The Dangers In Old Fluorescent Light Fittings

by Dean Mance | Sep 1, 2016 | Keep Your Family Safe

There Could Be A Nasty Surprise Lurking In Your Old Fluorescent Lights.

Fluorescent light fittings manufactured before 1980 may contain a dangerous chemical called Polychlorinated Biphenyls or PCBs.

PCBs are known to cause a number of serious health effects including cancer and are now banned in many countries, including Australia.

The PCBs are sealed inside the capacitors and ballasts inside many older fluorescent light fittings. Over time these components can deteriorate allowing the PCBs to leak out.

If you see a dark oily substance leaking from an old light fitting don’t touch it – call an electrician as soon as possible to have the light fitting removed.

There are regulations governing the disposal of PCBs. Due to these regulations and the toxic nature of the chemicals you should not attempt to deal with this problem yourself.

Not sure if your old fluorescents contain PCBs? Give us a call and we’ll check your lights and dispose of any problem fittings if required.

For All Lighting Repairs In Launceston And Surrounding Areas, Phone Mance Electrical on 6331 4711

Or send us a message using the form below

Rewiring Your Home. The Truth About Rewires – Part 2

by Dean Mance | Jul 6, 2016 | Dodgy Installations, Keep Your Family Safe

Not All Rewires Are Actually Rewires

In part 1 of our rewire series we explored the joys of “The Cheapest Quote” rewire, where everything is done to the bare minimum, using the cheapest materials, there’s no time to doing things properly and shortcuts are taken everywhere.

Click here to read The Truth About Home Rewires – Part 1

Click here to read The Truth About Rewires – Part 3

Another type of rewire we commonly see is “The Cosmetic Rewire”

With the cosmetic rewire everything looks good on the surface, but the ugly truth is lurking just underneath.

With the cosmetic rewire you get a brand new switchboard, new power point fittings and switches and light fittings, and everything that’s visible looks shiny and new.

You even get a few short pieces of brand new cable disappearing up into the roof space.

Unfortunately those pieces of new cable are all joined to the old cable that’s still crumbling away in the ceiling.

It’s the same story with the switches and power points. The fittings are new but they are still connected to the old wiring. Quite often that old wiring is in very poor condition and is a real safety issue.

The worst part is that often the home owner thinks their property has been properly rewired. They believe their home is as safe as it can electrically be, with all the old dangerous cable gone for ever.

It’s a false sense of security based on false assumptions.

The home owner may have even paid for a complete rewire, but what they ended up with is quite different.

Cosmetic rewires are often found in homes that are offered for sale.

Potential buyers can see all the new fittings and they assume that everything is new. Sometimes the real estate agents are working under the same false assumptions as the home owner and advertise the property as being rewired.

To avoid being caught out by the Cosmetic Rewire you should always get a pre-purchase electrical inspection on any property you are considering buying. An investment of $150 can save you thousands of dollars in unexpected costs.

To avoid paying for a Cosmetic Rewire of your existing home you should always deal with a reputable electrical contractor and get a detailed quote that sets out exactly what extent of work will be carried out.

For a free quote and advice on rewiring your home phone Mance Electrical on 6331 4711

Send us a message here for a prompt reply

Lightning Strike – Is Your Home Safe?

by Dean Mance | Feb 5, 2016 | Incredible Electricity, Keep Your Family Safe

There have been some spectacular lightning storms around northern Tasmania in the last few weeks.

While they can be fun to watch, from safe inside your home, lightning is a powerful and potentially dangerous force of nature.

Every year between 5 and 10 people are killed by lightning strike in Australia and around 100 seriously injured.

Lightning has the potential to seriously damage electrical installations as well as humans.

A direct lightning strike on your house could cause damage to your switchboard and wiring and appliances. Delicate electronic equipment such as computers and TVs are especially vulnerable.

There are surge protection devices available but they are more for filtering out smaller power spikes and fluctuations and are probably not built to withstand a lightning strike.

In the event of a major electrical storm it would be safer to unplug electronic devices and appliances such as computers, stereos, TVs, microwaves, dishwashers and washing machines.

Even when there is not a direct hit a lightning strike can cause damage.

