Responsive Repairs

Replacing faulty light fittings or updating old with new can transform and bring new life to your home. You simply choose which light fittings you like, then give us a call to have them professionally installed.

Many people try it themselves but soon realise there are more wires than expected and call us anyway. Generally, two to three lights can be fitted in one hour’s work – we can advise on arrival if it will take longer.

Wiring new lighting fittings and switches can be a difficult task. Using a certified electrician to do the job can give you the peace of mind that everything is wired correctly, and ensures that there is no risk of fire or personal injury. Additionally, our trained electrical engineers will make sure that the new light fittings comply with the latest regulations.

We can fit new lights in your home or business, as well as replacing your existing installation. Additionally, Suresafe offers a security lights and outdoor lighting installation service. Contact us for a quote to fit new lights in your property.

Kitchens and Bathrooms are particularly prone to the build up of smoke, condensation and other pollutants in the air, these rooms need extractor fans to remove and moisture and unpleasant odours from the rooms.

You may find that if you live in a smoking home or have a laundry room these rooms may need some sort of extractor fan as well.

If your extractor fan develops a fault you may find that water or smoke can build up, damaging your walls and surfaces, causing damp or potentially being a fire hazard. Current building regulations require any Kitchen and Bathroom to have a working extractor fan fitted.

Extractor fans can become faulty over time, many of these call outs require a quick fix or extractor fan repair to get the fan back into working order. However some Extractor fan faults are more severe and will require a replacement extractor fan to be fitted. We will assess the situation on call out and give you a full quote for the work that needs to be done to get your extractor fan working again.

Whatever your smoke alarm needs we can help ensure your smoke detector is fitted to the required safety standards meaning not only will you have peace of mind that you are meeting current legislative requirements but you are safe in the knowledge that your smoke alarm will alert you of a fire in your home or building.

There are many types of Smoke Alarm available; they come in 6 different grades of performance in the standard ranges, these grades identify the equipment used for the smoke detector. Grades A, B and C are alarms that include fire detectors, central control equipment (usually battery controlled) and alarm devices. Grades D and E powered by the mains electrical supply and are smoke alarm systems which detect the presence of smoke or CO2, you can also get a Grade F system which is a smoke alarm that is battery powered.

Mains-powered smoke alarms

Mains powered alarms are the most reliable domestic and commercial smoke alarms as they run off your home or buildings main power supply. Once the Smoke alarm is correctly installed you will not have to test the battery regularly, although they do have a battery back up in the event that you have a power cut. These smoke alarms need to be installed by a qualified electrician.

Linked or interconnecting alarms

If you have a large home or need a smoke alarm fitted in a commercial building then a linked or interconnecting alarm is recommended. These are smoke alarms that trigger other alarms to go off in the event of a fire. So when one alarm detects smoke all of the alarms in the property will go off alerting people all over the building that may not have heard the original alarm. These alarms can be linked up to more complicated systems such as triggering water sprays or unlocking electric doors for quick exits.

Mains-powered fire alarm with vibrating pad and strobe lighting

You can get smoke alarms that are fitted with strobe light and vibrating pads, these are ideal for elderly people or people who have hearing difficulties as the alarm alerts you with flashing lights and a vibrating pad placed under your pillow will wake you if you are sleeping.

Standard-battery alarms

The most popular battery alarm used in the home is the standard battery alarm which is an ‘ionisation battery alarm’. This is the cheapest smoke alarm available and is quite basic, although does the job. You can also get an ‘optical battery alarm’ which is also quite cheap although a little more expensive than the ‘ionisiation battery alarm’ and both standard alarms run using a 9-volt battery.

Battery alarms with an emergency light

Battery alarms with an emergency light have a fitted light that comes on when the alarm is triggered, this is quite useful if you have someone in the family who struggles with hearing and can also be useful as a guide to illuminate the scene in the dark.

