In these strange times, we are all spending a lot more time at home and in the garden (if we are lucky enough!)  So we thought we’d give you a mini guide to something we all have in our homes and probably take for granted that they’re keeping us safe.

Fuse Boxes – also known as Consumer Units – are used to control and distribute electricity around our homes.

You probably know where your fuse box is located in your home.  It is important in case we ever need to turn the electricity off in an emergency.

A fuse box contains three things:

1. Mains Switch

This allows you to turn off the electricity supply, and so should be easily accessible.  Some homes will have more than one mains switch if there is more than one fuse box.

2. Circuit Breakers or Fuses

Most homes built after 1960 will have circuit breakers. These are automatic protection devices that switch off a circuit if they detect a fault.  Despite being a similar size to fuses, they offer more precise protection.  If they “trip”, you can reset the switch after finding and correcting the fault.

Fuses have a piece of special fuse running between two screws.  If a fault occurs, or in the event of an overload, the fuse wire will become hot and melt.  The melted fuse then breaks the circuit, disconnecting it and keeping you safe.

3. RCDs

RCDs (residual current devices) are switches that trip a circuit under certain conditions and disconnect the electricity supply.  If it detects an imbalance in current, or electricity flowing down an unintended path, it will switch the circuit off, reducing the risk of death or serious injury from an electric shock.

If you have a wooden back on your fuse box, a mixture of fuses and circuit breakers, or no RCD protection, then you might benefit from upgrading to a new consumer unit that would offer you more protection.  It is also worth considering if you are planning an extension or an improvement project or your fuse box is overloaded.

A professionally installed consumer unit by a certified electrician will improve your electrical safety as well as put your mind at rest by checking the integrity of the existing circuits in your property.

Fulcher Edwards carries out all types of electrical services, including fuse box replacement in homes in and around St. Albans. Why not give us a call us today for a free quotation on 01923 616985 or drop us an email on our Contact Us Page.

Following the Governments recent announcement regarding the Coronavirus lockdown, the construction and manufacturing industry are encouraged to start operating again as long as they can provide and maintain social distancing and good hygiene.

Some of our clients have been in touch with us ahead of them returning to their workplace to make sure their building is ready for their return so whether that be relamping, carrying out remedial works following recent electrical testing or making sure they are still compliant with their buildings safety testing.

Where to start? – One area we really want clients to think about prior to their return, whether thats as soon as this week or in the coming months, is their emergency lighting.

If your emergency lighting hasn’t been tested recently then it should be before the premises reopens and staff return to an operational building. This then ensures the batteries are charged and all the emergency luminaries are going to work in an emergency as they will be how your staff will be able to evacuate safely from the building.

It’s important to remember that emergency lighting in a building also assists the emergency services such as The Fire Brigade to enter, carry out their important work and leave the building safely also.

Emergency Lighting Testing  – We are still able to go in and test your emergency lighting in your business premises even if you are not there as it is classed as essential maintenance. We just need access to be given and social distancing to be adhered to for the sake of our electricians and any staff that may be on site.

How can we help? – If you want to discuss if your building is ready prior to returning then why not get in touch with us. We can assist any businesses in St. Albans and surrounding areas not just the manufacturing and Construction industry, so please let us know if we can be of any assistance.

For now we hope everyone continues to stay safe!

You may have noticed Fulcher Edwards like to remind you guys each week to Test It Tuesday aka #TestItTuesday via our Twitter, Facebook and our Instagram page. We do this EVERY Tuesday!

The reason we do this life can get in the way and its very easy to forget to test your smoke alarm and it could save your life.

We know with everything going on right now with Coronavirus is taking up a lot of our attention and rightly so, its a scary unusual time for us all. However, as most of us our working from home and schooling from home currently, its never been a better time to get into the habit of testing your smoke alarm each week.

Smoke alarms require very little maintenance but you want to know it will work should a fire break out at your property and you will only know if it will work effectively if it is tested regularly to make sure it’s working. A simple press of the test button on the alarm will show you instantly and could save lives.

If you don’t have any smoke alarms in your home or landlords property currently then why not get in touch and we can advise what you need, how many and where. All our electricians are Aico Approved Installers and can suggest the right ones for you. Quotations are free.

Though we are only carrying out essential works we can still provide you with quotations and discuss any requirements you may have

smoke detector of fire alarm in action, white background

. Just contact us via our website or give us a call on 01923 616985.

Just before life got a little different for us all with the Coronavirus pandemic, Fulcher Edwards moved offices and we just wanted to inform you of our new contact details!

Don’t worry we are still in St. Albans but now in the town centre in a lovely building called Censeo House which is in St. Peters Street, not far from where the famous St. Albans market is held each week!

