Electrician one of the most frequent reasons for calling out an electrician is to do with electrical wiring problems. More house fires are caused by faulty wiring than by any other factor. If you suspect your wiring may be faulty, it is very important that you do not touch it, but call out an electrical professional without delay.
Your electrical wiring is the means by which your electricity supply is carried to your home and distributed around the house. The wiring is actually very fragile, and even though it is – or should be – hidden behind walls, it can easily be damaged. The slightest scuff to part of the wiring, particularly a live conductor, can trip the MCB, or miniature circuit breaker, in the distribution board. If this happens, your electrician will have to disconnect the affected parts of the circuit, and use an insulation tester to test each section. Your domestic wiring is also sensitive to very high temperatures, so if cables are installed inside insulation, this can alter their current-carrying properties.
In big cities like London, the major electrical safety problem is aluminium wiring. Aluminium instead of copper was used in wiring in the sixties and seventies, as an economy measure because of a spike in world copper prices, and this coincided with a period of large-scale new house-building programmes. In aluminium wiring, the aluminium conductors are expanded, contracted and oxidised by the heat generated through the transmission of electricity. This frequently results in the wiring disintegrating, and the insulation corroding, so that there is a risk of arcing and fires.
If you are experiencing some intermittent faults, and suspect you may have a problem with your wiring, you should ask for an inspection. Remember that even modern wiring has a lifespan of only 30 years, so if you have lived in your house for longer than that and have not had it checked, you would be well advised to have it seen to now. An inspection of your house wiring can serve to identify other hazards, such as possible problems with electrical connections and cabling.
If your home is in London and a partial or complete rewiring is indicated, your London electrician can do this safely and efficiently, with the minimum of disruption. It will probably not cost you much more than the expensive new television set to which you have just treated yourself. The cost of ignoring the problem is likely to be a great deal higher.
Guest article brought to you Andrew, a London based writer who often touches on the subject of safety in the home.
