Moving
house is always a stressful time – whether you rent or own your
home, finding your next home can be a bewildering choice. Most
people have a tick or wish list of what features their next home must
have, but how much notice do you take of the electrics? Sure you
might have a cursory look at the sockets – a little knowledge will
tell you if they're in need of replacing.
Factoring
in the cost of electrical upgrades will be necessary in many homes,
so before you buy or agree to rent, make sure you are happy with the
electrics or provision is made to upgrade them to suit your needs.
Look
beyond the location and window frames!
A house in the best location and with excellent kerb appeal, may be
hiding a multitude of electrical sins under it's wings. Don't fall
for the looks alone, scratching more below the surface when viewing
could uncover electrical problems that you may not have been aware of
until you had already moved.
- Lack of electrical sockets
Many homes in the UK were built when reliance on electricity wasn't
so huge. It is not unusual to see homes built in the 1960's or
1970's have just a couple of single sockets in the living room and
perhaps one double socket in the kitchen. When you consider how many
electrical gadgets we own – from TV's to games consoles, sky boxes
to cordless telephones, it is quickly obvious that two single sockets
would be nowhere near enough to cope with the demand!
The reality is, many people are living in households with not enough
sockets for their needs. In turn this is creating a reliance on
extension leads. This in itself is not the crime of the century,
however extension leads used in locations such as a kitchen where
most powerful household appliances are located, are when dangerous
electrical issues such as overheating, fire and electrical shock or
injury could occur due to unintentional extension lead misuse.
What needs to change: If
purchasing a house which appears to have had no electrical updates
carried out recently, it is a good idea to ask a qualified and
registered electrician to carry out an Electrical Installation
Condition Report (EICR) to ensure the wiring is safe. You can
request an EICR prior to purchase so you know what you dealing with.
If the wiring is sound, it would be a good idea to ask the
electrician to install additional sockets where they will be needed.
As electricians in East London, we bring many owned and rented homes up to
modern living standards by simply installing extra sockets in prime
locations such as the kitchen and living room.
- Age of electrical accessories
Signs that the property needs electrical attention sooner rather than
later is the age of electrical accessories. As electricians in South East London we still come across homes that have not had any
electrical work carried out since the 1920's! So when we say old
accessories we really do mean old! Look out for round switches and
sockets rather than square. The pins and switches will also be
round. Additionally look out for old style sockets installed in
skirting boards rather than on the wall and take a look at the light
fittings – if you don't see a PVC cable hanging down into the light
pendant, this means that the wiring may well be outdated and needs
attention from an electrician.
What needs to change:
Electrical accessories of this age will need to replaced as chances
are they're going to be unsafe. Using an electrical installation of
such an age will be putting you and your family at risk of electrical
shock and injury. The property may well need a full rewire, so make
sure you factor in the cost of this in the offer you make on the
property. Ask an electrician as soon as possible to advise on the
best solution.
- Wiring condition
A common problem we see in homes
here at Fulcher Edwards is the condition of internal home wiring.
Many householders assume that because the sockets and switches seem
modern that the wiring will be fine too. Unfortunately we have seen
too many times shocking wiring systems that are either out of date,
have been tampered with or are showing signs of deterioration due to
age. Many home owners want to upgrade their switches and sockets
from white to chrome for example only to find out from the
electrician that the wiring is in a dangerous condition.
What
needs to change:
Old wiring in itself is not necessarily a safety issue so long as
there is no sign of tampering and it is being kept as it is. However
wiring of this age would not allow for upgraded electrical
accessories. Wiring that is found to be dangerous would require a
full or partial rewire dependant on the overall condition of the home
electrical system. This is why as electrical contractors in London,
we advise that an EICR is carried out to ascertain what condition the
electrical installation is in your London property.
Many
people assume that because the sockets and switches seem OK that
everything else is. If you rent your property, ask your landlord for
the EICR certificate. If there isn't one, what are they trying to
hide?
- Look out for DIY electrical work
Some
signs of electrical DIY are obvious, others less so. One of the
easiest methods of looking out for substandard or DIY electrical work
is to look for cables that are situated on walls in a haphazard way.
A prime example of this is cable running up the centre of a wall that
has been covered with wallpaper. You will be able to see the cables
underneath the wallpaper. Whilst this does not automatically mean
the installation is unsafe, it gives you a good idea of the
standards, and the fact that someone thought this was acceptable.
If
the seller or landlord mentions that electrical work has been carried
out recently, ensure that you see the Part P certification for the
work as this is a legal requirement. Without it, you have no way of
knowing if the work is even safe.
Well
maintained property electricals are a valuable property asset
(rewires are pricey.) They also provide you and loved ones with peace
of mind day to day.
What
needs to change: Signs of DIY
electrical work and uncertified recent electrical work will need to
be corrected by a qualified and registered electrician. If no EICR
has been carried out on the property in the last 10 years (or 5 years
in a rented property) then this should be carried out as a priority
to ascertain what condition the electrics are currently in.
- How old is the fuse board or consumer unit
If you are looking for a swift answer as to the likely condition of
the property electrics, then take a look at the fuse board/consumer
unit. The age of the fuse board does not automatically deem the
electrics safe or unsafe, but it will indicate how likely it is that
you need to spend money on upgrading the electrics. Fuse boards
with a wooden back could have been installed as long ago as the
1950's and chances are will need to be upgraded to ensure electrical
safety. Older fuse boards may still be safe so long as they are
checked over by an electrician to ascertain this fact. However, if
you are looking for the highest standard of electrical safety in your
property, the consumer unit should be fitted with a working RCD. The
presence of an RCD is normally marked clearly on a switch located on
the consumer unit itself as either RCD or T (for test.) Sometimes
the RCD can be separate but either way will be clearly identifiable.
What
needs to change: A fuse board
with a wooden back needs prompt attention by an electrician, older
fuse boards or consumer units without an RCD would benefit from
testing for safety by a qualified electrician. As far as electrical installations in London go, we would not necessarily recommend a
consumer unit upgrade if the householder didn't want to spend the
money as long as the consumer unit was safe as it currently stood.
However, to obtain the recommended level of electrical safety, it
would require a consumer unit upgrade if no RCD was present.
A
consumer unit upgrade can cost a fair chunk of money – make sure
you account for this in your purchase price!
- Check the earthing to the property
This is something that is nearly always overlooked by house buyers
and almost always by tenants. Correct earthing in a property is
essential to avoid serious electrical injury and shock from the lack
of earthing. Lack of earthing to a property can cause items such as
taps, boilers and other metallic surfaces to become live without
warning. If you touch such items, you then act as the earth with the
electricity passing through you. A very scary prospect.
You can check for earthing by looking at the gas and water pipes to
the property. You should see the earthing conductors clamped to the
pipes. If you don't see anything like this, then you should contact
an electrician as soon as possible to rectify this problem and avoid
an horrendous electrical shock taking place.
Electrical Safety will always be important
Leaving electrical safety to chance is never a good move and if there
is a problem it won't just go away. This 'Think Electric' video was
used by Electrical Safety First back in 2008. The principles still
have not changed, so for more information or to recap on our blog
post, give it a click!
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