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!

We hope everyone is keeping safe and well during this lockdown period. We are still following Government Guidelines and our electricians only carrying out essential electrical works and maintenance mainly in and around the St. Albans area.

We wanted to share some happy news with you as some of our customers were aware that our Operations Manager Claire, (she’s the one you are likely to speak to first when you contact us!) was expecting a baby in April, well we are pleased to let you know that baby girl Darcy has now arrived safely and mother and baby are doing really well.

Of course the Coronavirus has made this a difficult time in terms of Darcy meeting her family for now and the team at Fulcher Edwards but we hope it won’t be long!!!

As we are a family business this time is still uncertain for us, like many small businesses, though we are hopeful that once the lockdown has been lifted we may get some enquiries that will keep us afloat. For now we will remain positive and will be enjoying our new family member even if it is mainly on FaceTime!

We are still monitoring emails and can assist with any emergency call outs you may have so feel free to contact us still via our website, call us on 01923 616985 or drop us an email at info@fulcheredwards.co.uk

Stay safe everyone!

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.

All homes have a fuse box, otherwise known as a consumer unit. It is our homes electrical hub as it controls and distributes the electricity around the home. Your fuse box is your first point of call if you need to turn your electricity off in an emergency. Or if the electricity in your house suddenly stops working.

We would hope that you all know where you fuse box is located, but how many of you understand what each switch does?

Understanding Your Fuse Box

At an initial glance you fuse box can look complicated. Therefore we hope the following explanations will help you feel more comfortable managing your fuse box, especially in an emergency.

1. The main switch: The main switch will enable you to instantly turn off your homes electrical supply. This will be the switch to flick off in the event of an emergency. However beware that if you have electric storage heaters you will have a separate fuse box for these. Therefore they will have their own main switch which you would also need to turn off to cut all electricity in your property.
2. Residual Current Device (RCD): The RCD is the main safety feature within your fuse box. RCDs are a sensitive switching device that quickly turn off electricity when danger arises to reduce the risk of death or serious injury. RCDs turn off electricity in a fraction of a second. Last year we did a blog about the importance of RCD protection, therefore you can read that blog post HERE to find out more.
3. Circuit Breakers: Circuit Breakers will automatically switch off a circuit if it detects a fault. By looking at your fuse box you would be able to see if a circuit breaker has ‘tripped’ as one or more of the switches would be flicked down. You can easily reset the switches yourself by flicking them back up, however its important to first identify the initial fault.
4. Fuses: Older fuse boxes may have fuse wiring in place of circuit breakers. Similarly to circuit breakers they switch off a circuit if a fault is detected. However it does this by the fuse wiring overheating and melting which then switches off the circuit.

The above photo shows a modern fuse box which I have labelled accordingly. As explained above, older fuse boxes would have fuse wiring in replace of circuit breakers. We recommend all family members have familirisation with the workings of the fuse box.

Older homes might still have a fuse box which dates back to the 1960s. This can be identified if there are cast iron switches, a wooden back, and fuses. We would highly recommend you get this updated to a modern fuse box.

If you would like further advice or think your fuse box needs updating, please do not hesitate to contact us HERE.

For the past 38 years we have provided electrical services across Hertfordshire and London. As I’m sure you can imagine, we have encountered some electrical horrors and very near misses over the years! This could be due to incompetent tradesman, electrical DIY, or faulty electrics.

Our most recent discovery was this socket outlet in a house in Kensington. The tradesman who installed the fridge had left the socket outlet in this condition from over 4 years ago! This was highly concerning for our engineer to discover as electrics like this can be fatal. There was risk of electric shock to the resident, but also electrical sockets like this could’ve caused the appliance to become very hot and potentially explode!

Electrical Safety Tips

Electricity was a brilliant discovery for the human race, however its important to be cautious with electricity as it can cause fatal injuries if mishandled. We recommend the following tips to optimise electrical safety in your home:

1. Always use registered electricians. NICEIC, Elecsa, and NAPIT are UK registering bodies for electrical contractors. They will carry out thorough audits to assess the electrician is competent and works to the highest standard of safety and quality. The electrician will also have to work to the latest British safety Standards.  Electrical Safety First have a register in which you can find a local, registered electrician HERE.
2. Do not carry out electrical DIY! According to Electrical Safety First, DIY causes half of electric shocks in UK households. The safety factor is a major concern, therefore its best to always use a registered electrician to carry out the works. Many DIY electrical incidences are caused by cutting through a power lead, not turning off electrical devices before working on them, and drilling into wiring. Always seek advice from a professional, and if you’re not sure then do not carry out the DIY works.
3. Use Part P registered electricians in St Albans. As mentioned above, if you use a registered electrician they are likely to also meet Part P requirements. Part P is a building regulation which ensures the electrical installations within dwellings are safe. Majority of electrical works within a dwelling will be Part P affected. Therefore the works needs to be notified and inspected by a building control body to ensure they meet building regulations.
4. Have an Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR) carried out on your property. The EICR will highlight any internal wiring defects, as well as visual defects to your sockets or wiring which could cause a fire.
5. Have a common sense approach with electricity. Do not overload sockets, do not leave electrical items charging while unattended, and contact an electrician if you notice any visual defects with your sockets or wires.

