Do I need a new Fusebox? Well its unlikley you are going to want a new fusebox as they are now obsolete on the market and no longer follow BS7671 regulations, for safety reasons. We CAN however, upgrade your existing fusebox to a New Consumer Unit which will pass all the current BS7671 regulations as well as giving you peace of mind knowing that your property is electrically protected and safe. Features such as a thermal cutout system in the Mini Circuit Breakers (MCBs) will protect your circuit from short circuits or an overload of current through the wires. Short circuits are very dangerous as they can cause the cables to overheat to breaking point, which can be the reason for a lot of electrical fires. The MCB will activate when a large amount of current passes through it in a short amount of time, thus representing a short circuit which doesnt encounter a load on its path. An MCB is a cleaver devise which switches off the circuit by the use of some internal thermal levers. When heated, a bimetalic strip bends and causes the levers to switch and activate the circuit to break. This can easily be reset by means of raising the lever once the fault is located and cleared. Replacing fusewires is a thing of the past!. Residual Current Devises(RCD) are designed to detect a leaking current in the circuit and shut off the circuit if the residual current exceeds 30 mA. RCDs are the main protection from electric shock as the RCD (in most circumstances TN-C-S) MUST turn the circuit off within 0.4 seconds should it detect an imbalance in the current. This cut-out time is not just to satify the current BS7671 regulations but to protect you from a significant electric shock should the current be able to flow through your body any longer. Surge Protections Devises (SPD) are the latest addition in the safety devises hittting the market and the BS7671 regulations. SPDs are designed to deal with transient voltages in the electrical supply. Essentially what this means is that, if the voltage increases so does the current and as it happens so fast, its described as a surge of current, which can damage the electrical system and fry your micro chips in your electronic equipment. These surges only really happen when large electrical loads are switched on or should you be unlucky enough to have a lightening strike directly on top of your man cave, in your garden outhouse! Above are the three main components which would be incorporated into your modern consumer unit when upgrading from a fusewired fusebox. There are many other products to further protect your electrical system but these three are generally the most common you are likly to come accross, other devises include, RCBOs, AFFDs, etc.

There are 3 main types of reports and it really depends on which report you are looking for and why. The main reports people need these days is the Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR) sometimes refered to as the Landlords report, as many landlords require this precise report when renting out their proerties to the public. This is due to a recent deadline for all landloards to have this electircal safety check in place. Other reports you may come accross, depending on the kind of work you have done, are a New Electrical Installation Certificate (EIC) or a Minor Works Certificate (MWC).Any new installation requires an EIC, with full testing results confirming compliance with the BS7671 regulations as well as compliance with the local Building Regulations. A Minor Works Certificate, does not include new circuits within its compass. It instead uses existing circuits to spur off from. An example would be adding another light to the same switch, it would essentially be an extention of the current circuit. These types of works do not require notification to the Local Building Control department and a MWC can be supplied. Oh yes, the short answer is down here! Please check out our services page at the top of the screen, there are some generic prices available for customers to pre order, a Condition Report (EICR), a new circuit (EIC) or a minor job (MWC), without hassle.

Yes we do! Please call 07379 87 87 88 and follow the voicemail instructions for Immediate Assistance. (1700-0900) If calling for emergency assistance, we guarentee to be with you within 2 hours of your initial contact and the confirmation of your booking via our online booking services. Payment for this service is easy, please just go to the services page, select book now below the 24 hour Emergency Electrician Service. IMPORTANT - It is important that you make a phone call to 07379 87 87 88 in order to alert Agility Electrical of your intentions. Full details and guidance are available here.

Well, we love that question at Agility Electrical because it gives us the oppportunity to reply - How long is a piece of string? All side-splitting jokes aside, changing a light, one for one, should not be a lenghty or difficult job at all and shouldnt cost you a price greater than a single 30 minute call out fee. However should we turn up and the cutomer presents an 19th Century - 100 kg chandelier and points to the ceiling, well lets say a 30 min appointment, might not quite cut it, as there are a fair amount of factors involved in hanging an old, heavy and delicate accessory. Generally if you want a quick light replced or changed, a 30 min appointment would suffice, if the light is moving a location, you are adding an additional light, or trying to install a light which may not be a standard fitting, then you could expect to see an increase in the time the electrician is required on site. We always aim to complete the necessary work to the highest standards of workmanship and safety. This is required of us by the customer and is intrinsic to our nature and ethos. If you would like to book a 30 minute appointment please take a look at our bookings page. There you can book a 30 minute quote. Just write a little message in the description explaining you would like to change a quick light fitting (bearing in mind the above details mentioned) and we can attend with the materials necessary. If the job is likely to take more than 30 minutes additional costs will be charged at the same 30 minute rate as the original order. We will always confirm with the customer before proceeding. IMPORTANT - A 30 minute appointmant is for services only and does not include materials of any sort.

Yes we do. Please see Our Services page for details.

