Find an Electrician you can trust in Bridgend.

You should report any suspected faults to your landlord as soon as you know about them. It is their responsibility to investigate, and hire an electrician to do any work if needed. Know your obligations as a tenant and keep in touch with your landlord on a regular basis.

The cost to charge an electric car in the UK varies between home, work and public charging.

For a typical electric car with a 60kWh battery and ~200 mile range:

• Charging at home: Costs about £9.20 for a full charge. *
• Charging at work: Many employers will install workplace charging points and typically offer free access throughout the day.
• Charging at public locations: Public chargepoints at supermarkets or car parks are often free to use for the duration of your stay.
• Rapid charging: Rapid charging points are normally found at motorway service stations and typically cost £6.50 for a 30 min, ~100 mile charge.

Charging an electric car at home costs about £9.20 for a full charge* and is the most convenient and cost-effective way to keep your car fully charged. Most drivers will charge their electric car overnight, waking up to a full battery every morning.

Average domestic electricity rate in the whole of the UK is about 17p per kWh.

Fully charging a 60kWh electric car will cost between £9.00 and £9.90 (depending on where you live) and give you about 200 miles of range.

* Costs calculated at 17p/kWh based on usable battery is ~54kWh (90%).

Unlike in houses built in the 1970s where a good majority of the houses will not need to be rewired, for houses built in the 1960s you’d probably need to rewire the entire house unless the wiring is the modern PVCu coated type. Generally, the homes built especially in the 1960s and 1970s brought about enormous changes. This is because over the years our way of living began to change and as a result, our need for electricity became even greater. In response to this, the electrical systems we incorporate needed to change in order to match the new set standards.

In the 1960s, the amperage normally used was increased to 100, which enables home and property owners to power their dishwasher, microwave as well as refrigerator all on one circuit. However, while this may be a remarkable improvement for our grand parents, this is just enough to cater for our modern day appliances. In recent times, new homes are constructed using a wide range of dedicated circuits due to the fact that each of our appliances makes use of much more electricity to function. Consequently because the 100 amp panels of the 1960s possessed restricted space for breakers, home and property owners who still had the units in their homes will inevitably require a sub panel or a new panel entirely - meaning a total rewiring of their property.

Furthermore in the 1960s, builders turned to aluminium from the previously used copper as it was a great conductor and also happens to be relatively cheap. However, after a couple of years a host of electrical fires cropped up in houses that are wired using aluminium. It was later discovered that when the switch to aluminium was made, the light switches or receptacles which were originally made for the previously used copper was overlooked. It was learned that there’s a corrosive chemical reaction that arises as a result of the two dissimilar metals when connected. Hence, the more reason why aluminium wired houses in the 1960s needs to be rewired.

Solar thermal panels work by capturing heat directly from the sun and using it to heat water. This hot water is then passed through a coil to heat the water for your central heating system. Solar thermal systems are compatible with many existing conventional boilers with hot water tanks, and can be set up to feed in to your existing heating system.

When it comes to electrical works, safety is always paramount. Although a complete house rewiring service may seem quite expensive, when compared to the safety it provides, you’d realize it’s well worth it. We know all too well that human nature tends to prevail to overlook small electrical issues until it’s too late or probably gets out of hands. When this happens, not only will you have to spend more to get the issue resolved, but it may also lead to some damages to your property. Hence, the need to identify and resolve electrical deficiencies as soon as possible. In this post, we’ve compiled a shortlist of some of the top signs that your house needs rewiring. Let’s take a look!

• Dimming or flickering lights. This is one of the most common signs that your house needs to be rewired. When a light brightens, it means there’s too much voltage and when it dims, it implies it’s receiving too little voltage. You may be tempted to think this is a lighbulb issue, but this type of decline in power is usually as a result of a loose wiring or faulty circuits which should not be ignored.
• Regularly blown fuses. With the steady development in technology as well as electrical appliances within our houses, older style fuses that are not designed to contain this amount of electricity will end up blowing. If your fuse blows on a more regular basis, then there may be a need to upgrade them to more modern circuit breakers.
• Lightbulbs burning out in their sockets. This is usually a sign of bigger issues in your wiring which is often caused by fluctuations in voltage.
• Sparking outlets. These can be perfectly normal, but at times they can also be a clear signal of a potentially dangerous problem which should not be ignored.

