WHAT DOES AN ELECTRICAL FIRE SMELL LIKE? Well, an electrical fire burning smell can like fish, burning plastic or a pungent sewer gas smell. The reasons for this are that electrical wiring is covered in a layer of flexible PVC insulation. When the wiring heats up, gets hot or burns, the PVC also gets hot and gives off chemical fumes as it smoulders.

Our home’s electrical system is a generally silent system that works away in the background, taken for granted and rarely maintained. We seldom experience problems with the fuse box, an electrical outlet, or other parts of the electrical installation. When problems occur, it can cause worry confusion and concern that there may be danger present.

Electric showers are a convenient and efficient way to heat water on demand, providing instant hot showers without the need for a separate water heater or boiler.

I understand that not everyone absolutely loves a huge electrical box on the wall of their hallway, living room or elsewhere. Some people will want these moved to another location, out of view or even to somewhere more accessible in case there are electrical problems and they need to reset the breaker. As an electrician myself, I am regularly asked if a consumer unit can be moved and the answer is nearly always YES, it is possible to MOVE A CONSUMER UNIT.

A healthy circuit is one which contains a safe amount of electrical current flowing that does not exceed the intended design of the circuit, creates no excess heat and carries no risk of overload or electric shock.

Electrical equipotential bonding is one of the most important electrical safety aspects of wiring systems. The purpose of Equipotential Bonding is to reduce the chance of electrical shock, the risk of fires and explosions and to assist in circuit disconnection through low resistance earth path connections.

A TRIP SWITCH is a device that is contained inside an electrical enclosure such as a consumer unit, fuse box, or electrical panel. The trip switch can take various different forms and can perform a variety of tasks dependant upon type.

Ground Fault Circuit Interrupters are primarily used as an electric shock prevention device. They are designed to trip when tiny levels of electrical current go astray from an electrical circuit. They are far more sensitive than a circuit breaker as they are set to a very low trip level or around 6mA, that 6 milli amps or 6 thousandths of an amp (Unit of electrical current). Whilst this is extremely low, higher levels of electrical current can begin to cause harm to the human body.

With the ever-increasing number of appliances, chargers, and devices that we are plugging in to our homes electrical system many new homeowners are finding that there is an inadequate number of socket-outlets in their homes. Whilst there is no legal requirement for a minimum number of electrical outlets in the wiring regulations or building regulations, there is a recommended minimum depending upon the size of the room. An increased number of socket outlets will mean less reliance on extension leads reducing the risk of overloading extension cords, fire risk and trip hazards.

Rubber wiring has not been used in the UK since approximately the mid-1950s. Other countries may have used rubber wiring for a longer or shorter period than this. Whilst rubber wiring was ok when installed many decades ago, it was never intended to last until now and any black rubber cables that are still in use today are likely to be dangerous. As the rubber has aged it has become brittle and the slightest movement is likely to cause the rubber to fracture and fall away. This will leave bare metal wiring exposed, live to the touch, cables shorting out and a high risk of electrical fires.