Fire Alarms with 10-year batteries

Ideally you want a smoke alarm that will last a long time therefore many people prefer to buy a smoke alarm with a 10 year battery. These are more expensive than standard 9-volt battery alarms but can save you money in the long run as you don’t need to replace the batteries as often as you would with a standard smoke detector. These smoke alarms come as an optical or ionisation alarm however the battery is usually a long life lithium battery or a sealed pack battery that can be guaranteed to last for 10 years.

Smoke detectors with a ‘hush’ or ‘silence’ button

Some alarms and smoke detectors come with a ‘hush’ button this will silence the alarm for a few minutes and is useful for kitchens where the alarm may be triggered with cooking. These hush mechanisms will be overridden if there is a significant amount of smoke which would indicate a real fire. Once you have silences your smoke alarm they will either display a red flashing light or make a ‘chirping’ sound to remind you that you have silenced it.

Mains-powered smoke detectors that plug into your light socket

This is a more simple type of alarm that uses a rechargeable battery that you plug into your light socket to re charge when the light is switched on. You can use your light switch to test or silence the smoke alarm and lasts a long time, although we do recommend you replace it fully after 10 years.

As many people often forget to test their fire alarm we recommend you opt for a smoke alarm that will last a long time.

It is important to use an electrician when installing electrical appliances in your bathroom such as electric showers, heated towel rails, lighting, fans, shaving sockets etc.

As with any situation that involves water and electric, fitting electric showers can potentially be a very dangerous job. It is important that you use a qualified electrician to fit your electric shower to comply with building, safety and wiring regulations associated with electrics in the bathroom.

We can get to you quickly and evaluate what is needed to install your electric shower. Most electric shower installations are relatively quick for a qualified electrician to fit however a risk assessment must be evaluated depending on any other appliances you have, the placement of doors, walls and partitions.

Your electric shower will also have to be tested to comply to BS 7671 standards – ‘Requirements for Electrical Installations’ section 601. These tests will guarantee that the electrics will not pose any risk being in such close proximity to water.

A tripping circuit breaker can be a result of bad wiring or a faulty appliance

If your circuits keep tripping, it is a common misconception that this is because of a faulty circuit breaker. However, generally a circuit that trips regularly is functioning correctly, and it is detecting electrical leakage from bad wiring or a faulty appliance. Sometimes an appliance fitting that gets a lot of use can get loose connections over the years, and this can also be the cause.

As well as the inconvenience of loss of power, there is also the potential risk of fire or personal injury if these issues are not addressed. Our trained engineers can arrive within the hour to trace and repair these faults. Take a look at our electrical fault finding service to find out more.

Often on findings from a Periodic Inspection, we find that two or more circuits have been wired into the same fuse / MCB (Miniature Circuit Breaker) or do not have the correct rating of overload protection, leaving your home at risk to fire.

The latest BS7671 regulations stipulate that all circuits must be protected by an RCD (Residual Circuit Device). Many homes don’t have an RCD, and this is crucial as it protects your home from and fires and potentially electric shocks.

Since 2008 RCDs have to be installed on every cable / circuit in the home reg:522.6.7/8. BS7671- Amendment 1 2011 IEE Regulations. They are fitted into every new type 17th Edition consumer units we install and must trip if more than 30mA of fault current exists (Potentially 100mA could be fatal so this trips out before that amount can be present). The RCD must trip within 200mS (0.2s).

The latest consumer units have MCBs to protect the circuits from overload i.e. if a cable is rated at 10amps then an MCB must be rated below that, so it will trip instead of the cable getting hot. Also the new consumers units have two RCDs for fault protection. The reason for having two is so the circuits (sockets and lights etc) can be split, and then if a fault occurs you don’t lose all the electricity in the house so you can see in the dark and the fridge can be plugged in.

The main tails and main earth are checked and updated if required and included in the price. All our consumer units carry a 12 month warranty and an Electrical Installation Certificate is issued on completion of the work.