It may be the weekend and some of us will be enjoying some downtime but electricity doesn't know its Saturday or Sunday and continues to power our lives which means electrical safety is a 24/7/365 concern and something we all must be aware of to make sure we keep safe as best as we can.

Electrical safety especially in private rented homes has improved greatly over the last few years due to a change in electrical and fire safety regulations meaning mandatory electrical wiring testing and increased fire detectors has improved the safety for the tenants.

Improving electrical safety in homes and businesses continues to be at the top of the agenda for our electrical trade organisation in Scotland SELECT and their hard work so far should be congratulated and their efforts for continual improvement supported.

Last year I wrote a small article on electrical safety and efficiency in homes which was published in the popular Love Local magazine which covers Stirling and Clackmannanshire areas.

The article can be read below and if you have any questions about how you can improve electrical safety and efficiency in your premises please ask by commenting on this post or contact me via our website. 

Another good source for safety advice within your home can be found at the Electrical Safety First website.

In this day and age of smart phone and tablet computers the demand to provide WIFI in accommodation places is increasing, in fact many people place available WIFI near the top of their list for choosing where to stay.

Another small touch Hotels, B&B's and Guest Houses can add to their list of amenities is USB socket outlets in rooms. 

Socket outlets in rooms are usually limited and in some cases have no available outlets after kettles, alarm clocks and table lamps are plugged in meaning it can be inconvenient to charge phones and tablets - so why not easily and cheaply swap over one wall socket to one that contains both power and USB outlets.

Contact us for more information if you wish to take advantage of this simple but effective idea that will be sure to get you a good guest review on tripadvisor.

This recent survey has found that we are all getting there with using energy saving lamps which was mostly helped by the ban on the sale of certain incandescent lamps (traditional 100 watt lamps) a few years back hence that large uptake of compact fluorescent light bulbs which the survey found.

Understandably the survey also found that presently the uptake of LED lamps is less but my bet is that will change within the next 12-24 months.

We have been a large user of LED lights and lamps when it comes to underunit kitchen lights and especially garden lights but over the past 18 months we have seen a large increase in us changing the traditional energy hungry 50 watt downlight lamps in houses with LED lamps. It's not only inside the house we have recently seem big advances as we are now installing LED floodlights instead of 500 watt halogen floodlights which are still a common site lighting up rear gardens. 

The reason for this is the light brightness and colour output has improved greatly as well as a reduction in the price of these lamps - we currently install branded and reliable LED lamps for around £6.00. Yes, around £5 more than those power hungry halogen lamps but In real terms that is a 5 watt LED lamp instead of a 50 watt halogen lamp for the same light output and in our opinion a no brainer as we all look to improve the energy efficiency of our homes in the face of rising energy costs.

If you look back at some of our blog posts you will see samples of our LED lights and lamps work.

Every working day we carry out different types of electrical testing whether that be testing wiring and accessories, smoke detectors, fire alarms, appliances or emergency lights. These are important services we provide to allow clients to not only meet mandatory Health and Safety obligations but it also helps ensure the safety of employees and the general public. 

This was highlighted on Wednesday when we were awarded a contract to inspect and test smoke alarms, emergency lighting and fixed wiring in 500 properties for a major Central Scotland housing association. 

Worried about rising electricity bills as the nights get colder and darker - contact  us to discuss energy efficient lights and other solutions.

This week we started 1st fix wiring within a new extension in Stirling. Wiring for lights, sockets, kitchen appliances and audio/visual equipment will be installed over the next week before we come to the exciting part of installing the final equipment.

If you are planning improvements to your home then we can help with sourcing builders, architects and associated tradesmen.