Electricians Chelmsford
NICEIC Registered
Call – 01245 830560
- Free Quotes
- All Electrical Work Undertaken
- Fully Insured
- No Call-Out Charges
- 24/7 Service
- Part Of The Award Winning TM Hughes Group
Our Services Include
TM Hughes & Son Electrical are NICEIC Chelmsford-based Electricians & Electrical Contractors serving local homes and businesses.
We have many years of experience in domestic and commercial electrical work.
We offer a full range of services, from changing a light fitting in the home to installing full electrical systems on commercial premises. Whether you are a homeowner, landlord, or business owner, we can help.
Our skilled electricians are available 24/7 and on hand for all electrical emergencies.
All work is finished to a professional standard, including fair rates and no call-out charges.
- NICEIC Registered
- Fully Insured
- No Call-Out Charges
- 24/7 Service
Your local ‘Electrician near me’ based in Chelmsford can install and repair domestic and commercial electrical systems for home and business owners.
Autumn Electrical 2024
If you own a property in Chelmsford, autumn is an excellent time to schedule electrical work. Here’s why the months of September, October and November are ideal:
Mild Autumn Weather
Chelmsford enjoys mild weather in autumn. This makes it an excellent time for outdoor electrical work, such as installing security lights, outdoor sockets, or wiring for garden buildings (like sheds or summerhouses), without the disruptions caused by rain or cold. It’s a period when the weather is stable enough to complete outdoor projects before the harsher winter weather sets in.
Winter Preparation
Autumn is ideal for preparing your home’s electrical systems for winter in Chelmsford. With colder months ahead, this is the time to ensure your heating systems (like electric radiators or underfloor heating) are in good working condition. Also, providing your circuit breakers and wiring can handle the increased electricity use of winter is a good idea.
Electrician Availability
In autumn, demand for major renovation work in Chelmsford decreases compared to summer, so our electricians are more readily available. This makes autumn an excellent time to schedule electrical work such as rewiring, installing new sockets, or upgrading consumer units to handle modern demands.
Lighting Upgrades
The days are growing shorter as autumn progresses, and this is a great time to assess your lighting needs, both indoors and outdoors. Installing motion-sensor lights, floodlights, or energy-efficient LED lighting can be beneficial. Indoors, upgrading to dimmer switches or intelligent lighting systems will enhance energy efficiency and allow you to create a cosy atmosphere as the darker evenings approach.
Holiday Preparation
Chelmsford residents often start preparing for holiday gatherings and decorating with the festive season approaching. Autumn is an ideal time to install additional power outlets to accommodate Christmas lights and other decorations or to ensure your current electrical system can handle the increased load from festive lighting.
Old & New Buildings
Chelmsford features a variety of older homes, new buildings, and renovated properties. If you live in an older property, autumn is an excellent time to inspect and upgrade wiring, fuse boxes, and earthing systems to ensure they are up to modern standards before winter. For those in newer developments, autumn is perfect for installing smart home systems or upgrading to energy-efficient lighting in preparation for the higher energy demands of winter.
Improve Energy Efficiency
Chelmsford is a growing city, and many homeowners increasingly focus on energy efficiency. Autumn is a great time to upgrade to smart thermostats, LED lighting, and solar-powered outdoor lights, which will help reduce electricity bills during the colder months when energy usage spikes.
Book An Electrician This Autumn
Autumn is an excellent time for electrical work due to the mild weather, better availability of electricians, and the need to prepare your home for winter. Whether upgrading lighting, inspecting older wiring, or preparing for the festive season, autumn offers an excellent window to ensure your home’s electrical system is safe, efficient, and ready for the colder, darker months. Please get in touch with us for a free, no-obligation quote.
Consumer Units
The Consumer Unit, also known as the Fuseboard, is essential for keeping you, your family, and your appliances safe from electrical shocks and damage. Modern consumer units made of fire-resistant metal come with RCD (residual current device) fuses, which are important for safety in homes and businesses.
Many older buildings in Chelmsford still have old-style fuseboxes on wooden bases. These were common before 1970 and used wire fuses. They aren’t illegal but aren’t as safe as modern RCD fuses. In old fuses, a wire would melt if there was too much electricity, cutting off the power. When these old fuses blew, you had to replace the wire yourself. Now, RCDs make things safer and easier. They work faster, and you can reset them with just a switch.
So, if you have an old fuse box, it’s a good idea to get it replaced.
Our electricians often replace old fuse boxes with new consumer units. These have a main switch and newer circuit breakers. Consumer units have a main switch. This lets you easily turn off all the power in your house. This is useful, especially when an electrician needs to work safely without electricity.