Are you thinking of installing solar thermal systems in your home or property and wondering exactly how it works to generate electricity? Regardless of your motive, in this article you’ll learn in simple details how solar thermal is how solar thermal doesn't provide electricity for your home.

If you are looking to generate electricity for your home then Solar PV are able to generate electricity simply by absorbing and focusing sunlight in such a way to create a temperature level that’s high enough to generate the much needed electricity. There are two main components that comes with the solar energy collectors of each. These two components include, the reflectors ( mirrors), which works to absorb and concentrate the sunlight onto a receiver. In several types of the solar thermal power systems, a heat transfer fluid is then heated and distributed in the receiver so as to generate steam. Once the steam as been produced, it’s then transported to the turbine where it’s turned into a mechanical energy, which in turn powers the generator to produce electricity.

Solar thermal power or electric systems are usually embedded with a tracking system which keeps the sunlight concentrated on the receiver all day long as the sun changes position in the sky. They also come with a wide array of collectors which works of distribute the heat absorbed to a turbine as well as the generator. A lot of solar thermal power facilities will gave two or more plants with different arrays and generators.

Solar thermal power systems can also have a thermal energy storage system component whose work is to permit the solar collector system to heat an energy storage system during the day while energy storage system’s generated heat is incorporated in the production of electricity at night or during a cloudy weather when there’s not much sunlight.

How Much Does Pat Testing Cost?

When it comes to Portable Appliance Testing (PAT) there’s no particular rule that determines how much such services can cost. However as a rule of thumb, you should take note that when calling in a professional PAT testing company they’re likely to charge within the range of £1 to £3 per appliance that’s going to be tested. However, if you have quite a number of appliances to be tested, then there’s a good chance that the price per appliance can be reduced to serve as a bulk discount. So the more the appliances to be tested, the better.

There are companies that actually offer a pricing that’s below £1 per item, however companies likely are most definitely going to have a fixed minimum number of appliances that are required to be tested or a fixed minimum fee like 60 portable appliances. It must, however, be noted that pricing can also go beyond PAT Testing as several professional companies will add some additional advantages which is more than just the test of each individual appliance. This kind of pricing can include other services such as a thorough visual inspection, plug rewiring as well as fuse replacements. They can also include stuffs like Pail and Fail labels in the pricing.

Generally, the average price of PAT testing will be based on various influencing factors such as the type of the appliance, setting, number of appliance to be tested as well as other related expenses. What’s more? Most PAT companies will offer a company with a PAT Testing Certificate so as to certify that the company is in total compliance and also remains a safe environment to work.

How Much To Install Solar Panels And Battery?

Are you thinking about installing solar panels and battery in your home and wondering how much the installation is going to cost? Well, you’re not alone. This is one of the most commonly asked questions in the solar world, but unfortunately a precise answer can not be provided. This is mainly due to the fact that solar panel systems come in varying sizes which is the main influencing factor that determines how much electricity that can be generated. In other words, the larger the system, the more the electricity that’ll be produced to your home’s benefit.

Generally, for a solar system size of 1kW, the average cost of the solar panel ranges between £1800 to £1850, 2kW is between £3600 to £3700, solar panel size of 3kW ranges between £5500 to £5600 and finally, 4kW is between £6000 to £6050. For example, with the aforementioned prices in mind, the cost of solar panels for a standard 3 bedroom house will range between £5520 to £6040 as the high electricity demands will need the installation of 3 to 4kW solar system size.

Meanwhile the installation cost of solar batteries is also dependent on a number of influencing factors like the size as well as the make of the battery. Generally, you can expect to spend within the range of £500 to £2000 to install your batteries depending on aforementioned factors. In the event whereby you’ll be retrofitting, you might also need to include an additional cost of £1000 for an inverter. However, it’s important to note that there are only quite a few hybrid systems which are able to combine a battery storage with an inverter.