Does our house need re-wiring?

JimmyTheWig

Hi,

The people who lived here before us were "not particularly good" at DIY. They were "bodgers".
(Unfortunately I'm not that much better myself, but most of the time I don't try.)
I don't know what involvement they had with the electrics.

We find that light bulbs blow very quickly. We've had energy saving bulbs go after about a year. Halogen spotlights last about 4-6 weeks. We've had some SES filament bulbs that have only lasted about a week (though that may have been the quality of the bulb as others have lasted longer in the same fitting).
Light fittings with flourescant tubes have busted, as have transformers in other light fittings.

While other appliances seem ok, the bulbs that have gone have not been restricted to the lighting circuit as some are in lamps plugged in via 3-pin plugs.

The problems are all over the house rather than being restricted to one or two rooms.

The fuse box (and so I presume the wiring?) looks relatively modern (e.g. it has flick switches to isolate various different circuits). But (see first paragraph) it may have been installed poorly.


Any suggestions as to what the problem might be?
Does the house need re-wiring?
What sort of cost would we be looking at for that? (3 bed semi just inside M25.)
We're going to be having our loft converted. Might this make things worse? Would it be sensible to tie the re-wire in with this?
Any suggestions for finding a decent electrician?


Sorry for the long post,

Jim

patan

Hey Jim,
Even if the fuse box looks modern the wiring might not be.
Get a reliable electrician to come over and check the wiring.He will be able to answer your questions about cost as well.
Good luck to you and let us know what happens.
Pat

luap2411

Hi

Well worth getting the lot checked out by a part P registered electrician.

The other possibility is that you are getting transients (spikes), or voltage fluctuations on your supply. This is pretty rare though. Ask your neighbours if they are getting similar problems, most common in rural areas. If you suspect supply problems you can get you network company to fit monitoring equipment to see if there is a problem.

Bear in mind spikes and electronics don't mix, tends to kill power supplies. If you have an expensive TV, computer etc might be worth buying some cheap plug in surge protectors. In the future more consumer units (fuse boxes) will start to be fitted with integral surge protection.

But from the sound of things yours is most likely down to poor installation.

WestonDave

Getting a reputable electrician to test your set up is probably a wise move - shouldn't cost more than £100 tops, and you should then get a report which details what if anything needs doing. If its all OK then at least the nagging doubt in your mind is removed. It also gives you a chance to road test the electrician and his work standards etc before you instruct him to do anything more.

Jonesya

Given your concerns about the installation get an electrician to carry out a periodic inspection of the installation, they will check the installation and provide a report identifying any defects found, based on that you can decide what action to take.

I wouldn't jump to the conclusion that the premature lamp failures are due to the wiring, they are may be due to issues with the supply. Mention it to the electrican and get him to check the supply voltage.

JimmyTheWig

Thanks all.
Sounds like getting it checked is the first move. £100 well spent, methinks.

As with all tradesmen a recomendation is best, but I can't think of anyone whose had work done recently. So failing that, pick someone out the the local paper?

And what am I asking them for? To come and test our wiring? Or is there a name for this report, etc.
How long is this test likely to last? And will the power be interrupted for this time?

(Sorry for all the questions. Thanks for all the help.)

WestonDave

Name of the test is called a "Periodic Inspection and Test", it may take all day but the power will mostly be on during that time although particular parts may be off for short periods when they do particular tests on that circuit.

You might want to look here for an electrician - http://www.niceic.com/ - I know that they do actually go out and look at the work done by their certified electricians to make sure its up to scratch as work happened to be one of the spot check sites for the electrician we use.

May be helpful if you can draw a rough diagram for them showing where all the sockets etc are so it saves them time hunting - we had fun when they did our old house, poor chap spent ages trying to work out what a particular circuit on the fuse board did. In the end he said that it must just be an dead circuit as he'd tested every socket he could find and checked everywhere. Packed up his things, closed the cupboard under the stairs where the fuse box was, and discovered one more socket which had been hidden behind the door - that was the one he couldn't find!

JimmyTheWig

Thanks Dave. I think that gives me everything I need to get started...

JimmyTheWig

JimmyTheWig wrote: »

As with all tradesmen a recomendation is best, but I can't think of anyone whose had work done recently. So failing that, pick someone out the the local paper?

Remembered that we got some advice from an electrician following a freecycle post a while ago.
Have emailed him and he's going to come and have a look.

Any thoughts at this stage on approximate cost for a full re-wire?

Yooj_2

JimmyTheWig wrote: »

....

Any thoughts at this stage on approximate cost for a full re-wire?

Wet-finger in region of £2000 to £3000 dependent upon specification of fixtures and fittings required, whether house is occupied or not etc.

Yooj

baldelectrician

WestonDave wrote: »

You might want to look here for an electrician - http://www.niceic.co/ -

The NICEIC are not the only governing body (they just think they are :rotfl:)

You should use a competent person for the work, links below
In Scotland:
Individuals registered;
http://www.sbsa.gov.uk/register/ListAC.asp
Companies
http://www.sbsa.gov.uk/register/SearchRegCo.asp?T=Construction
In England and Wales:
http://www.competentperson.co.uk