Welcome To Our Blog
Welcome to our blog where you can find lots of useful information on how to keep your family safe around electricity, new products, and plenty of tips on how to save power and save money in your home or business.
Use the search button on the top menu to help you find the topics that interest you.
Dumbest Place To Install A Light Fitting
The photograph above shows a pretty dubious set up for installing a light fitting in the ceiling at the top of a stairwell.
Israel Plants Solar Trees
Solar Trees Provide Shade And Power Israeli inventor, Michael Lasry has created a "solar tree" which collects solar power and provides a shaded seating area with outlets for charging mobile phones and a screen for accessing the internet. The...
Big Repair Costs For Imported Ovens
Big, fancy, imported, stainless steel ovens look great but you may be in for a nasty shock if something goes wrong. The kitchen magazines and TV renovation shows are full of sleek, modern and often imported ovens that look great in a...
Isle Of Man – Electric Motorcycle Sets New Lap Record
John McGuiness Rides 192 km/h Average Speed Lap The Isle of Man track is 37 miles per lap, through villages, narrow country lanes and over hump-backed bridges. It's hard to see anywhere you could touch on 192 kilometres per hour, let alone make it your average speed!...
Loose Electrical Connections Are A Fire Hazard
Loose Electrical Connections Get Hot, And This Could Be The Result. Electrical connections can become loose for a variety of reasons. A tightly made connection can become loose over time due to the tiny expansion and contraction that occurs as the cable warms up...
Nyngan Solar Power Plant Largest In Southern Hemisphere
1,366,380 Solar Panels, 102 Megawatts of Power Enough To Power 33,000 Homes For A Year The statistics are amazing, the scale is huge. AGL have just completed their biggest ever solar project at Nyngan in western New South Wales. The last panel was installed in...
New LED Exit Lights Save Time And Money
Traditional exit lights with fluorescent tubes require a lot of maintenance to ensure they will operate correctly in an emergency. With the new range of LED exit lights now available it's usually cheaper to replace a faulty older exit light than it is to repair it....
Cook Top Dangers
Don't Store Flammable Items On Your Stove Top The simmerstats that control the temperature of the hot plates on your cook top can occasionally malfunction and turn on by themselves. Even when they are turned to the off position it is...
Common Lighting Faults
There are many possible causes of lighting faults. From a simple blown globe to various wiring and light fitting faults to rodent damage and weather conditions, some faults are minor, some can be quite serious. If your lights are flickering,...
Phone And Data Outlets
Do you need additional phone or computer outlets for your home or office? The NBN is here and many homes and businesses will need to replace their old telephone wiring with modern data cables. The benefits of upgrading include ease of connection to modern...
Your High Power Bill Is Probably Due To High Power Usage
Have you ever had a nasty shock when they received your power bill? Maybe your first reaction was "How could it be so high? Surely there must be some mistake!" There are unusual situations that could lead to a high power bill, however 99% of high power bills are due...
Led Flood Lights Use 86% Less Power
LED lights have come a long way in the last couple of years. The technology and build quality has advanced to the point where there is a good LED replacement for almost every type of light. Flood lights are now available in sizes to suit all applications from sports...
Home Automation Horror Stories
Home Automation systems are great, when they work ... Lately we have seen a couple of instances where home automation systems have been a nightmare for the home owners. But what is home automation? The term refers to computerised control systems...
Broken Power Point Is Electric Shock Hazard
One of our clients had this dangerous power point in their garage. The switch mechanism was knocked with a piece of steel pipe and had fallen out, exposing live parts. Anyone touching the power point could have received an electric shock. We have seen power points...
Power Reconnection – The 6 Month Rule
If a property has had the power disconnected for more than 6 months, TasNetworks require a safety inspection to be carried out before they will reconnect. This little known requirement often comes as a surprise to the new occupants moving into a property that has been...
Why It’s Good To Have A Flat Bottom
When it comes to cooking pots, a flat bottom works best. A client called us recently to complain that their hotplates were slow to heat up and that it took a long time to cook anything on the stove top. We did the usual tests of the elements and simmerstat controls...
Installing Solar Panels On Mance Electrical Workshop (Video)
http://youtu.be/O3rjFqgVCY4 See the Mance Electrical team installing 40 solar panels on our workshop roof. The process begins with installation of the support rails. These must be leveled and spaced correctly to support the solar panels. Once the rails are in place,...
Kill Your Power Bill With Solar Panels
I was quite excited when our latest power bill finally arrived in the mail. It was our first full quarter since we installed solar panels on our workshop. For the first time ever I was actually looking forward to opening it. I tore open the envelope, and was...
“What’s The Best Light For A Giant Inflatable Rabbit?”
Well, of course, we've often wondered that ourselves, so when Launceston artist Amanda Parer asked us that question we immediately said "55 watt LED floodlights." Amanda's rabbits were inflated one at a time in our workshop to test the best combination of lights. ...
Sparking Light Switch?
Sometimes when you turn a light switch on or off you may hear a crackling, arcing sound and even see a small blue flash of light. Is this a problem? Could it be dangerous? The spark is caused by an arc across the contacts as the switch is operated and could have a...
Replacing Your Bathroom Tastic? – Here’s What You Need To Know
The original Tastic was an IXL brand name but it has become the common term used to describe any brand of bathroom combination fan-light-heater. These units are now available from a wide range of manufacturers and if you are planning to upgrade from your old model to...
No Power? Could It Be Your Service Fuse?
If you have no power to your house, it could be due to a number of causes, but if yours is the only house in the street without power you may have a problem with your service fuse. Your service fuse is usually mounted on the eaves where the overhead power cable...
Common Oven Repairs – Door Seals And Hinges
Is Your Oven Slow To Heat Up? Does It Seem To Take Ages To Cook Something Properly? If your oven is heating up but taking a long time to get to the correct temperature then the element is probably ok. Elements usually tend to work or fail, not operate at half power....
Solar Panel Nightmare No.5
We recently carried out a maintenance check on a solar panel system for a new client and heard a very unfortunate story. Our client was sold a 5 kw system about 12 months before, by one of those mainland companies that advertise heavily on TV. The door to door...
Lost Power? Check Your Power Boards First
Plug in power boards are a common source of electrical faults. If you find that some of your power points or electronic equipment has stopped working, you should check any power boards that are in use. They are commonly used behind TVs and computers, when there aren't...
Power Outage Due To Ants Nest
It may seem an unlikely cause of electrical problems but Mance Electrical staff have seen a number of cases, where an ant infestation has caused power faults for Launceston residents. Ants seem to be attracted to power points and switches and when large numbers gather...
How Much Electricity Would You Need To Make 1.75 Million Cups Of Tea At Once?
Every week day at 7.00pm the British National Grid Control Centre braces for a once off, massive surge in electricity demand. As the credits roll on the evening's episode of Eastenders, up to 1.75 million Britons head to the kitchen to make a cup of tea. The...
Caravan Electrical Inspections In Tasmania
This time of year we start to get clients bringing their caravans and campervans in for electrical checks. Quite often they have purchased the caravan on the mainland and want to change it to Tasmanian registration. Before it can be registered they must have...
Will Your Current Smoke Detector Save You In A Fire?
The recent 60 Minutes story on smoke detectors has prompted a number of clients to ask us about the safety and effectiveness of their existing smoke alarms. The story featured fire safety expert David Isaac, who expressed concern that some smoke detectors were too...
The Dangers of DIY Electrical
We had a call from a guy who had installed his own exhaust fan and couldn't get it to work. The client had been to a major hardware store and purchased a fan, some cable and a switch. He cut a hole in the ceiling and fitted the fan, connected the wire to the...
