How To Avoid House Fires From Bad Wiring

The Dangers of Faulty Electrical Wiring

There are approximately 4,000 house fires in New Zealand annually. Faulty house wiring and electrical appliances cause many of these fires. It’s estimated that around 80% of these fires could be easily avoided (Cavius, 2017).

There is no doubt that if your home was built 30 or more years ago, you should have the wiring checked by a professional electrician. Thorough electrical checks are especially important when buying a new home. It’s often difficult to establish if there are any electrical faults that will cause problems further down the line if not addressed by a professional electrician.

If your house was built before the 1980’s and hasn’t been rewired, you should almost certainly contact a professional electrician to test your wiring and identify any possible faults. More severe electrical faults that are left unrepaired can cause house fires and even electrocution. Northern Lights have over 20 years’ experience in identifying and fixing all manner of electrical failures. We can also install complete rewiring for homes where needed.

In December 2017 a New Zealand resident Mathew Smith, 26 tragically died cutting an electrical cable on Hamilton camping site. Had the campsite’s electrical cabling had an RCD installed, a relatively cheap device to install, his life would likely have been spared. RCDs only became mandatory for electrical wiring within New Zealand in 2013; the campsite wasn’t at fault with its preexisting wiring. This incident highlights how important this simple piece of equipment is

Northern Lights House Rewiring

Northern Lights always install RCDs when they’re setting up house wiring. RCD stands for Residual Current Device. RCDs work by automatically disconnecting a current in many situations where a person may have otherwise received a fatal electrical shock.

Need more power points? You should never overload your power points with multiple extensions. This is a common cause of electrical house fires. If your house doesn’t have sufficient power points for modern technological needs, then Northern Lights can help. We can add additional power points in strategic locations in your home to meet your contemporary electrical needs and future electricity demands.

If you’re replacing your power points with power points with additional outlets Northern Lights can install a socket outlet RCD, which will protect equipment that’s plugged into the outlets and make the sockets additionally safe. RCDs are a legal requirement for sockets in damp areas like bathrooms but not in all areas of the house. Northern Lights are happy to install them at any power points so that you have additional peace of mind. We believe RCDs should always be installed especially if there are curious young children in your household.

Surge Protection

If your house was built before the 1980’s an additional reason you should consider home rewiring is the installation of surge protection. This will prevent your electrical devices from being ruined by unexpected surges of electrical voltage.

Northern Lights are able to design a full or partial re-wire for your existing home, or review and implement the electrical plans for your home. Failure to plan can ultimately lead to failure: by planning with Northern Lights ahead of time you are able to make the most practical and informed electrical choices and ensure satisfaction throughout the entire process.

At Northern Lights we recognise that there is an overwhelming number of options and that the cost of house rewiring can be unnerving. We aim to alleviate your stress and worries by meeting and discussing all of your available options. We will work with you to provide the optimal solutions to meet your needs.

Northern Lights Lighting & Electrical is one of the leading electrical companies in Auckland. Call us for house rewiring, electrical plans or electrical repairs and fault detection in Onehunga or the Auckland region. You can contact us online or give us a call free on 0800 177 275.


Sources:

Cavius (2016) “Fatal New Zealand House Fires all start the same way”,

Nyika, R (2017) “Young Hamilton camper electrocuted, coroner finds”

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  • Trinity Sax ★★★★★ 3 months ago
    Great team. Booked easily and didn’t have to wait days for the appt. They did a thorough investigation of issue
    ( PowerPoints not working and fuse switches tripping) and discovered we needed an in wall
    … More re wire. Very polite, explained everything well and got the job done. Would use them again for sure
  • Patrick Stanley ★★★★★ 4 months ago
    Excellent service, our sparky even explained the fault and was overall lovely to deal with! Would definitely recommend their services. Thank you Northern lights
  • Karen Poppelbaum ★★★★★ a week ago
    Have used the company 3 times, always polite, professional and go the extra yard, nothing is too much. I would 100% recommend them.

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