Here are some frequent electricity meter readings, questions and answers.

How does a meter reading work?

Electric meters have a series of dials, the newer ones (smart meters) are digital. Numbers run from left to right. The numbers are used to determine the amount of electricity used since your last bill.

Should I submit meter readings?

Yes, you should, by submitting meter readings regularly, your supplier can give you near accurate electricity bills. The more often you submit meter readings, the more estimates reflect your real-life usage.

How often should I submit meter readings?

The minimum recommendation is every three months, although some people prefer to submit their readings every two months or once a month.

What happens if I don’t submit meter readings?

Your supplier will send you an estimated bill which will be more or less than what you have actually used. You’ll either end up paying too much, and your account will be in credit or pay to little and your account will be in debt, and your payments will have to increase to cover it.

What is an estimated bill?

An estimation of the electricity your electric supplier thinks you have used. Suppliers only resort to estimations when they don’t have any readings to go on.

How do I submit a meter reading?

Write down the numbers on your electric meter (don’t worry about the ones marked in red on the right) submit to your supplier by email, via their website or over the phone.

How often does a meter reader man visit your home?

A meter reader will visit your home at least twice a year; in some areas, it may be more frequent 3-4 times a year.

How often are you billed for electricity?

Depends on the supplier and your arrangement anywhere from once to every three months is typical.

Do I need to submit meter readings if I have a smart meter?

No, the smart meter sends the readings daily to your supplier. You are however free to readings if you want to a good idea if you want to keep a close eye on your usage.

How does the smart meter send readings?

Smart meters take your reading and send them through a secure network (not the internet) to your supplier. Only relevant information about your energy consumption is sent over the network (no personal details)

How do I know if my electric meter is accurate?

Turn off every appliance and light in your home (a quick way is via the mains switch on your consumer unit this will shut off all electricity to your home) once everything is off checked your meter. You’ll likely notice the dials/digital display are still (which they should be as no electricity’s flowing) this means your electric meter is accurate.
If however, the dials are still moving (when there’s no electricity) or you receive a much larger than usual electric bill contact your supplier.

The post Electricity Meter Reading FAQ appeared first on TM Hughes Electrical.

The new colour wires adhere to Amendment 2 of 17th Edition BS7671 Wiring Regulations. The UK standard for electrical installations and safety all electrical installations in domestic, commercial, industrial properties and even other locations must follow this standard.

The latest UK while colours are as follows

• Live – Brown
• Neutral – Blue
• Earth – Green & Yellow

Many properties will still have older wiring, which is ok as in most homes the wiring is still in good shape and hasn’t yet deteriorated. This will depend mainly on the age of the wiring (more on this below)

Wiring installed between 1977 and 2006 is as follows

• Live – Red
• Neutral – Black
• Earth – Green & Yellow

You should have your home checked every ten years to see if it needs rewiring. The copper inside wire can last over 100 years while the plastic can last up to 70 years (this will depend on a number of factors wire will deteriorate at a rate depending on the conditions of the home and the type of wire installed). Typically electrical wire will last up to 30 years.

Wiring  installed before 1977 is as follows

• Live – Red
• Neutral – Black 
• Earth – Green

If you have green Earth wire in your home then it’s likely you’ll need your home rewired, get your electrical system checked by an electrician.

If you have any exposed copper cables with no plastic anywhere in your electrical system, then your wiring is dangerous it should be looked at by an electrician ASAP.

For the past 50 years or so cables have been covered in tough PVC Style sheathing which lasts for a very long time.  Before PVC came into popularity, rubber was used, which deteriorates much faster than PVC. If your home was built before 1960, there’s a chance you’ll have rubber cabling which will have definitely deteriorated in places.

If you suspect you have rubber cabling calling an electrician to come and check your property out.

Lead covered cables are the oldest of all and are still sometimes found in properties (built in the first half of the last century or earlier) Again if you suspect lead cabling get your property inspected.

Need help with your wiring? give us a call

The post Wire Colours & Types In The UK appeared first on TM Hughes Electrical.

So today we’re going to explain the mysterious electrician lingo and what it all means.

