Dull November Brings the Blast.....

We're hoping its not of the electrical variety though, only of the seasonal type.....

In our last blog we told you a mild Halloween 'horror' story and left you with the chilling thoughts of what our electricians in London might get up to this Halloween....

Well, true to form, we did get those calls to those 'little houses of horrors' and it may come of little surprise to learn that 25% of jobs electricians are called to are to rectify mistakes that householders have made when attempting to carry out work on their home electrics.

The recent survey carried out by the Electrical Contractors Association (ECA) revealed some worrying finds within households with one tradesman commenting that they'd seen some real deathtraps!

A third of survey respondents said they'd seen fire damage caused by incorrect electrical work carried out in the home and 92% of electricians surveyed said they had come across a complete loss of power as a result of dangerous DIY work.

Of course the DIY scenario is with us all year round and not just at Halloween.

So what advice should you be getting from a well established London electrician?

We say don't attempt to carry out electrical work yourself in the home - it may look easy - however please bear in mind that electricity does kill at least 1 person every week and injures 1000's every week. Please don't put yourself, your family and your home at risk. Calling in a Part P qualified London electrician will ensure the job is done safely leaving you with peace of mind as well as a certiciate to certify the electrical works carried out. This is an essential requirement should you wish to buy or let your home.

Furthermore, don't be tempted to do your own electrical work to save money. Many of the jobs we're called to at Fulcher Edwards is indeed to rectify a DIY attemption. Ultimately it costs the householder more to repair damage created by a DIY job than it would have cost by calling us in the first place. We fully appreciate that every penny counts but spending a little on your home electrics is a very worthwhile investment that will ensure the safety of your and your family.

Our advice is to obtain 3 quotes from electricians before proceeding with the work and always check your electrcian is registered with an organisation such as the NICEIC.

The Mysterious Failure of Electrical Installations

With Halloween fast approaching, we are getting into the mood for trick or treating here at Fulcher Edwards! Our electricians working in London will be busy handing out the treats to rectify the tricks electricity plays on us on this forthcoming Halloween night!

Electrical installations at the best of times have a habit of playing a trick or two on householders. If your lights suddenly go out this Halloween, could we blame the failure on a spooky spectre? Take a read of this mysterious story......

Late last year, residents in Hampshire were baffled when their digital technology suddenly stopped working. On the face of it, this may seem like a minor issue, however we're now in an age where we rely on digital technology in all aspects of our daily lives – for example showers, electrical heating systems, doorbells and even car key fobs. Imagine getting ready for work in the freezing cold, to find your shower has stopped working and then unable to get into your car easily – I wonder how many residents blamed their electrical installation for many of these problems.

The story becomes more sinister as the residents discovered that their neighbours were affected too. A call to Ofcom revealed that the problem may have been with a video sender, but there was no one nearby with a video sender and no company had reported an issue. The common problem was the failure of all devices which relied on radio frequency identification. The story remains unsolved........

This all sounds rather spooky to us. We reckon this must have baffled a fair number of electricians over those few days!

If you are a home owner in London and you think your electrical installation could do with a check over, now is a good time to have it done. That will give those headless horsemen a run for their money!

Whether you like to be in on all the action or prefer to hide away indoors, we hope you have a great Halloween!

Electricians in London offering personal service to businesses

As a business owner in London you will be all too familiar with the stressful scenario that occurs when there is an operating issue within your business. Have you ever been in the situation where your lights go out or your power fails meaning you are loosing out on trading hours and seem to be waiting for hours to get a London electrician to come out to you.

Wouldn't it make a refreshing change to be able to pick up the phone and speak with a professional London electrician who knows exactly what your problem is and can get you up and running again as soon as possible?

At Fulcher Edwards London electricians we have fully qualified, experienced NICEIC electricians who work in and around London serving businesses like yourselves on a daily basis. We get to know our clients really well – some have been using us for the last 30 years. Our clients know they can call us, and rely on us to get to to them and get them up and running again with the minimum of fuss and hassle.