One of our Launceston clients had a tree in their yard struck by lightning. Some roots of the tree went under the corner of the house. When lightning struck the tree it travelled into the ground and along the roots.

Ceramic tiles were blown off the floor of the laundry and were found embedded in the plaster ceiling.

You’ve probably heard that you shouldn’t use the telephone during a thunder storm. At the same property, described above, the landline phone was blown off the wall and shot across the room.

If your property does suffer even an indirect strike it would be wise to get an inspection of the electrical installation.

We removed some damaged power cable from our Launceston client’s house and found that the plastic insulation was not melted as we expected but was jaggedly split apart. It looked as though the copper wire had suddenly expanded to many times its normal size and split the surrounding insulation.

You are relatively safe inside a building, however you should not use the land line phone, not touch metal sinks or any part of the plumbing system – including staying out of the bath or shower – and not use or touch appliances that are plugged into a power point.

If you are caught outside in a thunder storm the current safety recommendations are:

Seek shelter in a substantial building or in a metal roofed car.

Avoid high ground and open areas and don’t shelter under trees.

Do not use umbrellas, golf clubs or fishing rods.

Avoid small buildings such as sheds and barns if possible.

Stay away from water and metal structures such as fences and rails.

If there is no shelter, crouch down and keep your feet together, or sit with your feet close to your body. Keep at least three metres away from other people.

A full 50% of lightning deaths in Australia occur after a storm has seemingly passed, as people resume their outdoor activities too soon.

You should wait 30 minutes after hearing the last thunder before venturing outdoors. Lightning can strike many kilometres away from where the actual storm appears to be.

If you can hear thunder you are in the potential lightning strike zone.

Despite the violent nature of a thunderstorm the chances of being killed by lightning are small. Far more people die from falling out of bed than are killed by lightning each year.

Take sensible precautions to ensure you don’t become one of the rare statistics.

To arrange an inspection and report on the condition of the wiring in your property phone Mance Electrical on 6331 4711

The Dangers Of Halogen Downlights

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.

For advice and a free quotation on replacing your old halogen downlights phone Mance Electrical Launceston on 6331 4711

New LED Down Lights

by Dean Mance | Jan 15, 2016 | Common Repairs, Keep Your Family Safe, Reduce Your Power Bill

Getting Cheaper And Better All The Time

Cheaper To Run
Cheaper To Maintain
Safer To Operate
Easy To Install

LED down lights have greatly improved over the last year or so. There are many new brands on the market and prices have dropped by around 50%.

The new lights on offer are more compact, with the LED drivers built in to the light fitting instead of having a separate driver that plugs into the light. This makes them easier to install, especially in confined spaces.

Some new LED downlights can even be completely covered by insulation without causing overheating problems.

Overheating is a big safety issue with the old style down lights. The dichroic lamps burn at up to 300 degrees and there are restrictions on clearances to timber and flammable materials.

The safety regulations were often ignored and a large number of homes have been damaged by fire as a result.

Click Here to read our in-depth article on The Dangers Of Old Style Down Lights

LED down lights solve all the safety problems caused by old downlights as they run very cool in comparison.

LED down lights are also much cheaper to run and have much lower maintenance costs as well.

The quality of light output has improved dramatically, with fittings available from 8 watts to 15 watts, with a choice of warm white, neutral or cool white output, so it’s easy to find a suitable down light for your situation.

Many fittings are dimmable too, which gives you even more options. The only proviso is you must match the correct dimmer to your light fitting to ensure the best result and avoid flickering or a limited dimming range.

There is also a choice in style and colour of the fittings themselves. LED downlights are available in either white, brushed chrome or brass finish. The diffuser on the front face can be slightly recessed or flush with the trim ring

LED down lights are available in sizes that will directly replace the common sizes of old style downlights so swapping over to new fittings is usually a straight forward job.

Switching to LED lights will save you at least 80% on running costs. Depending on the amount you use the lights, the pay back time could be less than a year. The more you use the lights, the more money you will save.

Replace your old unsafe down lights with new LEDs. Save money and reduce the risk of fire in your home. Phone Mance Electrical on 6331 4711.

« Older Entries