Our Planet Earth has existed for approximately 4.5 billion years, and we have only enjoyed domestic electricity for about 150 of them. Electricity is now something we absolutely take for granted: to light and heat our homes, cook our food, charge the devices to entertain us and much more. On the rare occasion of a power outage, we spring to our pre-charged smartphones to enquire about the cause, and more often than not are able to utilise stored electricity in some form until usual service resumes.

Yet, due to its convenience and normality within our modern lives, we tend to forget that electricity has the power to kill humans when manhandled, and around 2.5 million Brits receive an electric shock annually. That’s a shocking (!) 4% of the population falling foul each year to everything from electrical fires to fatal incidents, often sadly because of faults around their house.

Today we will explore the most common current (ok I’ll stop now) reasons for an electrical mishap, and how you can safeguard yourself against them.

Old Wiring

It’s the main culprit for sure – old or faulty wiring will lead to electrical fires or immediate shocks. Even if you’re not a sparky, you can still learn to distinguish between old and new wiring from the colouring. Old plug wiring consists of a red live wire, black neutral wire and a green/yellow or a pure green protective earth (PE) wire:

Plugs with modern wiring contain a brown wire that is live, a blue neutral wire and a green/yellow PE wire. Broadly speaking, the wiring connections in new plugs are the same as in old ones but with different colours for the neutral and live wires.

As well as this, if you have any of the following in your house, get in touch with us today for us to check them out safely:

• Cables coated in black rubber were phased out in the 60s
• Cables coated in lead or fabric were installed pre-60s
• A wooden-backed fuse box or cast iron switches would be pre-60s
• Wall-mounted light switches in the bathroom are pre-60s

Extension Cords

If the back of your TV, or by your bedside table looks like the image below on a permanent basis, please reconsider installing some additional sockets to cope with your electrical appliance demand. Misuse of extension plugs and leads is one of the biggest electrical offenders in the UK, not helped by the fact that appliances are often plugged into them constantly throughout the day and night, silently overheating, resulting in melted sockets or worse case scenario, house fires.

If you do have a lot of devices, think about only plugging them in when you need to use them, as the purpose of extension leads was originally for that exact use only – such as when you needed additional electricity to mow the lawn or vacuum your car. Additionally, make sure the extension lead you’re using is up to the job – the capacity should well exceed the electrical demand you’re placing on the cord.

Chargers

We literally can’t live without them, needing a charger for everything from our phone, laptop and kids’ tablets to our vacuum cleaners and toothbrushes! And while the original charger that came with your device may be compliant with UK properties and our electrical systems, there’s a high chance that any replacement or ‘spare’ chargers, bought in a rush from Amazon Prime, are low-quality products made in China for as little as 3p a pop.

So how can you check your charger is compliant with UK properties and your plug sockets, in order to keep safe?

• Check the Plug Pin: Examine the pins and ensure there is a minimum distance of 9.5mm between the edge of the pins and the charger’s edge. Failure to meet this standard could pose a risk of electric shock. Difficulty in plugging the charger into the socket may indicate incorrect pin length or size.
• Verify the Markings: When purchasing a charger, ensure the brand’s markings are clearly visible. The output voltage should match that of your device, and a CE mark should be present to confirm compliance with EU regulations.
• Refer to the Manual: Upon purchasing a device or charger, refer to the provided instructions for proper usage guidelines. These instructions will include details on correctly using the charger and offer essential electrical guidance.

Electrical safety is important for everyone, no matter if you’re a homeowner, tenant, landlord or even student. If electrical education starts at a young age, such as encouraging children to unplug chargers when they aren’t using them, or keeping drinks away from electrical devices, they will grow up aware of the dangers that good old everyday electricity can pose. At Carter Electrical, we are always happy to carry out electrical testing, and we can provide an Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR), which is a mandatory 5-year test for landlords. 

If you’ve been on the fence about making some renewable changes to your house and lifestyle, how about taking a virtual step inside the house of Carter Electrical co-director Jon Carter, who has been making sustainable improvements to his house for the last two years; practising what he preaches to not only reduce his carbon footprint along the way, but also improve his bank balance! Here, Jon talks us through his journey so far, with some all-important facts and figures to support the changes he has been making, and his plans to continue his project through 2024. 

Talk us through your intentions behind this journey to go greener?

Being in the trade, I have the benefit of being able to install at below-market rates, which was a huge benefit and incentive to get started on this project. My main intentions, however, were to demonstrate how using renewables together can a) reduce your carbon footprint,  b) save you money, and c) earn you money.

What did the house look like at the start of the project?