Of course it doesn't have to be an emergency situation, we are also experts in lighting design and installation of both the interior and exterior of shops, offices, restaurants, business units and the like.

Have you just moved into new business premises in London? Do you know what state the electrics are in? Its a good idea to get them checked out. We have carried out many electrical refurbishments in homes, offices, restaurants and shops in London in some of the most prestigious addresses. We also carry out design and installation of emergency lighting and fire safety systems, CCTV and security lighting for you and your customers peace of mind whilst offering optimum protection for your business in London.

As well as this we also offer a whole electrical service dedicated for the needs of your London business including air conditioning, door entry, lamp replacement, fault finding and all electrical installations. Not forgetting PAT testing and other electrical testing as required by law.

Worried about losing trade in London whilst having your electrical work carried out? Don't be. At Fulcher Edwards we pride ourselves on going that extra mile for our clients. We work at your convenience, this means we can work out of hours if this would suit your needs better. We also discuss the most cost effective solutions for your business needs so you won't be spending more than necessary.

Not sure what the problem is? Don't worry our expert London electricians carry out a full fault finding service to find and fix the problem. We charge a very competitive hourly rate for this service.

We are also a 'one stop shop' for your on going electrical needs. We don't fix and forget at Fulcher Edwards. Once your electrical system has been installed by our expert London electricians we can also take care of all servicing, maintenance, repairs and alterations.

All our work is neat and professionally installed.

Our aim at Fulcher Edwards is to make your life easier by taking care of all your electrical needs in your London business.

Is your workplace lighting up to scratch?

Are you providing the correct lighting in the workplace? If you are a business owner in London, you will be already aware of the importance of the correct lighting requirements in the workplace.

Incorrect lighting has been the cause of many serious accidents in the workplace – in a production environment, poor lighting can cause obscurity of vision – an example of this would be a machine could appear stopped when in fact it is moving.

Poor lighting in an office environment can lead to eye strain, fatigue and uncooperative staff. Staff working in front of screens all day need the correct lighting to ensure they do not endure health problems.

When considering lighting, it is important to think about the type of work that is going to be carried out – will is be close, accurate work or will it be lighting for more general purposes such as corridor lighting? To ensure the right type of lighting will be installed in your London business, consideration must be given to colour, glare and constant amongst other factors.

This is why it is important to use a qualified electrician to design and install your lighting requirements in your business in London. Fulcher Edwards are lighting designers and installers in London and have been taking care of the lighting in many London businesses over the last 30 years.

Deciding on the correct lighting in the workplace can seem like a technical and difficult task – this is why it is better to leave it to an electrician who understands the workplace lighting regulations and can work with you to develop a great cost effective lighting solution for your business in London.

Recent studies carried out by the Health and Safety Executive have shown that employees like to control their own lighting and this increases job satisfaction and decrease stress in the workplace. For more information about lighting in the workplace including the problems associated with having inadequate lighting take a look here

Electrical Tests when buying a property in London

So you've found your ideal home in London! whether its going to be a family home, a weekday crashpad or even a new business premises, its worth knowing what condition the electrics are in the property before you go ahead with the purchase.

Moving to a new property is an expensive time and a simple test known as a pre-purchase Electrical Certificate or Periodic Inspection Report is carried out on the property you are looking at buying and which will inform you of what condition the electrical system in the property is in.

Fulcher Edwards are London electricians who know London like the back of our hands - we've been serving our clients since 1981 - we beleive in doing a great job at a fair price. Therefore when we arrive at your property to carry out your electric test we carry out testing of 100% (where possible) of the electrical system. This way you avoid any nasty surprises following the purchase of your London property and have peace of mind that you and your home are safe.

Be aware of other electricians who only test part of the electrical system - some electricians only test 10% - make sure you as the customer know what you are paying for.

At Fulcher Edwards, we are always happy to offer some initial advice over the telephone to help understand your needs. To this end we can also carry out a more basic visual inspection of the electrical system in your prospective propery if you feel that is all you require. We always recommend an elecrical test on any property you are considering the purchase of as its best to know the state of the electrical system before you move in and ultimately will help to form the basis of your offer price.