If we are your chosen electrical services and maintenance provider then please update your details to the following with regards to our correspondence address;

Censeo House

6 St. Peter’s Street

St. Albans

Herts AL1 3LF

All other details remain the same, so you can still contact us on 01923 616985 and our email is info@fulcheredwards.co.uk so if you need an electrician at your home or business in St. Albans or surrounding areas then please get in touch for a free quotation.  We are still operating though only for essential and emergency electrical works and of course working from homes whilst we are all isolating during the Coronavirus pandemic, but we are still taking calls and receiving emails so happy to discuss any plans you might be considering in the future.

Keep well, from all the team at FE.

What a week eh! I don’t think any of us could have prepared for what we are currently facing with the Coronavirus pandemic.

Like many businesses, big or small in St. Albans Fulcher Edwards Ltd have had to temporarily close our electrical services family business following Government Guidelines but also thinking of the health and wellbeing of our customers, electricians, wholesalers and all members of our team.

Like the rest of the country, this will be short lived but in the meantime we wanted to assure our customers that you can still contact us by calling us on 01923 616985 or email us at info@fulcheredwards.co.uk should you be in need of an emergency electrician in St Albans, London or Hertfordshire with any urgent queries.

We will still be contacting our customers whose fire alarm and emergency lighting we maintain as this is classed as essential maintenance works. If you have an emergency call out still please still call the emergency call out number on your fire alarm panel.

We hope it won’t be too long before we are back to normal and our electricians are back assisting you in your homes and businesses in and around St. Albans, but until then please keep safe and well, we will get through this! You may still see us update our Social Media platforms like our Facebook page, Twitter or Instagram during this is time and we will try and share any useful information on our blog.

For now take care and a big thank you to our wonderful NHS, from all the team at FE.

Well there goes another year and very quickly it did too! We are not going to lie though that 2019 was a tough year for Fulcher Edwards Ltd like many other small businesses. It came with way to many lows unfortunately, but we are hopeful that 2020 will be much better and with a lot less uncertainty surrounding the UK.

We can’t thank our customers enough for their instructions and support as they have really helped us to keep Fulcher Edwards going for another year. We have a loyal customer base and we really do believe that is because we offer a quality personable service as well as our accreditations such as NICEIC and Safecontractor.

If you are considering any electrical works or maintenance for your home or business this year then please support local businesses as by doing this you really are in most cases helping a family to pay their bills. Fulcher Edwards has been established since 1981 but at the end of the day it is still a family working very hard to keep it going.

Our electricians cover St. Albans, Watford, Radlett, Bushey, Hemel Hempstead and most of Hertfordshire and even London so please get in touch if you would like a free quotation. Our Contact Us form can be found on our blog or our website or if preferred you can call us on 01923 616985 or email info@fulcheredwards.co.uk

From all of us at Fulcher Edwards Ltd Happy New Year!

We would like to wish all our customers a safe and happy Christmas and make you aware of our shutdown period over the festive season.

Our office is closed from the afternoon of Monday 23rd December 2019 through to Thursday 2nd January 2020. Our office hours resume back to normal on Friday 3rd January 2020. Please note if you have works booked in over this period that they will still go ahead and one of our electricians will be with you as planned.

If we maintain your fire alarm system and you have an emergency call out over our shutdown period please call the emergency call out number on your fire alarm panel. Please leave a voicemail if no immediate answer and an electrician will call you back as soon as possible.

All enquiries will be responded to on our return on the 3rd January.

Traditional Christmas Tree lights lying on a wooden floor.

From all of us at Fulcher Edwards Ltd we would like to wish you a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

With just 5 days to go until Christmas Day, this is a third and final instalment of our blog post about electrical safety at Christmas.

We have covered the importance of checking your Christmas lights and when to use a registered electrician in St Albans, London or Hertfordshire like Fulcher Edwards Ltd. Another equally important thing to do over Christmas is testing your smoke alarm.

This is the time of year when you have more lights, candles, extensions leads and generally put your electrical system under more strain than normal. Your fire risk goes up unfortunately so therefore testing your smoke alarm has never been more important. The Fire and Rescue Service have very useful information on their website as below;

Maintaining your smoke alarm

To keep your smoke alarm in good working order, you should:

• test it once a month, by pressing the test button until the alarm sounds
• change the battery once a year (unless it’s a ten-year alarm)
• replace the whole unit every ten years
• clean your smoke alarm once every three months using the soft brush of your vacuum cleaner. This will ensure you remove any excess dust or insects.

You may see us use a hashtag on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook every Tuesday that says #testittuesday as we like to remind people like the rest of our industry of the importance of testing smoke alarms, fire alarms and emergency lighting. All of these things may help save a life! So a smoke alarm its not just for Christmas but something you should test all year round.