Do I need an electrical rewire? Whether or not you require a rewire could be down to several factors. Below are a couple of common ones. Peace of Mind for the Customer Firstly, you need to feel safe in your home, you want peace of mind. If you smell electrical burning smells, constant tripping of your MCBs or the RCD, crackling sounds or maybe you have had some uncertified work done and you want it checked, then call an Electrician. Even better call Agility Electrical! A lot of the time a customer may move into a new house with fairly old wiring and where there have been alterations done to the electrical installation, again possibly uncertified or scruffy, for peace of mind they will rewire that particular area considered a little iffy. On other occasions the work involved to rectify a small area in the house, may as well extend to the rest of the house for a full rewire, if there is other construction going on at the time. This leaves the customer fully assured that they are safe, with a brand-new electrical system and a certificate of installation from a reputable company, allowing them to sit back and enjoy their new abode. Quality of the Electrical Installation Obviously, I would hope to many, the main reason you would want a rewire, would be because your domestic electrical system is unsafe! But what exactly does an unsafe electrical system mean to the normal homeowner. Well let us explain here. Let’s go on a thought experiment. Imagine the wiring for every single circuit in your house was laid directly on the walls, visible and stripped down to the bare copper as it delivers a considerable number of amps around your house. Were you to touch the wire, then let’s just say you’d get a bit of a shock! So how do we make that safe? Well first if it was sparking anywhere you would want to check the connections are tight at each location and the wire is continuous and strong. Problem solved move on. But we can still touch the bare copper circuits and get a shock. OK, let’s put some insulation around the copper, this way we can handle the cables, lets double it for extra safety and add an outer layer, the sheath. Now the cable is no longer bare, can be handled, and no shock will occur. The cables however are still laid visible, directly on the wall and could be knocked or damaged, possibly then resulting in the bare copper exposing itself again and causing risk to a shock. What can we do? Well we can put the cables in trunking, conduit or most likely chase a groove in a wall and install the cables nice and neatly, out of sight, 50mm deep in the wall and even put a cap over the cables to evermore protect them. We then fill the gaps and the cables in the wall and once you have completed decorating, they rarely get thought of again. So, my worthy follower, the essence of this story is; you want your cables to be well insulated, correctly and firmly installed, correctly protected and more than often out of sight. A rewire would be necessary when the insulation around the cables is deteriorating and dangerous, they are poorly installed, exposed to possible damage or even have several bad accessories in the system. A test called an Insulation resistance test conducted by an Agility Electrical would be able to identify deterioration of the cables and a full condition report (EICR) would identify poor installation and identify the necessity for a rewire. Fuse box, Fuse Board or Consumer Unit Now we want to look at your fuse box, fuse board or consumer unit. Is it up to current regulations? Is it still a fuse wire inside or can you turn individual circuits off by a breaker switch in the unit? Do you have an RCD? Does it trip the breaker quick enough to pass a BS7671 regulation? There are many reasons why a customer may want a rewire, as well as critically need one. The general rule of thumb is that if you have an old, scruffy and worn consumer unit, and if you have older version coloured wires (red and black) we would more than likely find a range of areas in your electrical system which could be improved to suit current regulations and ensure your safety. The best place to start, should you think you need a rewire would to get a quote from an electrician. You can book a quote with Agility Electrical and we would be able to give you a comprehensive outline of the work involved. Please, take a look at our services page for more details. We appreciate you taking the time to read this FAQ, should you have any further questions please do not hesitate to contact us, we would love to help. sercives@agilityelectrical.co.uk 07379 87 87 88

YES we can! But you may be able to locate the fault yourself if you read below. If you believe to have an electrical fault in your house, there are several things you can do yourself, to determine likely causes for the fault. To do this you will need to understand the component parts incorporated in the average electrical consumer unit. In your consumer unit you will likely have an RCD. This RCD has a big (double-width) switch and controls the power for several circuits in your house (NOT your main switch). Your house has different circuits, your lighting circuit, sockets circuit, cooker circuit etc. These will be run from the RCD switch. The RCD protects your houseand occupants from damage to the circuits which may cause a leak in the electrical current. If the RCD detects and imbalance in the circuit it will trip and drop power to every circuit which it feeds. POINT 1 – First check your electric box and see whether you have an RCD. Yes? Then check whether the RCD switch has been turned off. Sometimes the RCD can only drop the switch halfway, as a brand design, this can be difficult to detect so be aware of this. TO RESET – To reset the RCD (obviously refer to manufacturers instructions…) you need to PUSH the lever back UP so that it CLICKS nicely back ON. Sometimes with particular brand designs, you may have to push the lever right DOWN first before being able to lift the lever to reset. TIP – When resetting an RCD after a fault it is NOT a good idea, to have all the circuits ON and READY to go. Make sure that all the circuits (Miniature Circuit Breakers MCBs) that are fed by that RCD, have been TURNED OFF using the same lever methods as described for the RCD (Lever down = OFF). Then you can switch the RCD BACK ON and, at that point in time, there should NOT be an electrical load for the RCD to detect anything. Once this is done the logical circuit to start when turning the circuits back on would usually be the lights. Give them a switch, if they come on great, try the next circuit, and the next until you find the faulty circuit which trips the RCD. POINT 2 – Once you have found the faulty circuit you can RESET the RCD again using the methods described above (Switch OFF circuits FIRST) and turn back onALL the MCBs which DID NOT TRIP the circuit. This will mean that the RCD will NO LONGER TRIP and you only have the individual circuits, which you have discovered are tripping your RCD, to worry about. Leave these off for now. At this point it may be a good idea to call an Electrician before you get too adventurous. However, Agility Electrical would never leave you in the lurch like that and never want to ruin your adventure if you’ve gotten this far. So as mentioned earlier your RCD is likely tripping because a small leak in the current, 30 mA to be precise, is happening. If it is your socket circuit which is causing the fault, then you may want to unplug everything from the sockets and try the circuit again. If at this point, the circuit DOESN’T trip the RCD its more than likely going to be an item of EQUIPMENT which is FAULTY and causing a current imbalance in RCD and making it trip. PLEASE INSPECT YOUR ELECTRICAL PLUG-IN EQUIPMENT. Beyond this point for this kind of fault, you will require an electrician as we can inspect the accessories, test the cables, FIND the FAULT, REPAIR or REPLACE, CLEAR the fault and RETEST to confirm compliance. I think I have given away enough electrical secrets of the trade right there and we have covered enough for this one. If you do get to a point where you may think you are risking your safety please call Agility Electrical, but hopefully the above lecture is food for thought. services@agilityelectrical.co.uk 07379 87 87 88