Find an Electrician you can trust in Blackburn.

With each year that passes, the amount of electric cars on the road keeps rising and with them comes a necessity to develop new infrastructures and also accessories like charging cables as well as connectors for easy sustainability. This concept is still pretty much new to the general public as most people still use vehicles that are fuelled by petrol and diesel. There are also some differences in design which asides from the lack of an engine underneath the vehicle’s bonnet, the way in which an electric car is filled up largely varies petrol or diesel powered vehicles. There’s a lot that people will have to learn about electric cars and even more so when it comes to their everyday use. One of the most common questions a lot of individuals ask about electric cars is whether all electrical vehicle chargers are the same. If you’re also looking for an answer to this question, then you’ve come to right place!

If you’re interested in getting an electric car, charging your vehicle at home may not generate any major concern but what about making use of the public charging system? This is when it gets a bit confusing because if you’ve never had to do it before you may worried about making use of the wrong charger on your car. So the question is, does every electric vehicles have the same plug? The answer is simple - there are different plugs and cables for varying electric vehicle brand as well as points of use. In general, you’d have to choose most suitable charging level for your electric vehicle.

There’s a need to ensure that all the paperwork are in place,before putting your house up for sale on the property market. An very good example of such essential document is the Electrical Installation Certificate (EIC) which is used as a proof to attest to the fact that the electrical installation works carried out on the property in question was actually done and also whether or not it satisfies the building regulations. It’ll be a contravention of the law to put your house up for sale or actually sell it without producing this important document. Therefore, if you’re looking to sell your house you may wish to know the electrical documentations you need to complete the task. In this post, we aim to provide you an in depth insight into the electrical certificates needed to sell your house while also helping you make informed decisions along the process. Let’s take a look!

You’ll need to obtain two certificates in the event whereby the electrical work done was performed by a registered and qualified electrician. The two documents include:

• The Building Regulations Compliance Certificate - This is provided to confirm that the electrical works done complies with the Building regulations.
• The Electrical Installation Certificate (EIC), alternatively you can have a Minor Electrical Installation Works Certificate which is provided to confirm that the electrical works done satisfies the BS 7671.

In addition, the local building control body must be provided with a copy of these documents. In such an event whereby the electrical work was completed after 2013 and either it was done by yourself or by an individual who isn’t a registered professional, then there’s a need to make sure that work is inspected by a registered third party certifier within 5 days of completion. If the work is found to be satisfactory, you’ll be issued a copy of an Electrical Installation Condition Report.

If you’re about to acquire an electrical safety certificate, it’s quite normal to be a bit curious about the length of time the certificate is expected to last for. Well, this is also a bit tricky as the duration is determined by your type of property. In this post, we aim to shed more light into this topic in order to give you a detailed insight and help you make informed decisions moving forward.

As earlier stated, the validity of your electrical safety certificate or report is based on the type of property you own. In event whereby you happen to have tenants living in the property, the electrical safety certificate will last for 5 years or with every change of tenancy, depending on whichever comes first. However, in the event whereby you happen to live in your property, the electrical safety certificate is going to remain valid for 10 years. What’s more? For commercial properties, the electrical safety certificate is also valid for only 5 years. Meanwhile for caravans and swimming pools, the electrical safety certificate possesses a shorter lifespan of just 3 year and 1 year respectively.

The suggested length of validity is only the industry standard. And as such, landlords are not under any legal obligation to get their electrical safety certificate updated at the aforementioned times. According to the Landlord and Tenant Act of 1985, landlords are only required to keep the electrical wiring in proper condition at all times. It does not in any form require landlords to get an electrical safety report or certificate.

One of the primary reasons why you need to get an electrical certificate is that you may not be allowed to show legal proof that the wiring and electrical set up in your property was in the best possible condition in the event of an electrical accident. Several insurance companies will not accept your claims if you’re unable to present the electrical safety certificate.

Tesla’s top-of-the-range battery storage system is still one of the most expensive on the market. It has a huge 13.5kWh usable capacity and can even keep you up and running during a power cut. But how long does a Tesla Powerwall battery last? And does this mean it’s worth investing in one?

The Tesla Powerwall 2.0 comes with a 10-year warranty. But Tesla says that it should last way beyond this – at least 5 years longer. The standard warranty says that it should work at 70% capacity for the full 10 years – so if it loses more than 30% of its storage capacity within that time, it should still be covered.

While the Tesla Powerwall does last a long time, it has a large capacity that most average households won’t require, and it’s a costly option. After installation, the Powerwall 2.0 will set you back between £6,500 and £9,000, so ideally you want it to last past its 10-year warranty.

Before you splash out, consider the size of the solar panel system you want to install or you already have. Will it generate enough electricity to make it worth storing in the Powerwall? If not, are you expecting to upgrade your solar panels to a larger system in the future? If you are, then it might be worth investing in a Powerwall. It might also be better to wait until you come to upgrade your solar panels – the solar battery price trend is going the same way as solar panels, so they will probably continue to decrease in price as more people adopt the technology.

How Does Electric Central Heating Work?