AC – Alternating current. AC periodically reverses direction (unlike DC see below)

Amps – The ‘Ampere’ is the unit utilised to measure electrical current 

Bonding – Connecting non-electric metal items to protect from electric shock.

Chasing – Channels dug into walls to run electrical cables to sockets, light switches etc.

Circuit – Electricity runs in a continuous ring and returns to its source, for example, the ring main in your home will start at the consumer unit run around your home to supply sockets with electricity and return to the consumer unit.

Consumer Unit – The go between the mains electric supply and the electrical circuits of your home. Controls the flow of electricity while preventing electrocution and damage to circuits and appliances.

Current – The flow of electrons moving through a circuit

DC – Direct current electrons flow in the same direction (unlike AC see above)

Earth – Takes fault current to ‘earth’ (the ground) protecting humans from electrocution

Fuses – Cuts the electric supply when too much electricity flows through a circuit. You’ll find fuses in plugs, your consumer unit or fuse box (if you have an old fusebox it’s time to upgrade to a modern consumer unit). Old style fuses utilised fuse wire which melted cutting the supply. Modern fuses cut out automatically and can be rest with the flick of a switch (see RCD’s below)

Insulation – Electrical cables and components are covered in plastic (insulation) which prevents electricity from passing through.

Live – The live wire carries the electrical current, the live wire is brown (older properties may have red live wires)

Neutral – The neutral wire carries the current back to the circuit, the wire is blue (older properties may have black wires for the neutral)

Part P – Essential building regulations stating that those carrying out electrical work must make sure that the installation is safe from electrical shocks and electrical fire.

RCD – ‘Residual current device’ protects you and your circuits from electrocution by cutting the flow of electricity when a fault occurs.

Unit – Used by electric companies to measure the amount of electricity used in your home.

Volts – The unit used to measure voltage.

Voltage – Voltage is the pressure or force that makes electricity flow, the higher the voltage, the more powerful the flow.

Watt – The unit used to measure power.

The post Essential Electrical Lingo appeared first on TM Hughes Electrical.

Appliances last a while, but we generally need to upgrade them every 5-10 years or so.

When appliances fail, we repair or replace them; a common scenario is…

Your washing machine starts playing up and then stops working together. You get an engineer out, and he/she tells us that a part inside has failed and cannot be sourced anymore because the washing machine is too old.

Oh well, you think it’s lasted 10-years let’s just get a new one.

You order a new washing machine online it gets delivered, unpacked and installed now you have a nice shiny new washing machine that runs much better than your old one.

Inside the packaging are instructions which are usually skimmed, there’s also another often overlooked document in there as well…

Register Your Appliance

You see the ‘register your appliance’ form at this point you say ‘I’ll do it later’ and later turns into forgetting about it completely, in fact, two-thirds of the people in the UK “forget” as manufacturers claim that two-thirds of all appliances such as washing machines, fridge-freezers, tumble dryers, dishwashers etc. remain unregistered.

First of all, most warranties don’t apply unless your appliance has been registered. If it goes wrong in a year or two, you’ll be kicking yourself when you find your appliance isn’t covered and you have to swallow the repair fee.

Second and most important of all if your appliance is not registered, the manufacturer cannot contact you in the event of a recall.

From time to time, certain models of appliances have a built-in design fault which turns out to be serious. For example, a model of tumble dryer that catches fire.

Who wants a dangerous appliance in their home? That could potentially burn the house down? No one.

Although most appliances are safe and recall is rare, they do happen from time to time, and you need to protect yourself from this situation.

Several fires start in UK homes every day from the faulty appliances, don’t be one of these households.

As soon as your appliance is fitted, read the instructions and find out how to register your appliance.

These days you can register your appliance online, it usually takes a minute or two. You’ll need to enter the make, the mode,l serial number and the date you purchased your appliance.

And that’s it, done.

The post New Electrical Appliance? Always Do This appeared first on TM Hughes Electrical.

It’s not just the big appliances you need to worry about, misusing your small appliances and devices will needlessly waste electricity also.

Too many people leave devices and appliances on when they’re not in use. Research suggests that the UK wastes nearly 500 million pounds worth of electricity every year because of this.