RCD, MCB, and RCBO Fuses
Depending on your home or business’s needs, a consumer unit will have different amounts of RCD, MCB, RCBO fuses or a mix of them.
RCDs (Residual Current Devices)
An RCD turns off electricity automatically if a problem is overheating or too much current. This helps prevent fires or electrocution.
RCDs can protect one circuit or many. We use fixed RCDs in consumer units. You can also find RCDs in some wall sockets or as portable devices that you plug into a socket.
RCDs in consumer units are lifesavers. They quickly cut power if there’s a risk of electrocution. But they don’t stop overheating. That’s where MCBs come in.
MCBs (Miniature Circuit Breakers)
MCBs trip and stop power if a circuit is overloaded, preventing overheating and fire. They’re great because you can reset them after the trip. But remember, MCBs don’t protect against electric shocks – that’s the job of RCDs.
RCBOs (Residual Current Devices with Overcurrent)
RCBOs combine the jobs of both RCDs and MCBs. They protect against electrocution and overloaded circuits.
Units with RCBOs are safe and efficient, but they cost more than those with RCDs and MCBs. A typical RCD/MCB unit has two RCDs and enough MCBs for the job.
Wiring & Rewiring
The Ring Circuit, often called the ring main, is a loop of cables linked to your consumer unit. These cables, known as twin and earth, circle your home and connect to wall sockets. This design lets electricity flow in both directions, reducing the load on cables and ensuring every outlet gets enough power. In Chelmsford, many houses still have old wiring.
Is It Time For A Rewire?
Electrical wiring can last up to 70 years, but depending on the house’s condition, it may wear out faster in older homes. If your home was built before 1970, checking your wiring is a good idea.
The wiring standards have changed over time. Before 1970, wiring had red (live), black (neutral), and green (earth) wires. From 1970 to 2004, the colours stayed the same, except the earth wire became yellow and green. After 2004, the live wire changed to brown (easier for colour-blind people to see), neutral to blue, and earth to yellow and green.
We offer rewiring services. If your house is old, one of our electricians can check your wiring. Just let us know. Homes that haven’t been rewired in the last 30 years likely need it.
Sockets & Switches
We install all kinds of sockets. If you’re changing your room or want a new look, we can swap old faceplates for new ones. You can choose single or double plastic, metal, or wood sockets.
New sockets can have USB ports or RCDs built in. We also fit special sockets like FCUs (with a fuse in the socket for fixed appliances), switches for appliances, cookers, multimedia devices, shaver sockets, and more.
Outdoor Sockets
Outdoor sockets are really useful for most homes. Having power outside means you can plug in things like lawnmowers, vacuums, and power tools without needing long, bothersome, and risky extension cords from the inside. Outdoor sockets have plastic covers. These covers keep out rain and dust and stop plugs from coming loose.
You can get outdoor sockets with built-in RCDs. This is smart if you use tools like lawnmowers or hedge trimmers. Even if you accidentally cut the cable, you’ll be safe.
Indoor Lighting
We offer a full lighting installation, replacement, and repair service, including all lighting and switches, ceiling lights, downlights, wall lights, and bathroom and kitchen lights.
Lighting Circuits
Radial circuits power lighting in most Chelmsford properties. They run in a line (instead of a ring) and do not return to the consumer unit.
Radial circuits also power boilers, cookers, and showers. The first light/appliance in the circuit is connected to the consumer unit and then joined to the next light, the next, and so forth. Electricity ends at the last light in the circuit.
Lights
Indoor lighting includes ceiling, recessed, pendants, chandeliers, wall lighting, spotlights, track, and cable lights.
Your lighting can be fitted with standard wall switches or dimmers so you can control the brightness of each room.
Bulbs
There are various lightbulbs available, and they often cause some confusion. Bulb types include Halogen, Incandescent, Energy Saving and LED, with the fitting types bayonet, Edison screw, capsule and twist-lock. There are wattage and lumens to consider. No wonder people get confused. But don’t worry. We’ll ensure the best bulbs for your home are fitted with the lighting installation.
Switches
Dimmer switches include the traditional switch, touch, remote control and smart so you can change the light levels from the comfort of the sofa.
Outdoor Lighting
Light up your outdoor living spaces with Outdoor Lighting. It’s a great way to brighten your garden, outdoor living spaces and other outdoor areas.
Our range includes Wall Lights, Coastal Lights, Ground Lights, Decking Lights, LED Garden Lights, and Solar Lighting.
Security Lighting
Security lighting is great for keeping your home and workplace safe from burglars and vandals.
