Find an Electrician you can trust in Newton-le-willows.

For most homeowners, rewiring a house is always a sore subject they’d prefer to avoid especially when they think of the expenses they’d have to incur or the mess and complexity that the project involves. However, this is a subject we’d all have to face sooner or later as an old wiring poses a lot of drawbacks, while an improper wiring can also prove to be more expensive and even cause more damage as it can lead to not only electrical shorts but also electrical fires. When a wire triggers a spark or a current overload, this can cause fire and the entire house may be down in ashes within a couple of minutes. Hence, one of the several reasons why house rewiring is just too important to ignore.

In this FAQ, we’re going to take you through the house rewiring process so as to ensure that your project is done to perfection. However, if you do not feel confident enough to pull this off, we’d strongly recommend you get in touch with a reliable electrical professional who can guarantee that a safe and effective work is done.

• Firstly, you’d have to upgrade the main service panel to a minimum of 100 amps
• Fit dedicated circuits in the service panel for all the home’s major appliances.
• Allow for a space of about 6 to 8 feet between electrical outlets throughout the house in order to cut out the need to run extension cords which could be a fire hazard.
• Install only three-prong type to avoid electrical shocks when fitting new outlets.
• Using ground fault circuit interrupters, fit outlets in the bathrooms, kitchen as well as outdoors. These outlets will shut themselves out so as to prevent electrical shock when wet.

Whether solar panel batteries are worth it depends on how much you’re at home and how big your solar panel system is. If you’re at home most of the day and your solar panels only generate enough electricity for you to use while for that day, then a battery probably isn’t worth investing in. However, if you have a large system that generates more than you can use or you’re out most of the day, then solar panel batteries are definitely worth it.

A solar battery storage system works by storing the electricity that your solar panels generated until you need to use it. That’s why they’re great for people that are out all day – your solar panels generate electricity all day whilst the sun’s out, but no one’s home so you’re using minimal energy except for things like your fridge and any appliances on standby. Most of the electricity charges your solar panel battery. Then, when you get home, your battery will discharge, and you’ll use all the solar electricity that your panels generated during the day.

Solar batteries are also excellent for people with large solar panel systems that generate more than they use in the day. Any electricity that you don’t use during the day will charge the battery, so in the evening when the sun goes down, you’ll just use the excess electricity that’s stored in the battery.

To work out whether solar panel batteries are worth it for you, you’ll need to work out how much of your solar electricity you’re using already. If you’re at home and you’re able to run your appliances all while your solar panels are generating electricity, a battery might not be worth it. Also, if you’re receiving export payments from the Feed-in Tariff Scheme (FITs) or the Smart Export Guarantee (SEG), you might want to look at the rate you’re getting paid. If it’s a good rate, it might be more cost-effective to continue exporting unused electricity to the grid. Speak to an MCS-registered installer that will be able to help you work this out.

If you’re considering getting a solar thermal system, one of the first things that comes to mind is the possibility of the system functioning properly during the cold months. The short and simple answer to this question is yes, a solar thermal system works in the winter. However, the downside here is that it’ll be a lot less efficient when compared to how it operates during the warmer months or summer. As a result of this fact, you’ll likely need to rely more on your boiler, immersion heater or any other backup heating system during this period as your solar thermal system will fail to contribute as much as it does during the warmer months. So what exactly is the reason why solar thermal is less effective and less efficient in the winter period? Let’s have a look!

As you know, solar thermal system banks on the sun’s energy to heat the water for your home’s use. During the cold months or winter, the sunlight becomes a lot less available when compared to the warmer months, as a result, there’s less sunlight that’s available to be used for its solar energy. And even more so at the periods when the days are shorter or skies are clearly overcast.

Also having a great impact on a solar thermal system’s output is heavy snow. Flat plate collectors normally have the capacity to cope better during snowy conditions as the light that’s able to travel through the snow will heat up the absorber plate - thereby making the snow slide off more quickly. However, the case is contrary with evacuated tube collectors which possesses a form of vacuum insulation that’s crafted to minimize the loss of heat, meaning they can’t generate heat to melt and cause the snow to slide off in a similar way.

Unlike in houses constructed in the 1960s, where you’d probably need to rewire the entire house unless the wiring is the modern PVCu coated type, majority of houses built in the 1970s would not need to be rewired. Most often than not, what they’ll need is just a consumer unit as well as an earthing upgrade. If you happen to have a consumer unit change, the electrical professional you hire would have to inspect the most parts of the property regardless. With that answered, you may also wish to know just how often a house would need to be rewired.

First and foremost, in order to make sure that your wiring is safe there’s a need to ensure that a periodic inspection is carried out by a fully licensed and qualified electrician every 10 years. Meanwhile for rental properties with tenants, the landlord is required to carry out a periodic inspection at least every 5 years. This will make sure that the electrical works in the property are safe, up to date and suitable for continued usage.

In order to determine whether your house needs to be rewired, there are some signs or indicators you’d have to watch out for. If you notice one or even a combination of the following , then you should get in touch with a registered electrician:

• Discoloured outlets and switches
• Persistent burning smell
• Outlets problems
• Flickering lights
• Tripping circuit breaker or blown fuses
• If you happen to possess aluminium wiring
• If you have continually experienced electrical shocks

It must, however, be said that rewiring a house is a messy and quite disruptive work. It’s also considered to be quite dangerous and recommended to be carried out only by a professional is well trained and experienced when it comes to tackling electrical works.

Periodic testing and inspections should be completed: Every 10 years for your home, Every five years for rented accommodation, Every three years for a caravan, Every year for a swimming pool.Electrical inspections are also carried out when buying, selling or renting a property.

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.

Are Electric Radiators Expensive To Run?

Just like many home additions, the running costs of electric radiators varies largely on a number of factors. Great number of electric radiators typically comes with an in built thermostat which is designed to turn itself off automatically when not in use in order to save energy.

However the energy provider’s set electricity charge tariff will also have a great influence on an electric radiator’s running cost. Let’s take a look at the running costs of an electric radiator!

A 600 Watt electric radiator ( on a standard electricity tariff) will usually have a running cost ranging between 4 to 6 pence each hour. However you should also take note that this scenario might change in situations whereby the electric radiator is not calling for heat the full 60 minutes of each hour. And this is more likely to be the situation as the thermostat is programmed in such a way that enables it to turn itself off immediately there’s an achievement of your required room temperature level - usually within 10 minutes from the time it was switched on. As a result of this, the running cost per hour of electric radiators will be greatly reduced to just about 1 to 2 pence.

It’s also important to note that enhancing the insulation of your home can go a long way to add to the heat retention value of each room. Consequently, the duration at which the electric radiator calls more heating will be significantly reduced, which in turn, implies a lower electricity bill.

Another key factor that can play a huge role in saving on your heating bills is the programming as well as usage of your electric radiators. Every radiator comes with an independent digital thermostat with a number of 24/7 programming options to help achieve maximum efficiency. When the radiator is properly set according to your lifestyle, you can save as much as 50 percent on your heating bills.

Obviously the performance of a solar thermal system will vary depending on the location of the home, the insulation of the property, and your own hot water requirements. Solar thermal panels are capable of providing all of your hot water requirements from April to September. They will still make a contribution to your hot water needs for the rest of the year, but in general you will need a backup system to further heat the water in the colder months.