Home About Contact Us The Source Housebuilder Information Homeowner Advice Electrical Apprenticeships Careers with Clarkson Evans Troubleshooting Loss of Power Ceiling Spotlight Bulbs Smoke Alarms Intruder Alarms Electrical Appliances Extractor Fans Heating and Hot Water TV Signal Wired Internet Connections Loss of Power What should I do if there’s a loss of power at my property? Start by checking the consumer unit (also known as the fuse board) to see if any of the fuse switches have tripped. This can happen if you plug in a faulty device or if a lamp blows, for example. If you need to reset switches inside your consumer unit and identify the reason for them tripping, this video explains the steps to take. If none of the switches in your consumer unit have tripped, the loss of power could be due to a local power cut or a loss of incoming supply to your property alone. To check if there’s been a power cut affecting your whole area, look outside at local streetlights (in hours of darkness) or check with your neighbours. If your property seems to be the only one affected, look inside your electricity meter box. A loss of incoming supply will mean the screen inside the meter box is blank. If this is the case, contact your local electricity network operator by calling 105. Note that this will not be the same company that sends you your electricity bill. How can I stop my power from continually tripping out? If your power keeps tripping out, this is usually due to you having a faulty appliance, with kettles and irons being the most common culprits. To find out which of your appliances is faulty, follow the steps in our video above. Ceiling Spotlight Bulbs How do I change a ceiling spotlight bulb? The process to follow will vary according to the type of spotlight bulb fitting. Watch our video to see how to replace bulbs in the most common fittings. Why do my lamps keep blowing? The wiring in your home will not make lamps blow. The most common cause of limited lamp life is that they are poor quality lamps, are not fitted correctly, are becoming too hot or the amount of vibration is excessive, for example in high traffic areas. Smoke Alarms Why is my smoke alarm beeping regularly? This is an indication that the battery needs changing. Details on how to do this should have been provided with the manufacturer’s instructions in your home handover pack, or you can watch our video below for guidance. How can I stop my smoke alarm from continually sounding? If your smoke alarms are sounding and there is no sign of fire or smoke in your property, there may be a fault or a problem with dust affecting the sensor. To stop the alarm from sounding, press the hush/test button on the unit which will typically silence the alarm for around 8 minutes (depending on alarm type) before it re-arms. Clear the air if needed or try vacuuming the units. If the alarms continue to sound as a false alarm, they may need to be removed and replaced. How can I check my smoke alarm is working and make sure it is well maintained? Watch our video above for guidance on how to test your smoke alarms and the steps you should take to keen them working correctly Intruder Alarms How do I silence my intruder alarm? You should be able to silence your alarm by simply entering your code. If you have forgotten your alarm code We do not keep records of individual alarm codes but if you have forgotten yours, we can arrange for one of our alarm engineers to visit your property and reset it for you. If you have an alarm maintenance contract with us the reset can be done free of charge when your next service is due, or a chargeable visit can be arranged if you would like the code to be reset more urgently. If you do not have an alarm maintenance contract with us, we can arrange a chargeable visit to reset your code on the condition that you also enter an alarm maintenance contract with us (as we do not carry out works on non-contracted alarm systems). Electrical Appliances There appears to be no power to one or more of my kitchen/utility appliances. What might the problem be? Please check the grid switches in your kitchen which will be labelled for the appliance and make sure these are on. Check the consumer unit and make sure all circuits are turned on. Check the appliance itself and ensure the on/off switch is set to on. If your appliance is on a plug top, please check the fuse in the plug top. Extractor Fans Why does the fan in my bathroom not stop when the light is turned off? Every house is designed with a ventilation system to meet the building regulations in place at the time of build. Some rooms, like a bathroom, will be designed to have an overrun timer, so that when an occupant has finished and leaves the room the fan will continue to run for a set period of time to remove odours and water vapour. Why does the fan in my cloakroom stay on all the time and how can I turn it off? Every house is designed with a ventilation system to meet the building regulations in place at the time of build. Some rooms without natural ventilation from a window will feature a constantly running fan, which will ramp up and down in accordance with room use. Heating and Hot Water How can I set the timings for my heating to come on and go off? This will depend on the make of heating system you have in your home. You should refer to the manufacturer’s instructions that would have been provided as part of your home handover pack or visit the manufacturer’s website if you do not have these. How can I set my hot water to warm up and can I set the maximum temperature? You can set the maximum temperature on any hot water system. For details of how to do this and how to set the timings for your water to heat up, you should refer to the manufacturer’s instructions that would have been provided as part of your home handover pack or visit the manufacturer’s website if you do not have these. TV Signal Why can’t I get a TV signal or a Sky signal? TV aerial and satellite installations do not come as standard for most homes. TV aerials usually need to be ordered as extras, either by contacting your builder or by contacting a TV aerial installer directly. We install the internal wiring for connecting TV and satellite systems if these have been ordered through the builder but we do not fit the aerials themselves. Only authorised Sky installers can fit Sky TV. Wired Internet Connections Why does my internet connection not work when I plug in my router? We install ethernet ports to enable devices to be connected to the internet through a wired connection but you will need to have a subscription to an internet provider so that your internet connection can be activated. You should contact the internet provider of your choice to connect to the internet. 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