If you don’t have a smoke alarm or think you may need more than your local registered electrician can assist you with this. Fulcher Edwards Ltd installs Aico Alarms in our clients properties as they are one of the leading manufactuers.

We are NICEIC approved electrical contractors that cover St. Albans, Watford, Bushey, Radlett, Hemel Hempstead and most of Hertfordshire and even London, so why not get in touch with us for a free quotation by using the Contact Us form on our blog or website.

smoke detector of fire alarm in action, white background

This weeks blog post is following on from last weeks which was all about electrical safety at Christmas.

I think we can all agree that it is the prettiest time of the year with all the lights and decorations everywhere. However electrical safety is rarely thought about during the festivities and there is some scary statistics with christmas decorations and fires.

The NICEIC have shared a very helpful factsheet on their website which we are sharing with you on our blog. Last week was about Christmas lights and this weeks post is about outdoor lighting.

Outdoor Lighting

• Only purchase/use outside Christmas lights that have been specifically designed to be used outside. Always check the manufacturers instructions.
• All outside sockets that are used must have RCD protection for safety. An RCD (Residual Current Device) works by switching off the flow of electricity when a cable or flex is cut.
• Any fixed or permanent outside lighting should be installed by a registered electrician to ensure it complies with the appropriate safety standards.

Decorations

Fire and rescue services across the country regularly issue warnings about the increased potential for house fires around Christmas time.

Dry Christmas trees, cards, decorations and all candles are all potential hazards which provide a means of fire to spread in the home.

Keep decorations and cards away from fires and other heat sources such as light fittings, sockets and charging equipment.

We hope that you find some of these safety tips helpful to ensure you and your family have a safe Christmas.

If you are looking for a register electrician in St. Albans or anywhere in Herts or London then Fulcher Edwards can ensure the electrical safety of your home before Christmas. Or even if you just need the advice of electrician then Fulcher Edwards would be more than happy to help. Just give us a call or use the Contact Us Form.

You can also search for a registered electrical contractor in St Albans by visiting niceic.com or the electricalsafetyregsiter.com and typing in your postcode.

Believe it or not we are in December already! If you haven’t already, you may be thinking about getting your Christmas decorations down from the loft or out of the garage this weekend. We have already seen some lovely Christmas lights outside many homes and businesses in St. Albans. The Fulcher Edwards office is certainly ready! Without sounding like a Scrooge though, one thing that doesn’t always get taken into account with Christmas decorations is electrical safety.

The NICEIC have a Christmas Fact Sheet and safety information on their website which we are going to share with you over a few blog posts, as fires are most common this time of year due to electrical issues.

New research, commissioned by the UK’s leading regulatory body for electricians NICEIC and ELECSA has revealed some disturbing facts about the safety of UK homes at Christmas. As 90 percent of Brits admit to decorating their home and garden in the next few weeks, less than a quarter (23 percent) would consider the impact this might have on the electrics in their home. The study, which surveyed 2,000 UK tenants and homeowners, found that 42 percent of Brits paid more attention to aesthetics than safety, with 1 in 5 admitting to feeling they needed to compete with their friends and neighbours.

Inevitably, the increase in decorative lights require the use of multiple sockets and extension leads, yet less than 3 percent were concerned about the amount of lights they were using and whether they could be of danger to their family. Also these decorative lights put a lot of strain onto our electrical systems in our homes.

Christmas Lights

After being in the loft for 12 months, Christmas lights can become electrically unsafe. The following safety advice from the NICEIC Factsheet should ensure your lights are safe to use this Christmas.

• Check your Christmas lights are not broken or damaged before use and look out for loose wires.
• Use only replacement lamps of the same type and rating as those originally supplied with the lights.
• Always switch your lights off before you go to bed or go out.
• Keeps lights away from flammable decorations and materials can burn easily.
• Try to avoid using too many extensions leads or adapters.
• Never attempt to repair lights by using tape or joining with another set of lights.
• Check the wiring of the plug and make sure no bare wiring is visiable.

Did you know? 

Research carried out in 2011 by Home Accident Surveillance System 2012, estimated there to be 1,000 people visited A&E in the UK after home accidents involving Christmas trees and 350 people after home accidents involving Christmas Lights.

Carrying out these safety checks will certainly help reduce your risk of any accidents with your family or home do you get to enjoy Christmas the way it was intended.

If you have any queries then why not contact a registered electrician in St Albans, London or Hetforshire like Fulcher Edwards Ltd who should be able to assist with any queries you may have.

Next week we will cover outside Christmas Lighting from the NICEIC Christmas Factsheet. Until then we hope your days will be Merry and bright!