Not good for electricity prices or the environment for that matter.

All appliances waste energy when left on standby. Even appliances that are switched off but still plugged in will consume energy.

All of us have left a charger switched on in the wall after disconnecting our phones, even though there’s nothing to charge energy will still be wasted.

All this adds up

To give you an idea let’s look at an average home with 

• A Computer
• A Dishwasher 
• An Electric oven
• A Games console
• A Kettle
• A Microwave 
• Multiple chargers (phone, laptop, tablet, headphone etc.)
• A Washing machine
• Two TVs

Let’s assume these devices left on standby mode or plugged in when not in use.

That’s a waste of £15-20 per year, and this is just a modest example

Many homes have more devices than listed above.

It’s thought some households waste up to £80 a year by not switching devices off and unplugging them when not in use.

Leaving devices on can also pose a fire risk in some situations. Most appliances sold in the UK are pretty safe if used properly. Always follow the manufacturers instructions and avoid cheap chargers off the internet and you should be ok.

Eliminate Electricity Wastage

We’ve already talked about how to save money with the large devices, here’s how to save money with your smaller devices

Don’t leave anything on standby mode whether that’s a laptop, tablet, games console, hairdryer etc. Once finished with switch everything off at the wall.

Never leave chargers plugged into devices when they’re not being charged when you’ve finished charging your device disconnect, switch charger off at the wall and unplug.

When filling your kettle, use only the exact amount of water you need. 

When you have finished with your kettle, toaster or any other kitchen appliance for that matter, switch it off at the wall.

Your electric oven will be connected to a cooker switch somewhere in the kitchen. This supplies power to the cooker. 

When you finish cooking you can switch the oven off at the cooker switch to save even more electricity. You can do the same if you have a built-in electric hob. We know the digital clock on your electric oven is handy but do you really need to keep it switched on all the time? Invest in a battery wall clock instead.

The post Stop Your Small Appliances From Wasting Energy appeared first on TM Hughes Electrical.

Many people needlessly waste money by misusing their appliances.

Here are the top 3 energy-wasting appliances in your home, how to prevent wastage and run your appliances as cheaply as possible

Fridges/Fridge-Freezers

Your fridge is on all the time, 24-hours a day 365 days a year. The fridge will only go off if you suffer a power cut.

The fridge can consume up to 30% of your electricity bill.

Always buy the best energy efficiency rated fridge you can afford. Preferably and a+++ which are around four times more efficient than the lowest-rated fridges available in the UK.  

The superior energy efficiency will save you money over time and is more environmentally friendly.

If you have an old fridge with a poor energy rating, consider buying a new one. Buy the smallest fridge you can manage. There’s no point buying a double fridge if you live alone.

Always keep your fridge door closed and shut correctly; otherwise, it’ll waste energy.

Keep the interior clean and free of ice, pull the fridge out and clean behind it now and then.

If you have a fridge-freezer, keep the freezer section as full as possible. A full freezer is cheaper to run than an empty freezer.

Tumble Dryer

Tumble dryers are highly convenient, especially for those with big families they are however quite expensive to run, especially if used all year round.

Again buy the highest energy rating you can afford.

Always make sure washing has been through a spin cycle in the washing machine before going into the tumble dryer. Removing the maximum amount of water will take less time to dry and consume less energy.

Always run your tumble dryer at full capacity, two loads of washing instead of one (if possible) also know how best to use your washing machine

On those sunny and dry windy days hang your laundry outside and get it dry for free.

TV

Over the years TV’s have got larger, the bigger your TV and the more it’s on, the more energy it will consume.

LED TVs are way more efficient than LCD and plasma screens. Buy the smallest LED TV you can get away with.

The less you watch, the less energy you use, no one ever suffered from watching less TV. Brighter TVs use more energy, turn down the brightness to the lowest acceptable level to you (this is better for your eyes also)

Don’t leave your TV on when no one’s watching, don’t leave it on standby either switch off at the wall.

The post The Top 3 Energy Wasting Appliances In Your Home appeared first on TM Hughes Electrical.

