Hey! Matt and Pat here.
It’s safety month at Ku-ring-gai Electrical Service so throughout March, we’re offering a free switchboard and safety switch check with every visit to your home or small business.
Why is that important?
Read on to find out. At Ku-ring-gai Electrical Service, we take your safety seriously. To arrange a time for us to visit your home or office, call us on 0418 442 578 or email info@kuring.com.au. For your protection, we follow COVIDSafe guidelines.
Cheers,
Matt Cox & Pat Dobbs
According to the NSW Government website, 40% of house fires in NSW were caused by faulty wiring and appliances. That’s a staggering 1800 house fires which could have been prevented.
Another frightening statistic is from the government’s Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. It reports 1,493 workers were hospitalised as a result of an electrical injury over a 2 year period.
When it comes to electrical safety, having a safety switch is key. It’s located in your switchboard and its job is to turn off your electricity if a fault is detected. It also protects people from electric shocks.
Typically, there is one safety switch on each circuit (e.g. one for your lights, one for your powerpoints). In apartments, small offices and strata buildings, you may only have one safety switch installed in each unit’s switchboard.
Since 2000, safety switches have been a legal requirement for every new home. If your home was built before then, you need to check if a safety switch has been installed. If you are planning a renovation, you may be required to add more safety switches to your home in order to obtain your approvals.
What’s the difference between a circuit breaker and a safety switch?
Older homes typically have circuit breakers. Their role is to protect the electrical wiring of your home. Safety switches are designed to protect people from electric shocks which can occur from either faulty wiring, faulty appliances, damaged or overloaded powerpoints and faulty light switches.
That’s why simply relying on a circuit breaker in your older home is not enough to protect your family.
Safety switches must be checked!
Like smoke detectors, safety switches need regular checking. In fact for commercial buildings, it’s mandatory for your safety switches to be checked annually. However, the guidelines recommend safety switches are checked every 6 months.
When we visit our customers, we find approx. 1 in 10 safety switches aren’t working and we think that’s serious! But the good news is, they are usually easy to replace.
That’s why in March, we’re offering a free switchboard and safety switch check when visiting your home or small business to do other work.
But if you have any concerns about your wiring or you suspect you don’t have any safety switches installed, get in touch with us urgently. It may save a life or avoid serious injury. We’ll come to your home or workplace, provide an immediate quote and do the job straight away if you wish. It’s that easy.
To get in touch, call 0418 442 578 or email info@kuring.com.au
This year Easter occurs in early April and on Sunday 4th April daylight savings ends. That means it’s time to check your smoke detectors!
It’s a legal requirement to have photoelectric smoke detectors located between your kitchen and sleeping areas. These can be battery operated or hardwired. Hardwired alarms have a battery backup – either 9v or lithium ion. 9v batteries need to be replaced at least every year. Lithium ion batteries will last 10 years without changing.
We recommend hardwiring your smoke detectors so they run off your household electrical system. There are 2 reasons we prefer this method:
Experiencing annoying beeping?
That regular but annoying beeping a smoke detector sometimes emits means the battery needs replacing. Don’t ignore it!
If any of your smoke detectors are 10+ years old or you don’t know how old they are, you should replace them. Usually it’s quick and easy for us to do and while we’re at your place, we can chat to you about the benefits of hardwiring your smoke detectors.
To make a time for us to visit, simply call 0418 442 578 or email info@kuring.com.au