We can set up motion sensors, solar lights with timers, or floodlights in places where your property might be at risk. These lights turn on if someone walks by or when it gets dark for the timed ones. Crime studies show that well-lit places are less likely to be hit by criminals.
Our security lighting is planned to give the right amount of light. It scares off intruders, shows your other security stuff (which also helps keep criminals away), and ensures your CCTV cameras can see if there is a crime. The cost of security lighting has dropped a lot recently. With LED bulbs that save energy, these systems are now pretty cheap.
Earthing & Bonding
Properties built after 1991 usually have earthing and bonding that meet current wiring rules. But, many older homes still have earthing wires 4-6mm thick, which don’t match the newest standards.
Whether getting new electrical work or a check-up, our electricians will ensure your earthing and bonding are safe and working properly.
Landlords EICR Certificates
If you rent a property, our electricians can help with the essential EICR (Electrical Installation Condition Report). We also do PAT (Portable Appliance Testing).
EICR is a legal must every five years or when you start renting to new tenants. It checks all parts of your electrical system, like RCD fuses, the consumer unit, earthing, sockets, and light switches.
PAT testing checks appliances like washing machines, irons, and lamps. Once your property passes the EICR, you get a certificate. You can show this to tenants and letting agents, which helps with your landlord insurance.
Portable appliances include kettles, toasters, and even fixed appliances like ovens. They’re common in rented homes and vary in workplaces. For example, a hairdresser uses portable items like hairdryers and straighteners.
Landlords and business owners need to know their tenants, employees, and customers are safe from electrical risks. PAT testing helps protect everyone, whether it’s a rental property or a business.
Our qualified electricians will check and test all appliances in your property or business to ensure they’re safe. If any appliance fails the test, we can fix it or replace it.
Fault Finding & Repairs
Electrical systems usually work fine for a long time. But sometimes, older systems or those not installed properly can have problems. These issues might be burning smells, burnt sockets, faulty light and cooker switches, a consumer unit making noise, fuses that trip often, or crackling sounds.
It’s important to fix even small-seeming electrical problems because they can be dangerous. We offer a service to quickly find and fix these issues. It’s fast and affordable. Our electrician will test to find the problem and then repair it.
Smoke & Heat Alarms
Are you ready in case of a fire? Do you have a plan to get out and smoke alarms connected to your home’s electricity? If not, we can set up a professionally linked smoke alarm system for you.
Our trained electricians will put multiple alarms around your home. These alarms work off your main power and are all linked. If one alarm goes off, they all do, so everyone in your house knows.
These alarms also have battery backups for when there’s no power.
A linked system that uses the latest heat and smoke alarms is much more reliable and safer than battery-powered ones.
We also install special systems for people needing extra help, such as the elderly or the hard of hearing.
Commercial Electricians
Chelmsford businesses change. To help your company grow, you might need new electrical work or a full rewiring. It’s okay if you’re not sure what electrical work you need. We’ll plan an electrical system that fits your needs and budget. Our price is clear and has no hidden fees.
Our electricians are skilled in commercial electrical systems. They handle single-phase and three-phase systems and all types of wiring, such as Cat 5, Cat 5E, and Cat 6. We also install various commercial lights for offices, shops, warehouses, and factories.
We also offer other business services, such as electrical maintenance, PAT testing, and setting up security systems.
Electrical Emergencies
We handle Electrical Emergencies in Chelmsford. Electrical issues can pop up suddenly, surprising homeowners and businesses. Quick help is important if you consistently face a sudden power cut, smell burning, or your fuse trips.
We’re here 24/7 to help Chelmsford and don’t charge for call-outs.
Here’s what we handle:
Power Cuts
Check with your power company first. They’re often caused by grid problems and are fixed quickly. Otherwise, call us.
Noisy Consumer Units
These noises can mean something’s wrong. Our team will investigate, find the issue, and fix or replace the parts.
Tripping Fuses
These trips are to keep you safe. If yours keeps tripping, we’ll find out why, fix it, and reset the fuses. Sometimes, we might suggest a new fuse box. Avoid tripping by not overloading circuits and using safe and suitable appliances.
Burnt Sockets & Switches
These can be dangerous. We’ll find out why and replace any bad parts.
Burning Smells
This is serious. Turn off your power and call us.
Flooded Electrical Systems
Water and electricity are a risky mix. We’ll shut off power, check things out, dry and fix your system.
Damaged Wiring
This can cause many problems. If you see flickering lights, discoloured outlets, or frequent trips, we’ll check and fix your wiring.
24/7 Service
We’re always ready, day or night, to keep you and your property safe.
Hi, I’m Terry the founder and owner of TM Hughes & Son Electrical Services
Please get in touch using the Phone Numbers or Contact Form