After the surprise of the sudden power cut, all that’s usually required is to flick the switch back to ‘on’ and the power’s restored.

There are times, however, when the RCD fuse will not reset. Turn the switch back on, remove your finger and the switch flicks back to ‘off ‘ (and the power with it).

There’s an issue somewhere that’s why the RCD won’t reset.

Here’s how to find the issue, remember always call a qualified electrician if you’re unsure or feel unsafe, electricity’s dangerous.

The Number One Cause

There are too many appliances plugged into a single circuit

The number one cause of an RCD that won’t reset is an overloaded circuit. If you’re using an extension lead with a number of appliances running off the same circuit unplug the extension lead.

Try resetting the fuse it’ll probably stay on now.

Run your appliances off of separate circuits, and it shouldn’t happen again, ideally use a single appliance to a single circuit.

Faulty Appliances

If multiple appliances running off a single circuit are not the cause, then there’s probably another appliance in your home causing the RCD issue.

Switch off all appliances in your home one at a time and test the RCD each time.

By process of elimination, you’ll find out if a single appliance is stopping the RCD from resetting (you switch off an appliance test the RCD, and it stays on)

Keep the appliance unplugged and don’t use it (there’s a fault, and it could be dangerous) Get it checked out by an engineer most appliances come with a warranty, so you get an engineer sent out for free. Failing that check your home insurance.

Issues With The Electrical System

If the RCD won’t reset and it’s not an appliance, then there’s probably an issue with your electrical system.

Get your system looked at by a qualified electrician, don’t leave it an electrical fire is a real risk.

Issues can appear within the electrical system if you’ve fitted new switches, sockets or lights, drilled holes anywhere in the house, suffered any flood damage or suffered corrosion in the system.

A qualified electrician will fully test your system, identify and fix any issues that are preventing your RCD from resetting.

If an electrician finds no issue with the electrical system, then it might be the RCD fuse itself which is faulty.

The RCD Needs Replacing

RCD fuses last ten years (or more) a faulty RCD might not reset. While RCD’s can be bought cheaply from your local DIY store and can be replaced easily, you should always use a fully qualified electrician.

There are different types of RCD fuses with varying amp ratings, designed for different parts of the system. The right fuse must be fitted; otherwise, your electrical system could be dangerous.

Give us a call if you need any help

The post RCD Fuse Won’t Reset appeared first on TM Hughes Electrical.

Motion sensor lights automatically turn on in the dark when activated by movement.

Motion sensor lights act as both a safety and security feature.

When you come home at night or go outside in the dark, the lights will light up paths and outdoor areas (without the need of a light switch), so you can see where you’re going reducing the risk of tripping or slipping.

If an intruder trespasses on your property, the lights will come on scaring them off and making you aware of their presence. Homes with motion sensor lights installed are a lot less likely to be burgled/vandalised.

How does motion sensor lighting work?

Motion sensor lights detect infrared heat coming from moving objects such as people, animals and even wind bourne objects such as dust and leaves.

Motion sensor lights have varying levels of sensitivity. Most have them set to come on only when humans walk past so they’re not activated every time a cat or squirrel walks past.

Who should consider motion sensor lighting?

For a while now motion sensor lights have been very popular with commercial business owners for security reasons and to light up areas for night workers when they go outside.

Motion sensor lighting has become more popular with homeowners over the years, especially those with poorly lit areas such as garden or garage areas.

Any business owner with premises or homeowner with poorly lit spaces should consider installing motion sensor lighting.

Where’s the best place to install motion sensor lighting?

For the home any area with poor lighting this could be front and back gardens, garage, driveway, patio etc

For commercial properties install motion sensor lighting around fire escapes, the front door to the premises, CCTV covered areas, areas vulnerable to break-in or vandalism, etc.

Who should install motion sensor lighting?

Why it’s possible to buy and install motion sensor lighting yourself, you should always use a qualified electrician with experience in this style of lighting.

There are lots of different types of lighting on the market, and you need the correct lighting for your situation. A qualified electrician will know exactly where to place the lights and how to set the sensors correctly, so the lights are only triggered by human activity.

