Tag
Electrical wiring
31 articles
ArticleHow to Install a Photocell (Dusk-to-Dawn) Light Sensor Switch: Choosing the Load Rating, Wiring L, N and Load, Mounting, Adjusting and Fixing Lights That Stay On or CycleA client wants the gate light or signboard to come on by itself every evening and go off in the morning. A timer can do part of this, but sunset shifts through the year and a dark,…
ArticleHow to Do an Insulation Resistance Test on House Wiring: Isolating Safely, Choosing the Test Voltage, L–N and L–E Tests, Reading Megohms and Finding the FaultA house has just been rewired and the client wants the power on today. Another client's ground floor was flooded last week. A third has an RCD that trips "for no reason" every time…
ArticleHow to Install LED Strip Lights: Choosing 12 V or 24 V Strip, Sizing the Driver, Avoiding Voltage Drop, Wiring and Mounting in Aluminium ChannelA client wants a soft glow along the ceiling cove in the living room and bright light on the kitchen worktop under the wall cabinets. LED strip looks easy: peel, stick, plug in. St…
ArticleHow to Install Electricity Sub-Meters for Rental Rooms: Choosing the Meter, Wiring to Its Terminal Diagram, One Breaker per Room, Testing and Fair Billing RecordsA landlord has six rooms for rent behind one EVN meter, and every month there is the same argument about who used how much electricity. They ask you to fit a meter for each room. I…
ArticleHow to Install a Smart Wi-Fi Light Switch: Checking for a Neutral Wire, Wiring L, N and Load, Pairing, and Fixing LED Flicker on No-Neutral ModelsA client shows you a glass touch switch they bought online. The box says "Wi-Fi smart switch, 3 gang, works with phone app". They want it in place of the old switch by the living-r…
ArticleHow to Earth (Ground) a House Safely: Earth Rod Installation, Earthing Conductor, Bonding and TestingA house can have new wiring, good MCBs and a 30 mA RCD, and still be unsafe if its earthing is poor. The earth connection lets a fault on a metal appliance case be detected and cle…
ArticleInstalling wired and wireless doorbells in homes: choosing the type, outdoor push-button placement, wiring, safe 220 V supply connection and fixing a doorbell that won't ringCalls to an electrician about doorbells usually fall into a few familiar situations: a newly built house needs a doorbell at the gate; an old doorbell does not ring however many ti…
ArticleElectric fan won't spin, runs weakly or hums: checking the fan capacitor, shaft bushings and windings, and replacing the capacitor with the correct ratingA client calls: “When I switch on my pedestal fan it just hums and the blades don’t turn, but if I give them a push it starts running. And the living-room ceiling fan on speed 5 sp…
ArticleInstalling outdoor lighting (gates, yards, boundary walls): choosing the IP rating, weatherproof wiring, sealed junction boxes and RCD shock protectionA client calls: “We’ve just redone the gate and front yard. Can you fit two gate-pillar lights, a wall-washer light on the boundary wall and a few path lights for us? And at the ol…
ArticleWiring a wall-mounted split air conditioner: choosing cable and a dedicated MCB, and safely connecting the power cable and the indoor–outdoor interconnecting cableA client calls: “Could you come and wire up my new air conditioner? The refrigeration technician is coming to install it this afternoon.” Or: “Every time I switch on my air conditi…
ArticleInstalling a ceiling fan properly: hanging hooks, wiring the speed regulator and test-running without wobble“The new fan wobbles like it’s about to fall; nobody in the family dares sit under it.” “Speed 1 and speed 5 give the same airflow.” “Can a fan be hung from a plasterboard ceiling?…
ArticleInstalling a home voltage stabiliser for weak or fluctuating power: sizing, location, input–output wiring, bypass and safe commissioningA customer calls: “Every evening the lights in my house go really dim and the air conditioner doesn't cool. Could you install a voltage stabiliser for me?” This is a common request…