The house is a 1970 bungalow, with approximately 145m² of floor area, insulated cavity walls (although I do wonder sometimes!), old wood-framed double glazed windows, and a rather old gas boiler. The radiators throughout the house were a mix of single and double panels, which I planned to upgrade. Fortunately, the house, being an L-shape, had two zones for the heating plumbed in and 15mm legs to the radiators would help the flow rates for future heat pump installation. 

What renewable changes have you made so far?

So far, I have added 7.91kWp of solar PV across the east, south and west elevations of the house to maximise solar efficiency, converting sunlight into renewable energy to power various electrical devices. Around the same time, I installed a 13.5kWh battery capable of charging and discharging energy from the grid, and storing excess solar energy to utilise during periods of high demand on the grid, or overnight. A 12kW heat pump combined with a smart Domestic Hot Water (DHW) cylinder is a more environmentally-friendly heating option compared to traditional boilers, and powered by the solar PV panels, reduces not only my carbon footprint, but my energy bills too. And of course, an EV charger was one of the first things to be installed to help power the Carter Electrical fleet!

Let’s talk facts and figures – tell us about your electricity and gas usage in 2022?

As a snapshot, in 2022 we used 17,673 kWh of gas at an average cost of 6p/kWh, mainly for heating and domestic hot water, but also a small bit for cooking, bringing our net cost of gas for the year to £1,034. In addition to this, we imported 5182 kWh of electricity costing £571 – a small part was for electric vehicle (EV) charging, but the bulk was for domestic use. This meant we had a total demand of 22,855 kWh from the grid,.

And by 2023?

Our gas usage in 2023 was 0 kWh! This was largely down to installing the heat pump and induction hob, and removing the gas to the property. If we had remained on gas with the existing boiler, the costs would have nearly doubled. Our electricity usage was 10,900 kWh, of which 7313 kWh came from the grid at an average cost of 13p/kWh. Therefore, grid electricity cost £928.64 however, I exported 1723 kWh worth £361.87 at an average of 21p/kWh. In addition to this, there were some Octopus Energy Octoplus saving credits and seven referrals which totalled £405.36. So once export was taken away from usage, my net cost of electricity was £161.41 for the year. This meant an incredible saving of over £1440 compared to 2022; our combined savings on gas and electricity was closer to over £2500.

So how much did it cost and what’s the ROI?

7kWp of solar PV with a Tesla Powerwall battery was approximately £20,000. You can get cheaper, but this system is high-specification, using SolarEdge optimisers to minimise tree shading and multiple elevations as in the case of our bungalow. It is a large battery, but this allows us to maximise charging with cheap off-peak electricity in the winter, as well as capturing all the generation in the summer. The Octopus Agile Tariff and the battery has made the unit cost of electricity extremely low.

The 12kW Samsung HTQ heat pump, Mixergy Cylinder and Homely controls came to about £12,500, although there is a £7,500 Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant available which brings the cost down closer to a boiler change. On top of that, our new radiators cost between £200-£300 per unit to swap. 

It is a large initial outlay, but we are effectively buying 25 years of electricity upfront with the solar panels, and the battery then facilitates the ability to maximise the generation use and access to off peak cheaper electricity. With the cheaper electricity and the 350-500% efficiency of the heat pump, the cost to heat the house and domestic hot water drops dramatically and will only get cheaper. Remember – the price of gas will only ever go up due to it being a finite resource! 

It’s a change of mindset: we buy a car, a fridge or a sofa out of necessity and it’s not always the cheapest. We need electricity to run the house and we need to heat the house in winter and hot water all the time, so why not invest in something that allows you to do it cheaper and also helps reduce the use of fossil fuels at the same time?

What’s next on the green agenda?

I want to look to improve the efficiency of the heat pump, which is a lot of fun through experimentation and playing with settings to best suit our climate. I installed data collectors on all new equipment, so I’m constantly monitoring it to see if there are improvements that can be made. Next on the list, is to improve the insulation of the house and minimise draughts – I have a lot of old, leaky double-glazed windows that could be improved! Tech-wise, I’d love a wind turbine, but it’s not feasible (or so I’m told by my wife).

What advice would you give customers looking to make steps to go greener at home?

Do heat pumps work? Yes. Do solar panels work? Yes. Do battery storage systems work? YES. Together they are a large initial investment, however, if you have the capital expenditure, then it is clear and obvious you can reduce the operational expenditure of your house quite significantly. I reduced my utility costs by 90% in my first year of making these changes, and I am looking forward to continuing to analyse my energy usage in 2024 to further enjoy the long-term financial benefits, as well as knowing I’m reducing mine and my family’s carbon footprint! Contact us today to conduct a thorough analysis of your energy needs, local climate conditions, and available incentives, to help tailor a solution to your specific requirements.