Oversensitive motion lights that are activated by any movement whatsoever are annoying and costly in wasted electricity.

If you need any help with motion sensor lighting, get in touch and speak to one of our Electricians.

The post An Introduction To Motion Sensor Lighting appeared first on TM Hughes Electrical.

Opening a window offers some ventilation but it’s not usually enough damp will still be accumulating in places and some bathrooms don’t have a window anyway.

If you want to ventilate your bathroom correctly then you’ll need an extractor fan.

When fitting an extractor fan in a bathroom (or anywhere else for that matter), there are a few things you need to take into consideration, so your fan does its job properly and is fitted to the regulation standards.

IP Rating

Extractor fans are powered by electricity. Electrical appliances fitted in bathrooms have to adhere to strict regulations, so they’re safe to use.

Bathroom fans must have a high resistance to water wherever they’re fitted, in the shower, above the bath or anywhere else in the bathroom.

For this reason, fans have something called an IP rating. Make sure the rating is sufficient enough for your bathroom. If you’re unsure, ask a qualified electrician

Location

Next, you need to decide where to put your fan. Ideally the inside of an exterior wall. Where this is not possible, a duct pipe will have to be used to get the moisture outside. For most properties, you’ll have the choice of one or two walls. Careful positioning of the fan will ensure that the maximum possible moisture is removed.

Manual Or Automatic?

Do you want a manual or automatic fan? A manual fan can be turned on whenever you like this is a good option if you want to save energy.

Many fans are automatic and switch on when you switch the bathroom light on. The fan will shut down after a set period once the light’s switched off.

The disadvantage of this is if you have a bath or shower in the day you might not want to switch the light on. Therefore the fan won’t go on.

If you want a more accurate solution Fans are available with sensors. The fan will switch on when someone walks into the room.

Fans are also available with humidity sensors which switch the fan on and off at a certain level of moisture.

Extraction Rate

Is your fan powerful enough? for most bathrooms, most fans on the market will do the job. Large bathrooms, however, might require two fans or a more powerful fan. Ensure the extraction rate is sufficient to remove moisture from your bathroom.

Get Help

As you can see fitting a bathroom fan can be a bit of a minefield, if you need any help or would like your bathroom fan fitted by a fully qualified electrician give us a call.

The post Bathroom Fan Considerations appeared first on TM Hughes Electrical.

A simple idea that makes our lives more convenient.

It’s common in this day and age for people to have multiple devices that are charged via the USB your phone, tablet, laptop, kindle, smartwatch, Fitbit, GoPro etc.

Your children have these devices too. Go into any family home and, you’ll see multiple chargers plugged into the sockets charging multiple devices.

Inconvenient when you want to use a plug-in appliance and charge your devices at the same time.

Not any more thanks to the wonderful invention of USB plug sockets.

USB sockets feature the usual on-off switches, plug sockets and an additional pair of USB sockets. Plug your devices straight into the mains with a USB lead and eliminate the USB plug.

By now you probably want this must-have Electrical accessory but before you run to your local DIY store, three things…

1. Buy USB faceplates that are CE approved and comply with the latest BS5733 standards
2. Ensure the USB chargers offer a total of 2.1 amps output (enough to charge 2 smartphones simultaneously)
3. It’s recommended that you use a qualified electrician to fit your new USB sockets

BS5733 standard sockets feature a standby mode and overload protection preventing the possibility of electric shock or electrical fire. The USB ports will switch off automatically when a cable is removed.

Never use USB sockets from unreputable online merchants there are inferior Chinese manufactured sockets on the market that are potentially dangerous.

A reputable DIY store will only sell sockets that are up to standard. A good electrician will source up to standard sockets and ensure they’re fitted properly.

There are many different styles of USB socket available From traditional white plastic to decorative finishes such as coloured plastic chrome and stainless steel. It’s easy to find USB faceplates that’ll match your existing decor.

It’s quick and easy to replace your standard two-socket faceplate with a USB  faceplate. USB sockets will any Standard back box and are inexpensive so upgrading won’t break the bank.

Give us a call if you would like a free no-obligation quote.

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