights - this puts big demand on your electricity supply - how do you know whether your electrical circuits in your home are capable of the increasing loads we place on them each year?
HOW OLD IS YOUR HOME?
30, 40, 50 years old?
Could you name the one thing in your home which would have been used almost every day since it was built?
… it's one of the least likely things to ever get checked.
Yes, that's right - your electrics.
Your home couldn't operate without them.
Yet when was the last time you actually had then checked by a Qualified Electrician?
Most of the Bexley, Sidcup, and Bromley areas were built in the 1960s. Some houses on the borders of Eltham and Blackfen were built around 1947. This means that there are 1000s of homes with electrics that is over 50 years old.
It was a common practice back then to install lights with no earthing.
Installations were completed using rubber VIR cabling that is now past its life expectancy.
This cable is toxic and degraded so much so, that the insulation breaks when touched, exposing the live cables underneath.
Hi my name is mark, I am your local electrician, welcome to my blog.
Today I am going to talk about the electrics in your homes.
It still amazes me how many local homes have poor electrics and in some cases extremely dangerous electrics.
I recently went to a house that looked very nice and had lovely flooring, furniture and when you walk in it felt like a lovely home, well lived in for many years by various families probably.
Sounds strange doesn't it?
So what does it mean exactly?
Although some gardens in Bexley Bromley Sevenoaks Greenwich and Dartford rarely get used in winter what I mean is not to literally close your garden but the electrics and the appliances within the garden.
Allow me to explain…
Lawnmowers, strimmers, hedge trimmers, pressure washers, extension leads are all items that very often get left for the winter in sheds, under tarpaulins etc.
Standing at a recent seminar I noticed that although all qualified electricians are very different, from the works they complete, methods used and ways of achieving results, there is in fact 1 common theme.
We are all experts, all studied a long apprenticeship and have subsequently been living and breathing electrics for a long time. Yet most of our neighbours remain unaware of the dangers posed from electricity.
Why is that?
Wow what an unbelievably Hot September we are having!
If like us, you are uncomfortable with the hot sun all day whilst at work or at home most people tend to turn on the air-conditioning or plug in lots of fans in an attempt to keep cool.
This can create an issue that is very difficult to spot but potentially extremely dangerous… It's called overload.
By cranking up the air-con, plugging in fans you may unintentionally be heating up the supply cable also thus making it hotter and prone to melting, or worse still, catch fire.
Hi I am a Local Electrician in Bexley, Bromley, Sevenoaks and Dartford.
Welcome to The tales of an electrician...
A blog that takes a look on the day to day goings on of your local electrician but not, thankfully written every day.
Starting out like any other day saw the completion of several small local electrical jobs, things like changing switches and sockets, around 1 oclock I received a frantic phone call.
Hi and welcome to my blog, part 2 focusing this week on electrical inspections or electrical testing for domestic homes in Bexley, Sevenoaks, Bromley and Dartford
The inspection is based on the electrical system of each individual household and includes the following:
The adequacy of earthing and bonding.
The suitability of the switchgear and controlgear. For example an old fusebox with a wooden back, cast iron switches, or a haphazard mixture of both will need replacing.
Around this time of year I get many calls from homeowners asking me to carry out an electrical inspection of their property.
This can often due to an electrical problem that has arisen such as overloaded electrical circuits caused by switching on increased numbers of appliances such as electrical storage heaters now that the colder nights are drawing in.
August tends to be busy for moving home in the UK, normally in the build up to September which statistically is the busiest month for moving home.
When looking for a new property whether for living in or rental purposes something that very often gets overlooked is the electrics and specifically the safety elements and the functional side, these are not looked at in the property surveys and often the very first time they are noticed is when you move in.
Tomorrow marks the 58th anniversary of Friendship Day.
The first World Friendship Day was proposed for 30 July in 1958 and was started by Joyce Hall, the founder of Hallmark cards in 1930 – It was originally intended to be on the 2nd August and a day when people celebrated their friendships by sending cards.
Power cut what powercut
Welcome to the first of a new type of blog, one that takes a look on the day to day goings on of your local electrician but not, thankfully written every day, I am a Local Electrician in Bromley Kent.
It was an early start today, the first phone call came at 7.30 am, and luckily I was up and already hard at work.
On the other end of the phone was a local Lady who had suffered a power cut which began last night, it had now resulted in the entire contents of the freezer defrosting and being thrown away.
Recently I read about proposals being made in the House of Lords regarding changes to the renters’ rights bill. Lots of things discussed but I am going to focus on 1 particular item.
The proposal; Making five-yearly electrical safety checks mandatory in the private rental sector.
Charity Electrical Safety First are pushing for the new legislation to ensure that regular, five-yearly electrical safety checks in the private rental sector are a legal requirement for landlords or letting agents acting on their behalf.
Back in 1946 the first combined radio and TV licence, costing £2, was issued. In June 1946 there were in the region of 1.5m to 3m licences issued.
In March 2004, there were 24.5m licences in force and today in 2016 the figure is even higher than that.
Now you may ask what the relevance of a TV licence is to this blog and it’s simply this…
Many of the blogs that I have written in the past mention how important it is to have an RCD fitted in your home. Although I've explained the importance of having one, I've never actually explained what an RCD does and how it protects the household.
An RCD stands for Residual Current Device. It is an essential safety device that automatically cuts off the electricity if there is a problem. This might sound pretty boring and bog standard, and you might even wonder what the point of having one is.
Ever wondered what the difference is? Well, it involves a very simple check, but firstly what other factors should you be looking at before deciding who is a good electrician and who is a bad electrician. The answer is found right at the end of this post (in case you are wondering.)
It is not easy to spot who is good and who is bad at face value. This is why I always recommend doing some digging about and researching an electrician that you feel might fit the bill for your next job. Carrying out a few basic checks can save you a lot of trouble further down the line.
Unfortunately this scenario crops up quite often when I go out to visit clients.
I hear often that electricians turn up hours after they had arranged, or in some cases not at all. This understandably leads to much frustration on the Customers part and a general distrust of electricians in general.
I have to say that this kind of 'problem' is very common within the trade. M.T.R Electrics however pride themselves on professional service and we understand that time is very valuable.
Numerous references from the past have illuminated the fact that lamps have been used to spread light, even before electricity was invented, and lighting was given a new meaning. The use of lamps can be broadly classified into two eras: The pre-electrical era and the post electrical era.
Lamps: The Pre-electrical Era:
Your garden has so much potential - it can now be regarded as another room in your home - the last few years have seen rise to people opting for decking in their gardens - after all it is low maintenance, versatile and allows friends to congregate in one area with the possibility of stylish lighting added.
Many house holders in Bexley, Bromley and Sevenoaks often ring me to ask if there is a problem with their electrical supply. Understandably they are not sure if it is safe to continue to use their electrical appliances at home or if they should call an electrician.
The basic advice is if you suspect a problem with an electrical appliance, unplug and stop using it immediately, however if you suspect a problem with your actual electrical installation then consult your local qualified electrician who will be happy to come and take a look.
