NHIC SPRING 2003/ ELECTRICS
Are you wired for the Internet?
The Internet and other information technology systems have a lot
to answer for – especially where household electrics are concerned.
Most new houses being built today are purposely wired for this
new technology so if your home is due for rewiring then you should
be seriously considering the implications.
For instance, you should be thinking of at least four double sockets
in each room and you will want to provide dedicated lines for
the Internet. The latest are asynchronous digital subscriber lines
(ASDL) which means there is no dialling up to the Internet because
you are on-line continuously. It cost from as little as £10 a
month and accesses information up to 100 times faster than down
an ordinary telephone line.
You may also want to consider mutli-room stereo in your rewiring
plans that combine a range of sound and video sources into an
integrated system which is controlled from user-friendly display
“pads” similar to light switches, around the house.
Electricity is a vital ingredient of all our lives and a truly
flexible power source. But it has to be respected! A high proportion
of electricity-related accidents is due to faulty wiring and sockets,
particularly in older properties.
So if you're worried about a wiring problem it's vitally important
to call in a qualified electrician and a good starting point is
to talk to the Electrical Contractors Association, which has over
2000 members nation-wide.
It’s also vitally important these days to install safety equipment
called Residual Current Devices or RCDs. These are always fitted
in new homes and in those being rewired. They work by cutting
off the power immediately a fault is detected. Portable versions
are available in the shops in the form of plugs or adapters to
use in any 13 amp socket around the home.
The old fuse wire system has long been replaced by throwaway cartridges
and, in new installations, by circuit breakers which trip in the
case of an overload and can be reset at the flick of a switch.
But if it carries on tripping then you need a professional to
isolate the problem.
Besides the safety equipment on a switchboard, all 13 amp plugs
are fitted with a replaceable cartridge fuse. It’s important to
make sure you have the correct fuse rating for the appliance otherwise
damage may occur. To find out the right fuse to use check out
the current rating of the appliance.
Conservation is the buzz word wherever energy is concerned and
whilst most modern electrical appliances are manufactured to operate
on a shoestring you must heed what the device’s energy label tells
you. It’s a strange irony but more often than not the greater
the initial cost of the appliance the more economical it is to
run and, of course, it will be more environmentally friendly too.
Lighting, also, is an integral part of our daily lives and can
make or break a home’s interior decoration. And modern lighting
systems are going through a major transition.
The familiar Edison screw and bayonet type fittings, which most
of us have in our homes, are being superseded by special square
pin ones that will only accept low-energy compact fluorescent
bulbs (CFLs). These are cheaper to run than traditional light
bulbs and last ten times longer.
But what’s more there are also LEDs (light emitting diodes) coming
on stream in the not too distant future that are likely to revolutionise
lighting. They are expected to make megga-savings on electricity
bills and have a life expectancy of 100,000 hours – that’s over
11 years of continuous operation!
More information on electricity topics is available from Electricity
Association Services Ltd, 30 Millbank, London SW1P 4RD. Tel: 0207
344 5775
Further information: Graham Ponting, NHIC. Tel 020 7828 8230
FEB 2003