Should any aspect of the electrical test fail, we will let you know on the certificate why it has failed and issue a recommendation sheet alongwith a free no obligation quote for your consideration.

There will be no need for you to take time out of your busy schedule to have the electrical test carried out, we can liaise directly with your estate agent with regard to the date and time to carry out the testing.

All our electrical testing is carried out in accordance to BS7671 requirements for electrical installations (IEE Wiring Regulations 17th Edition)

Electrical Safety in London

We depend on electricity at home, in the workplace and pretty much any business relies on a safe electricity supply.

Electrical work, installed and maintained correctly, mean electrical safety is one less thing for you to worry about – but if done incorrectly it can put you and your family at risk, damage your business reputation and leave you with a constant worry.

At Fulcher Edwards we take electrical safety in London very seriously – after all it is why we are here and have been for the last 30 years providing a high standard of electrical services, fire alarm and emergency lighting maintenance across all areas of London and areas within the M25.

Our customers rely on us for many different needs – as home owners, as landlords, letting agents, and business owners (industrial and commercial) they all depend on Fulcher Edwards to ensure they stay safe, legal and trusted by their own clients.

In turn they trust us – this is why we are known as London’s premier electricians.

One of our top priorities at Fulcher Edwards is to ensure our customers receive value for money – we don't carry out unnecessary work nor charge silly prices......we like our customers to return and together we can build a productive relationship – we are not 5 minute wonders, we are well established London electricians.

We are well aware in these difficult times, how much money matters, so if you are just not sure if you need to call a London electrician, take a look at these electrical safety leaflets. They're produced by the Electrical Safety Council (ESC) a UK electrical safety charity, here you can check, amongst other things, how safe your home is, take a look at a tenants electrical safety check list, a guide to buying electrical goods on line safely as well as giving you information about how the Part P regulations affect you – and why it is important to use Part P registered London electricians.

For free expert advice about electrical safety in London from London’s premier electricians Fulcher Edwards, please give us a call today 0207 922 1101

In Case of Fire.......

Would you a) Be alerted by your smoke alarm? b) I guess my smoke alarm would alert me but I don't test it or anything or c) What smoke alarm, do I need one?

Does this scenario seem a bit daft? It will if you have smoke alarms fitted in your home and you test them on a weekly basis - if this is you - then you are in the MINORITY of people who have a smoke alarm in their home AND test it regularly.

If you are a landlord or business in London - are you staying legal?

The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 is the primary legislation for all non-domestic premises in England and Wales, including the common parts of blocks of flats and houses in multiple occupation (HMOs). Failure to comply with the FSO (Fire Safety Order) is an offence punishable by hefty fines or imprisonment.

So where do you start particularly if you are a new landlord? The good news is that you are in safe hands with Fulcher Edwards - Londons premier electricians.

We can take care of the whole fire safety requirements and legalities of your rental properties and business premises in London.
We don't come and install whats needed and then leave - we design each fire system for every client to ensure its effectiveness in the event of fire. It is then installed by an expert team of compliant, qualifed electricians to current British Standards and then tested. This is all part of our standard service.

Our service does not end here......we also offer maintenance services - you can rely on Fulcher Edwards to not only install your fire system in London but also maintain it - we're proud to continue to put our name to our installations long after the first install. We also provide fire warden training in London as well as fire extinguisher installation and maintenance in London.

We have many clients in London both big and small - and our guranteed high standard of work is ensured across each and every installation whatever the size.
We also work with many domestic customers who are keen to ensure their home safety. Fire safety goes much further than a cheap battery alarm, give us a call to discuss your requirements - Fulcher Edwards can install a great fire safety package in your own home - without all the annoying beeps that keep you up all night.

For more information about our fire safety services we offer click HERE

You will also find information about the complimentary services offered by Fulcher Edwards including emergency lighting services.

Don't compromise your safety - choose Fulcher Edwards for all your fire needs. Serving all of London and the surrounding areas.