by Dean Mance | Jul 7, 2016 | Dodgy Installations, Keep Your Family Safe, Uncategorized
Did You Get The Rewire You Paid For?
In part 1 of our Truth About Rewires series we looked at “The Cheapest Quote Rewire”, where everything is done as cheap and nasty as possible, and in part 2 we investigated “The Cosmetic Rewire” where everything looks good on the surface but the ugly truth is lurking just underneath.
Click here to read The Truth About Home Rewires – Part 1
Click here to read The Truth About Home Rewires – Part 2
Today we are going to discuss “The Too Hard Basket Rewire” which in some ways is a combination of the Cheapest Quote and Cosmetic rewires.
In a Too Hard Basket rewire the contractor starts out with good intentions and has quoted to replace all the old wiring in the home and do everything properly.
Unfortunately, when the going gets tough, the good intentions can fall by the wayside.
In a Too Hard Basket rewire, the easy stuff gets done properly but the difficult parts are left as they are, as the tradesmen decide some things are just too hard to deal with.
Typically this means any cable that is hard to access will not be replaced. Those switch wires that couldn’t be pulled up the wall are left in place and reconnected to new switches. The stove circuit is old rubber but it looks in reasonable condition so it’s left as is, to save that long crawl under the floor dragging a new circuit.
Maybe the job is taking longer than expected and the contractor is under pressure to get it finished as soon as possible. Maybe the workers don’t have a high level of care and will just go back to the workshop and tell the boss it’s all finished.
Whatever the situation, the home owner has paid for a full and proper rewire, but with the Too Hard Basket rewire they are not getting everything they paid for.
We usually discover a Too Hard Basket rewire when we are called out to a fault caused by the old wiring. The home owner assures us all has been rewired but our investigation soon reveals the truth.
The reason the lights in the back part of the house don’t work is because the original contractor didn’t take the time and effort to lift the roofing iron and replace the old cables running through the flat roof area.
We then do the work that should have been done during the rewire and the client pays again for something they already paid to have done.
There is a lot of confusion, and sometimes misdirection, about the extent of work that has been carried out during a “rewire”.
To avoid getting caught by a less than proper rewire you should always get a detailed quote that spells out exactly what work will be carried out. And always use an established, reputable contractor to ensure the work you are paying for has actually been done.
by Dean Mance | Jan 16, 2016 | Uncategorized
Incorrectly Installed Downlights Are A Fire Hazard
Across Australia, hundreds of homes have been damaged or even completely destroyed by fire caused by old style halogen downlights.
There are millions of the lights still in use across the country and many of them are just a disaster waiting to happen.
The problem with these lights is the heat they generate during normal operation. The lamps can burn at over 300 degrees C which is plenty hot enough to start a fire in your ceiling.
Due to the potential problems there are strict regulations for installing these lights. But as so often happens in our industry these regulations are ignored to cut costs or just because the installer doesn’t know what they are doing.
The old style downlights must be installed at the correct distance from flammable building materials such as timber joists, and they must be protected to prevent them being covered by insulation.
We have seen plenty of cases where a wooden beam or ceiling truss has been partly cut away to allow the installation of a downlight fitting, and the timber black and charred as a result of the lamp being so close.
Downlights that are covered by insulation are particularly dangerous as the lamp heat is trapped and concentrated in the one area. Insulation installers generally don’t have a good reputation for dealing correctly with halogen downlights, and once again cost cutting is probably a major factor.
The insulation installer is on a fixed price and many of the workers have no training in the correct safety procedures.
Even where metal insulation rings are installed as required, we have seem pump-in insulation and batts totally covering lights and creating a dangerous fire hazard.
Even if the lights are installed correctly they can still be the cause of a fire. Birds, mice or rats nesting in your roof space can carry in grass and paper and other flammable materials and build their nest over your lights. Rats especially like nesting near downlights due to the warmth they generate.
It is possible to purchase fire guarded downlight fittings or guards that you can retrofit to an existing light, but these days they are not the best solution.
Replacing your old halogen downlights with new LED downlights is definitely the way to go.
LED downlights are now very reasonably priced, they use up to 80% less energy, run very cool in comparison and can be installed close to flammable materials and even covered by insulation in some cases.
Click Here to see our post on the advantages of LED downlights
If you have old halogen downlights in your home, you should consider replacing these potentially dangerous fittings, or at least get them checked to make sure you’re not about to have a serious problem to have a problem.
by Dean Mance | Mar 9, 2015 | Reduce Your Power Bill, Save Money, Uncategorized
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 to high power usage.
