As a licensed electrician with many years of experience working in both residential and commercial buildings, I have encountered countless electrical systems with varying complexities. Among the essential components in these systems, the "common wire" often raises the most questions, particularly for those who are not familiar with electrical wiring and for those attempting DIY electrical work.

Working as an electrician, especially on a self-employed basis can involve a million dollar or million-pound tool kit, or at least, that's what it feels like at times. The truth is, there are many tools that are vital, many that are really useful and those that are not essential but can make jobs easier on occasion when the need is called for. What tools do electricians use? We will look at what I consider to be the essential tools for electrical work, the proper tools for each situation and maybe some handy ones for tight spaces.

As an electrician with years of experience, I have often been called in during power outages, especially during events like a tropical storm, winter storm, or hurricane season. One of the most common concerns homeowners have during these times is the safety of their food stored in the freezer.

WHAT DOES AN ELECTRICAL FIRE SMELL LIKE? Well, an electrical fire burning smell can like fish, burning plastic or a pungent sewer gas smell. The reasons for this are that electrical wiring is covered in a layer of flexible PVC insulation. When the wiring heats up, gets hot or burns, the PVC also gets hot and gives off chemical fumes as it smoulders.

Our home’s electrical system is a generally silent system that works away in the background, taken for granted and rarely maintained. We seldom experience problems with the fuse box, an electrical outlet, or other parts of the electrical installation. When problems occur, it can cause worry confusion and concern that there may be danger present.

Electric showers are a convenient and efficient way to heat water on demand, providing instant hot showers without the need for a separate water heater or boiler.

I understand that not everyone absolutely loves a huge electrical box on the wall of their hallway, living room or elsewhere. Some people will want these moved to another location, out of view or even to somewhere more accessible in case there are electrical problems and they need to reset the breaker. As an electrician myself, I am regularly asked if a consumer unit can be moved and the answer is nearly always YES, it is possible to MOVE A CONSUMER UNIT.

A healthy circuit is one which contains a safe amount of electrical current flowing that does not exceed the intended design of the circuit, creates no excess heat and carries no risk of overload or electric shock.

Electrical equipotential bonding is one of the most important electrical safety aspects of wiring systems. The purpose of Equipotential Bonding is to reduce the chance of electrical shock, the risk of fires and explosions and to assist in circuit disconnection through low resistance earth path connections.

A TRIP SWITCH is a device that is contained inside an electrical enclosure such as a consumer unit, fuse box, or electrical panel. The trip switch can take various different forms and can perform a variety of tasks dependant upon type.