The electrical wiring of your home must be safe, suitable and adequate for your needs. Here is some useful information to guide you in ensuring that your home is wired just right.
There are many forms of wiring work carried out by electricians in and around a home. Here are some of them:
The wiring in your home needs to be adequate for all your activities. These include wiring for entertainment systems, kitchen appliances, temperature control equipment, and so on. Increasingly, home wiring now includes home automation (smart wiring), which requires specialised structured wiring to function correctly.
Consider your home theatre set-up. Are there sufficient power points for the equipment? If you are doubling up on powerboards, ending up with tangles of extension cords and multiple adaptors, or having to unplug one thing to run another , you probably need to call in an electrician to do some rewiring.
Having your home wired safely is absolutely essential. If in doubt, organise an electrical Home Safety Inspection to be sure. Older homes, particularly those over 25 years old, can have unsafe wiring that has deteriorated over time. Old wiring is also inadequate for the increased energy demands of modern appliances.
Inspection is also a wise move if you are looking to buy or sell a home; you’ll get a report identifying any repairs needed or urgent defects to be attended to by a licensed electrician.
The first step is to identify any electrical work to be done so that you can get some quotes. Try to get fixed-price quotes from several electricians based on exactly the same work and other requirements. Check that an electrician has a valid licence appropriate for the job and insurances such as public liability, workers compensation, contract works and Home Owners Warranty before hiring them.
Make sure there is a clear payment schedule with a definite start and end date for the project. Payment should be made once work has been completed. If you are planning wiring for home automation, ensure you get a specialist.