Its important to treat electricity with the utmost respect. Sometimes you can follow all the above advice and an electrical incident could still occur. However its important to eliminate the risk as much as possible.

Please do not hesitate to contact us HERE for all your electrical needs or for further electrical advice.

The Office for National Statistics recently confirmed that 60% of smokers wish they could give up. Therefore with New Years Resolutions into full swing, many people will be attempting to give up smoking this January.  Some people will go cold turkey, while others might use the alternative of e-cigarettes. Especially with Public Health England stating that e-cigarettes are 95% less harmful than regular cigarettes. However are they safe? Especially with reports emerging of them causing fires and injury.

Keeping Your E-Cigarette Safe

We fully support these tips and advice provided by Electrical Safety First:

1. Don’t leave your e-cigarette charging for a long period of time. According to e-cigarette manufacturers ‘blu’ it should only take 4 hours to fully charge. Overcharging the battery can result in damaging it.
2. Ensure the charger has the CE mark on it. The CE mark states that it complies with European Safety Standards.
3. Don’t leave your e-cigarette charging overnight or when you’re not in the house. As if any dangers occurred you would be unaware.
4. Keep your e-cigarette and batteries stored in a safe place. Any damage could result in them becoming unsafe to use.
5. Follow the manufacturers instructions carefully. You want to make sure you are using the correct charger voltage to eliminate potential danger.

We also suggest that you only buy genuine chargers, ideally from the manufacturer. Fires are more likely to be caused by fake chargers. Furthermore, they could cause internal damage to the e-cigarette. Making it more likely to explode and injure you in the process.

Electrical Safety First have created this video to highlight the dangers of e-cigarette chargers. You can watch it HERE.

If you have been a using a fake charger, then it would be a good idea to call a qualified and registered electrician to check if any damage has been caused. They’re likely to suggest an EICR (Electrical Installation Condition Report) which will involve inspecting the wiring in your home to see if any damage has occurred. It is better to be safe than sorry as electrical fires can start unnoticed inside walls.

For any electrical assistance in your home or workplace, speak with your local registered electrician in London and electrician in Hertfordshire or please do not hesitate to contact us HERE.

With less than 2 weeks left of 2018 its hard to believe quite how quick this year has gone! Is it just me, or do the years seems to be going quicker? I always enjoy reflecting on the year and thankfully, its been a consistently good year for Fulcher Edwards! Therefore as this will be the final blog of the year, lets wrap up 2018 as well as share what you can expect from us in 2019!

Firstly, we are pleased to say we passed our BAFE, NICEIC, and SafeContractor audits for another year. Each year these audit accreditations really test us, however they’re well worth the effort! We are pleased to be able to put our name against the BAFE, NICEIC, and SafeContractor logos, as they underpin Fulcher Edwards core values. These accreditations give our new and existing customers that extra guarantee that we will always provide a high level of service.

Marketing is always a key focus for us each year, like every business! However this year we have particularly focused our efforts onto gaining local business. Due to redevelopment within Waterloo station we have had to relocate our offices to St Albans, Hertfordshire. Fulcher Edwards still predominantly works within London, however it would be great to extend our electrician services out to St Albans, Watford, and surrounding areas within Hertfordshire.  Many marketing letters have been sent, blog posts have been written, and social media posts created to promote Fulcher Edwards – electricians in London and Hertfordshire! This will carry on into 2019.

Each year you gain some, and you lose some. We have gained some great customers this year as well as maintain relationships with existing customers. On the other hand, we have unfortunately lost customers due to circumstances beyond their and our control. Sadly we also lost our office dog Mollie earlier this year. You may have seen Mollie on previous social media posts. The FE team greatly miss Mollies wagging tail in the office.

Fulcher Edwards charitable commitment program

Fulcher Edwards also focused its efforts onto fundraising this year. We hosted a Macmillan Cake Sale on our business park back in September and raised £172.65! We also made donations towards #jeansforgenes and will be making our annual donation towards the charity Debra. For the past few years we have decided to save money on buying/sending Christmas cards and instead donate that money to Debra each Christmas.

Looking into 2019, we are getting ourselves ready for the current biggest change in the electrical industry – the 18th edition regulations! We are also looking forward to welcoming a new engineer to the Fulcher Edwards team in January.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

The Fulcher Edwards team have their work Christmas party tonight. We’re looking forward to being wined and dined, and raising a glass to another good business year! We would like to say a big thank you to our new and existing customers for your continued support, as well as wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Our doors will be closing at 12pm for Christmas today. They will not re-open until 9am Thursday 3rd January 2019. Please do not hesitate to contact us HERE for all your electrical needs in 2019.