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.
Turn Any Power Point Into A USB Charging Station
A great time to get one of these new USB power points is when one of your existing power points fails and needs to be replaced. But what if your faulty power point is in the laundry or the garage? You might not want a USB charger there, you want it somewhere...
Defective Switch Could Cause A Fire
This is what's left of a defective DC isolation switch on the roof of a solar installation we attended recently. The picture below shows what it used to look like. This particular brand of isolation switch was subject to an Australia wide total recall, due to...
Power Prices Down By 7.8%
The Carbon Tax Repeal Act took effect from 1st July 2014 and consumers should now be receiving the first round of power bills at reduced rates. Aurora Energy has lowered power prices by 7.8%. It's only a small reduction but the move could see savings of around...
Could A Mouse Burn Down Your House?
Unfortunately rats and mice, and even possums love to chew electrical cable, and yes it is possible for that sort of damage to start a fire. These days cable is manufactured with an additive in the plastic that is supposed to deter rodents from chewing, but it...
Infinity Cable Recall – Mance Electrical Clients In The Clear
The ACCC has announced a cable recall of Infinity brand electrical cables due to the fire and electrocution risks posed by the sub-standard product. The poor quality plastic insulation deteriorates rapidly, becoming brittle and susceptible to falling apart if...
How Your Vacuum Cleaner Can Reduce Your Power Bill (video)
Did you know you can use your vacuum cleaner to reduce your power bill? I’m sure you’d like to see your power bill as low as possible, but how could your vacuum cleaner possibly help with that? There are actually a couple of ways and it’s quite easy to do it...
7 Ways To Guarantee Yourself A Higher Power Bill (Video)
Watch this video to find out 7 Ways To Guarantee Yourself A Higher Power Bill I know you really don’t want a higher power bill, but you may not realise some of these common mistakes you could be making, that are costing you money. Just being aware of these problems...
Clean Solar Panels Make More Power (Video)
Your solar panels look clean, but dust and dirt affect their performance and cost you money. Regular cleaning is essential to maintain peak performance. Surprisingly, rain doesn't clean your panels, in fact rain deposits dust particles that stay on the panel after...
Underground Mains Cables Install
1.2 Kilometres Of Underground Mains Cables Installed At Hanson Quarry Launceston A good effort by the guys to get such a long run of cable in so quickly and without any hassles. Watch this short video to see one day's work in a minute and 36 seconds.
Replacing Your Kitchen Hot Plates
When it's time to replace your kitchen hot plates there are a couple of things to consider. The most important factor in a successful cooktop replacement is ensuring the new hot plate unit will fit the existing hole in the bench top. Older style hot plates...
How To Repair A Blown Fuse
There are still plenty of rewireable fuses in use today. Here's how to safely locate and repair a blown fuse. When you lose power to lights, power points, stove or hot water it's time to check your fuses. Your switchboard will look something like the photo above,...
Fuse Blowing? Don’t Do This!
This is dangerous and could burn your house down. Obviously someone was having trouble with a fuse repeatedly blowing so instead of putting in standard 16 amp fuse wire they used a doubled up strand of copper wire that is probably good for about 150 amps! It may have...
Baked Dinner or Hot Water – Which would you choose tonight?
One of our clients has to make this choice every day. If they want to run their oven they have to go outside to the switchboard and turn off the hot water first. If the hot water is not turned off, the main circuit breaker will overload and trip, shutting off all...
HydroHeat Tariff Explained
Hydro Heat is a discounted electricity tariff that gives you access to cheaper power to run your electric heaters. Basically, your heater circuits are connected to the hot water meter instead of the light and power meter which means you only pay the hot water...
Installing A New Stove
Getting a new stove is exciting. You ditch the clapped out, old thing you’ve had for years and get a shiny new one straight from the showroom. You know you need an electrician to help, but what’s involved in the job? Usually it’s straight forward, as long as...
Stove and Oven Repairs
Most stoves and ovens can be repaired as long as spare parts are still available. Common faults include blown oven elements and thermostats, blown hotplates and faulty hotplate controls. These are usually quite easy to fix provided parts are available. Oven door...
New! – Double Power Point With Twin USB Chargers
Are you sick of untangling cords, searching for the right charger, constantly swapping plugs in power points? It’s untidy, frustrating, inconvenient, and possibly dangerous. With so many USB powered devices these days this is a great new idea! Install a new double...
Need to get into your ceiling space? Turn off the power first!
The ceiling space of your home could be a dangerous place... Old wiring, rodent damage or poor installation could all spell disaster for the home handyman. Maybe you want to install some insulation, check for a water leak or remove the dead animal causing that awful...
The Cheapest Way To Install More Power Points
You really need some extra power points, but what's the most economical way to get them installed? More appliances and more gadgets means you need more power points. More in the kitchen, more behind the TV and more for your computer gear. You could get some power...
Why Do Your Light Globes Blow All The Time?
That new light globe you bought last week has blown already! That's the third one this month! Is there something wrong with your wiring? Well, the good news is your wiring is probably ok. The major cause of blown light bulbs is poor quality lamps. Most...
Sensor Lights For Convenience, Security and Safety
When daylight savings ends it starts to get dark pretty early and you can often find yourself arriving home in the dark. You have to navigate the slippery path, maybe some steps, probably carrying some shopping or groceries, find your house key and then fumble around...
My Hotplate Is Stuck On High!
If your electric hot plate only has one speed - flat out - then you have a problem with the simmerstat control. The simmerstat is the part that regulates the cooking temperature when you turn the knob on the front of the stove. Each hotplate has its own simmerstat. ...
Solar Nightmare No.17 – False Advertising
One of those solar sales companies that advertises heavily on local TV has recently been slapped with a large fine by the ACCC, for deceptive and misleading conduct. They falsely advertised their Chinese made solar panels as being "Made in Australia" and published...
Hot Water Cold? – Do You Need A Plumber Or Electrician?
Your hot water has gone cold - but should you call a plumber or an electrician? You don't want to pay for one to turn up if you really need the other, so how can you make an informed decision? Here are a couple of tips to help you decide. (If you're still Not sure,...
Solar Nightmare No. 7
We've heard a few stories lately about people having trouble with solar panel installations. A client who signed up with one of those solar companies that advertise heavily on TV just found out that the company failed to submit their application correctly so they now...
Solar Nightmare No. 33
A number of people who signed up with a mainland solar sales company have recently had their deposits returned, and been advised that the company has pulled out of the Tasmanian market and their installations will not be proceeding. The company cited a shortage of...
Hey Mate, the power point on your truck is broken!
Spotted in the traffic in Launceston ... A truck with a weatherproof double power point on the back of it. Except it's not weather proof because it's been smashed and broken. Hey, you should get that fixed. Give us a call and we'll sort it out. Well, it will be one...
The Least Efficient Form Of Electric Heating
Are you using this power guzzler in your home? We are often asked what is the most efficient form of electric heating and the answer is of course the reverse cycle air conditioner or heat pump. Today I want to tell you about the least efficient form of electric...
How To Grow Deadly Bacteria In Your Home Hot Water System
You've probably heard of Legionnaires' Disease. It's a serious and sometimes fatal form of pneumonia caused by the Legionella bacteria, which lives in warm water storage systems, such as domestic and commercial hot water and air-conditioning. A normally operating hot...
We Don’t Always Get It Right
A client who lives on the mainland asked us to install a smoke alarm in their Launceston rental property. We sent one of the young guys to do the job and then posted the client an invoice for the work. The client rang a couple of months later to say they had...