An electric central heating works to provide a number of benefits for you. These benefits include the following:

lSpace Heating

• The storage heaters work during the night to store electricity which would be used to heat up the heat retaining bricks. This, in turn, will release this energy throughout the day to warm up the room.

• There are also electric radiators which works to deliver on-demand heat and as a result, economy tariffs are totally avoided. It will generate heat by itself rather than storing it and with the controls, you can easily determine the amount of heat to be released when you require it.

• There is the wet electric system options as well which comes with water filled radiators. This operates in a similar way to normal radiators, however, it makes use of electricity to heat up the water.

lWater Heating

• An electric boiler operates in a very similar manner to other boiler types, just that it makes use of electricity as its fuel. Here, the water is warmed by a heating element and the water is later moved to several radiator throughout the house by a pump. These electric boiler types earns you tariff savings as you’ll be able to heat water at night.

• Heat pumps geothermal or air source, redistributes heat instead of creating it. Heat pumps are powered by electricity and it works by absorbing heat either from the air or ground which it then channels it through a pump. This can then be incorporated in heating either water or a room.

• A dedicated immersion heater is another water heating option. Here, the heating element is positioned inside a hot water cylinder. In a similar fashion to a kettle, the element heats the nearby water. Immersion heater can act either as a backup or your main heating element.

If you possess an electric vehicle, then you should be well aware of how expensive the cost of getting electric vehicle chargers can be. The portable charger happens to be one of the most costly chargers that’s present in the market today. As a result, many individuals wonder exactly why ev chargers cost so much. After all, its just a little box with some wiring, so why should it cost up to hundreds of pound or a grand plus another grand or thereabouts for installation. In this post, we’ll give you insights to some of the primary reasons why ev chargers are relatively expensive when compared to other charges. Let’s take a look!

• Production factors. The manufacturing and testing phase alone is actually one of the costliest aspects in building a high quality and reliable charger. As stated by one manufacturer, the cost required to make metallic materials to trip switches to the testing phase and the marketing efforts, can all run up to over £30,000. As a result of this high production cost, the average of a new ev charger can be between  £125 to about £300 depending on whether you need a type 1 or type 2 charger as well as the size required.
• Specific design. If you own an ev, you’d know that there’s a standard charging port which allows for easy charging just like in petrol or diesel powered vehicles. The goal is to design a universal charging port whereby all electric vehicles can charge sufficiently.
• Safety. The development of a electrical design involves a lot of engineering which are quite pricey. However, this is a top priority to ensure the safety of both the user and car.

If you’re thinking of adding a solar battery to your home, you might be wondering whether or not it’s going to work in a power cut. If yes, then you’re not alone as this is one of the most common questions asked when it comes to solar batteries. In this post, we aim to provide you with a detailed answer to solve this concern once and for all.

The answer to this question is, it depends. The main reason why your solar batteries will usually not work or provide your home with the much-needed back up power is as a result of the several threats it poses. You should be aware that both your solar panels and battery are connected to the main grid. When a power cut occurs, your engineers will have to operate on the grid. If the solar panels or batteries are in operation at the period there’s a high chance the engineers would be electrocuted by the electricity that’s being produced. As a result of this, solar inverters are usually designed to automatically switch off once a power cut occurs. However, it should also be noted that if your solar battery possesses backup functionality, you’ll be able to make use of your solar energy in the event of a power cut. In other words, what determines if your home battery would work in a power cut is the availability or otherwise of a backup functionality.

Furthermore, you might also wish to know if your solar panels will continue to charge the battery in a power cut. Well, this depends on the type of backup system you possess. There are some more affordable batteries that are designed to automatically release their stored energy upon the detection of a power cut. And this is mostly because the battery inverter is usually smaller than the solar inverter which allows the energy from the solar inverter to the transmitted to the battery - risking an overload. However, if otherwise, then energy can continue to be transmitted to the battery until its fully charged.

The importance of selecting the right size battery for your home simply cannot be overemphasized. A lot of home and property owners are facing this challenge and understandably so. Selecting the right battery size for your needs depend on a number of factors which includes your motive for adding a battery, your electricity usage, your budget as well as your panel array size, be it new or existing. In this post, we’re going to take you through some of these factors to help you determine the right battery size for your home or property. Let’s take a look!

• Your motive for getting a battery. While most people purchase a battery to wipe out their need to purchase electricity from the grid with the hope of making some savings, others add a battery so as to enjoy backup power. There are also some who just needs it to power their home with solar energy. It’ll not be economical to size a battery to effectively take you off the grid, but if your motive is to make savings, then you’ll should expect to purchase some electricity from the grid during the year.
• Electricity usage. The average household uses about 16kWh of electricity on a daily basis. During the daylight hours, most of these household will use a third of their electricity when the solar panels are still generating electricity, while the remaining two third are purchased from the grid. In other words, you’ll require a minimum of 10kWh battery capacity if you were to use a battery to power the electricity you purchase from the grid.

For a typical British household, you’ll most likely need a 5kWh solar power system which normally generates about 17 to 21 kWh on a daily basis depending on your location in the UK.