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If you are considering buying an electric or plugin-in hybrid car, here are some things that you might not know.

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Electrical Issues That Could Stop Someone Buying Your House

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Electrical Issues That Could Stop Someone Buying Your House

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When you are selling your home, you want to get the best possible price. However, even small electrical issues can put off many buyers because they will have no idea how much they will cost to fix. We discuss the worst offenders.

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When it comes to selling your home you want to get the best price possible. This usually relies on having a good number of potential buyers all interested in your property. Unfortunately, sometimes things that have not been an issue to you living in your property are a big issue to buyers. This is particularly true for properties that are aimed at first-time buyers because they usually don't have a lot of spare cash. Moving house is expensive and any extra costs can be a major deterrent. Most buyers won't have any idea how much it costs to rewire a house/flat or upgrade a fuse board (consumer unit). They will see it as an extra expense that they will have to find the money for and many will discard it as a viable option.

Here are some electrical issues that may put off potential customers from buying your house

1. Old Fuse Board/Consumer Unit

The thought of having to upgrade an old fuse board can put lots of potential buyers off a property. Although they are usually hidden out of sight in a cupboard they will be mentioned in the Home Report. However, it is something that can be done relatively quickly and usually isn't that expensive. The cost of a new fuse board will depend on several factors including the size of your home and the number of electrical circuits.

2. Old Wiring

A house that needs to be rewired will definitely deter many people. Unfortunately, there is no getting away from the fact that rewiring can be an expensive, disruptive and messy job. It usually requires some repair work to the internal décor due to the channels that need to be cut into the walls for the new cables to be run. (Although, some electricians will work with decorators so will be able to offer this as an additional service). Regardless of this, re-wiring is something that most people will want to avoid unless they are buying a very old property that will need everything ripped out and replaced. However, on the plus side, a house that has been recently rewired is a really good selling point and will be much more attractive to buyers.

3. Mismatched Fittings

If your house has a lot of mismatched sockets or light switches it can be off putting to some people. Fashions come and go and while brass fittings were once very popular, chrome fittings seem to be much more popular now. Replacing socket covers is not a big or expensive job but it can be a dangerous one if you don't know what you are doing. It is usually best carried out by an electrician to be on the safe side. In particular, if you are replacing plastic sockets or switches with metal ones, you must make sure that there is an earth wire which is not always the case in older houses. Otherwise, if the live wire manages to work its way loose and comes into contact with the metal casing it will give anyone who touches the fitting an electric shock.

4. Not Enough Sockets

Today, most of us rely on a lot of electric gadgetry and therefore need a lot of sockets to accommodate them. Many old properties still have only one or two sockets in rooms such as the bedroom. This means that extension cables are often needed. Viewers walking around a property are going to notice the extension cables and lots of messy wires and are going to worry about the electrical safety of the property. Contacting a local electrician to fit some extra sockets is a good way of making your home instantly more attractive and electrically safer at the same time.

If you are thinking of selling your home, it is always worth thinking about things you can do to enhance your property in order to attract more buyers. We recommend contacting a local electrician to carry out an EICR on your property. It will highlight any issues and give you the chance to carry out any work before you put it on the market. Many electrical repairs are not as expensive or inconvenient as you might think and they could make a big difference to the price that you eventually get for your property.

Capital City Electrical is an established electrical contractors in Edinburgh. Get in touch to find out more about our electrical services or give us a call us on 0131 202 9188

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Electrical Issues that could Stop Someone Buying Your House | Capital City Electrical

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When it comes to selling your home you want to get the best price possible. This usually relies on having a good number of potential buyers all interested in your property. Unfortunately, sometimes things that have not been an issue to you living in your property are a big issue to buyers.

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Fuse boxes are probably one of the most important electrical devices in your home for keeping you safe from electrocution and your home safe from electrical fires. We answer some of the most common questions we are asked about them.

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As Edinburgh electricians, we are frequently called out to replace old fuse boxes for domestic customers. Many people find this piece of electrical equipment a bit scary. They know it protects their home but other than the Main switch (which turns off all electricity to the home) are not sure of the purpose of all the other switches. Here are answers to 6 of the most common questions we are asked about fuse boxes.

1. What is the difference between a fuse box, fuse board and consumer unit?

A fuse box or fuse board is just the outdated name (because they contained fuses) for what is now more commonly known as a consumer unit. A modern consumer unit will contain a Main switch, RCDs (residual current devices) and MCBs (miniature circuit breakers)

2. What are RCDs and MCBs and what do they do?

The purpose of RCDs (Residual Current Device) is to protect against electric shocks and electrical fires. They detect even the tiniest amount of leaking current and react very quickly to cut off all power before injury or electrocution can occur. There is usually one or two RCDs in a standard household consumer unit.

The purpose of MCBs (Miniature Circuit Breaker) is to protect electrical circuits from damage caused by too much current. They prevent overload on circuits and electrical wires overheating by cutting off the electricity as soon as a fault is detected. In newer consumer units (fuse boxes) there will be one MCB for each electrical circuit in your home.

3. What does it mean when an RCD trips?

When an RCD trips on your fuse box the RCD switch will automatically flip to the 'OFF' position. This usually indicates that there is a fault in one of your electric circuits. The most common reason for this is a faulty appliance although there can be other reasons.

4. What should I do when an RCD trips on my fuse box?

You can try to reset the RCD by toggling the RCD switch back to the 'ON' position. If the problem was a temporary one, doing this may solve the problem. If this does not work and it trips again straight away, you can

i) Try and identify the circuit with the problem

Flip all the MCBs that the RCD is protecting to the 'OFF' position

Flip the RCD switch back to the 'ON' position

One at a time, switch the MCBS back to the 'On' position.

When the RCD trips you will know which circuit has the problem and can call an electrician and explain the problem.

ii) Check for any faulty appliances

Unplug everything in your property,

Reset the RCD to 'ON'

Plug in each appliance, one at a time.

If the RCD trips after plugging in and switching on a particular appliance then you have found your fault.

If you are still unable to locate the problem you should call an electrician for help.

5. How do I test the RCDs on my fuse box are working?

Above each RCD switch, there will be a button marked 'Test' or 'T'. When you press this button the electricity to the circuits the RCD is protecting should turn off. The RCD button should also toggle to the 'OFF' position.

To switch everything back on

Switch all the MCBs to 'OFF'

Switch the RCD back to 'ON'

Switch all the MCBs back to 'ON'

6. How often should I test the RCDs on my fuse box?

It is a good idea to test that your RCDs are functioning correctly every 3 months or so.

If you have a problem with your current fuse box or would like a quote for a new consumer unit for your property please get in touch or give Capital City Electrical a call on 0131 202 9188

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6 Common Questions about Fuseboxes | Capital City Electrical

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As Edinburgh electricians, we are frequently called out to replace old fuse boxes for domestic customers. Many people find this piece of electrical equipment a bit scary. They know it protects their home but other than the Main switch (which turns off all electricity to the home) are not sure of the purpose of all the other switches.