Saving Electric, quick question:

arkonite_babe

Some useful links :

http://www.est.org.uk/myhome/

http://www.nef.org.uk/energyadvice/savingenergy.htm

http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/index/family_parent/housing/energy_efficiency.htm

Also keep an eye on the freebies board, there are ofeers from time to time on energy saver lightbulbs if you receive certain benefits.

HTH

maryb

paul_h wrote:

An electrician will be able to locate any damaged cable in minutes with an insulation tester. If you have a short in cabling, this will produce heat and heat starts fires. Even if it is somewhere relatively 'safe', copper is an excellent conductor of heat and the damage will travel along a cable to melt the insulation where it can do more damage.

I would recommend you get this checked out sooner rather than later.

Thanks, I know you are right - although my tone was joking I was really worried and we have already arranged for an electrician to do some extensive rewiring. I was just grimly amused by the idea we could have an electricity leak!

moonrakerz

A point on safety here.

Many switches are "single pole", which means they only break one of the two wires to an appliance. If your house wiring, or the wiring to the appliance is not correct you may find (shockingly !) that instead of breaking the live supply to the appliance it has broken the return.
This means that although the appliance may be switched "off" at the wall or on the unit itself, it can still be live. If you are going to fish about inside something electrical, like getting a piece of stuck toast out of the toaster - don't switch it off - ALWAYS unplug it.