Do these actually need doing?

poppysarah

kiki* wrote: »

Thank you that was also my view on a carbon monoxide alarm but I has heard that some don't work very well.

They work better than none!


Ring fire brigade locally and see if they come and fit free smoke alarms.

If you rewire you would have ones hardwired into system as it's part of building regs now I think.

It costs about £1500 to have a 3 bed house rewired in the North West. Add in cost of plastering and making good the walls after as an on top charge - and the potential for needing to completely redecorate some rooms.

Sorting out the fuse board - get quotes for this - but if it's £500 would you want to pay the extra and ensure all the house is safe and have extra plug sockets?

It can be done in a day if you can get furniture to the middle of the room - but get quotes and ask people to tell you how long it'll take.

If you want to get it redone in the next few years then put off decorating until you have.

pauletruth

I would get the bonding done as it is a safty issue. the wooden board can wait untill a new unit is installed. co2 and smoke deectors are important so possibly get battery ones untill you are doing some wiring works an get them installed then. the bathroom light is either a faulty bulb or rose, neither are major problems. replace the bulb if thats not sorted turn the power off and check the rose for faults. if not that the get a lecky out.

societys_child

All battery smoke alarms I've had beep - loudly - every few minutes when the battery needs changing. Usually start around 3 o'clock in the morning . . .:(

googler

spannerzone wrote: »

They don't meet current regulations, that isn't the same thing as being unsafe.....a fusebox mounted on wood means a sparking overheating fusebox could set the wooden board alight and maybe the rest of the house. How often has this happened in the past though? millions of homes have this and don't every have a problem, but it could happen and it could be you.

If not wood, then what do the regs say it should be mounted on?

kiki*_2

Thanks for all your replies. The bathroom light flickers due to condensation so we are getting a more enclosed type of light.

Fuse box would cost £250 do that's not too bad I guess. Don't want to do a whole require as we don't have that amount of money.

Will get a monoxide alarm but a battery one. We are very good at checking our smoke alarm and replacing batteries so you've reassured me I don't really need to change.

Bit unsure about the water bonding, not really sure what it does!

Sugared-frog

societys_child wrote: »

All battery smoke alarms I've had beep - loudly - every few minutes when the battery needs changing. Usually start around 3 o'clock in the morning . . .:(

Very true - I've always presumed it is because the house is a little cooler at night so the low charged batteries don't work as well.

DVardysShadow

kiki* wrote: »

... Bit unsure about the water bonding, not really sure what it does!

This actually is the MOST important one of all the issues [possibly apart from the CO monitor] to get sorted, particularly because it is the most difficult to understand. This is the one which ensures that if there is an electrical fault you don't get a fatal shock across the heart due to an electrical fault when you grab hold of a water tap in one hand and an appliance which is live in the other hand.

kiki*_2

Ooh I see! Any idea of cost? I'm waiting for the man to get back to me but he said it would need 10m of copper?

penguingirl

I had never heard of water bonding either until last summer when OH installed a new shower and explained that we needed to do it. I don't know how much of your house needs to be done, but the kit to do our shower pipes (both hot and cold before and after the pump) was probably about a tenner. We just got earthing wire (can't remember how thick we needed it) and cable ties from screwfix and it was a 5 minute job.

G_M

Just to be pedantic - it's a CO (carbon monoxide) alarm you need. Carbon dioxide (CO2) is something else entirely! A so-called greenhouse gas. Dangerous to the world environement, but not to you in your home.