We’ve done many investigations for clients who have received an unusually high power bill. Sometimes we find there has been an error with the meter reading.
Occasionally we’ve found instances where one person has been paying for someone else’s power. These are rare occasions, and always occur in multi- tenancy buildings.
The most common thing that catches people out is excessive use of electric heaters.
Most people underestimate the amount they run their heaters, and they aren’t aware of the running costs.
We have seen clients with quarterly power bills of more than $2,000 simply because they didn’t understand the cost of running their appliances.
It’s easy for costs to escalate quickly if you don’t know the best ways to manage your power use.
by Dean Mance | Feb 23, 2015 | Common Repairs, Uncategorized
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 installed to remotely operate electrical items in your home, such as lights, power points, heaters and other appliances.
In some ways it’s difficult to explain exactly what home automation is, because it can be almost anything you want.
Typically these systems will have pre-programmed modes for common situations. For example you can hit a “goodbye button” as you leave the house, which could lower the heating thermostat, turn on the outside lights, open the garage door and set the security alarm.
You can also make your own programs to suit your particular circumstances. For example you might create a mode for when you watch a movie on TV. The lights in the room could dim to a certain level, the automatic curtains close and the surround sound system turns on.
Problems with old systems
There are many fun and convenient things you can do with home automation, but when things go wrong with an older system, it’s definitely not fun.
One popular home automation system that was reasonable widely installed a few years ago now seems to have disappeared completely. Googling the product name brings very few results. The manufacturer’s website has no mention of the product.
Good luck with finding parts and someone who is familiar with that system if repairs are required.
Another well known supplier of home automation products is still around and still selling the product, but the components can be quite expensive.
What could possibly go wrong?
One of our clients reported their lights coming on by themselves and flickering. We suspect a fault in the dimmer module that controls the lights, however the client will now need a specialist technician to confirm the fault. The cost of new parts is likely to be over $1,000.
Another client their went away on holiday for a few weeks. While they were gone the home automation system turned on the garden sprinkler system and never turned it off. Two neighbouring properties were flooded.
Specialist wiring
Most home automation systems require specific power wiring and data cabling. So even if you decide to pull out the home automation system, it probably won’t be cheap or easy to revert to a normal wiring system.
If you are thinking about buying a property with a home automation system installed, do a bit of research to find out if spare parts and local technicians are available when the inevitable repairs are required.
Be aware that problems with a home automation system could be expensive and difficult to fix.
The future
There is a new generation of home automation devices that don’t require specialist cabling or highly trained technicians. In fact, the control modules are wireless and can just be plugged into an existing power point.
by Dean Mance | Feb 3, 2015 | Uncategorized
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 vacant for a while.
Everything is arranged, keys handed over, furniture moved. And then they phone TasNetworks to get the power on.
The rule is strictly enforced. No power reconnection after 6 months without a safety inspection by a licenced electrical contractor.
The reasoning is, if a property has been disconnected for so long, a safety check is required to make sure someone hasn’t pulled down a couple of light fittings and left bare wires hanging out of the ceiling.
Or maybe the installation has deteriorated with no one to keep an eye on it.
Most of the safety checks we do are emergency jobs done at short notice as nobody realised a check would be required.
Occasionally a client will spend a night or two in their new home without power. If the check was done on a Friday afternoon, maybe their power won’t be connected until the next Monday.
The required safety checks are quite comprehensive. They ensure that the electrical system is safe to be energised. Any faults found during the testing must be fixed before power can be restored.
If you are moving into a property that has been disconnected for more than 6 months, be aware that a safety check will be required and make sure you allow for that in your plans.
by Dean Mance | Sep 4, 2014 | Common Repairs, Keep Your Family Safe, Save Money, Uncategorized
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 doesn’t seem to be completely effective. It pays to keep the ceiling areas and underneath your house free of mice and rats if you want to avoid rodent damage to your cables.
Traps and bait are effective in controlling rodents and you should also do a quick check of the visible and accessible cable and junction boxes whenever someone gets into the ceiling space.
Remember, it’s a good idea to turn off the power before getting into any ceiling space.
Earth-leakage circuit breakers, (safety switches), are a good way to prevent problems caused by rodents. A safety switch won’t prevent a mouse from chewing your cables, but if that sort of damage does occur, a correctly operating safety switch will trip out before shorting cables can start a fire.
Old fuse boards without safety switches don’t provide the same protection, and an exposed and arcing cable can start a fire.
Things to watch for include the usual signs of rats and mice, as well as chewed cables and junction boxes and buzzing noises inside wall cavities. Particularly buzzing noises that start or stop whenever you turn on a light switch.
