The electrical installation in your house has been designed and constructed according to the "National Rules for Electrical installations" published by the ETCI. All Electrical equipment meets the requirements of these Rules and should provide many years of satisfactory service. However it is recommended that in the interest of safety the installation should be tested and inspected every five years by a competent RECI electrical contractor. We would suggest also that any alterations or additions to the installation should be made by a RECI contractor. Your sockets, immersion group and bathroom water heater (or shower) are protected by Residual Current Devices (RCD) installed in your fuseboard. These provide a high degree of safety on these circuits and it is important that they are tested by pressing the "test" button at least every 3 months to ensure they are operating properly. Your home is supplied with electricity at 230 volts, 50 Hz. At the electricity supply intake position is your main consumer unit or fuse board. At that position you will find the main switch, the operation of which will switch off all electricity to the installation. A chart labelling the circuits will be found at the fuse board position. The final circuits are protected by miniature circuit breakers (MCB).  If any of these trip it is due to too much current flowing through the circuit. This may be due to too heavy a load on the circuit or a fault in the circuit. If on reducing the load on the circuit the MCB continues to trip you should have it checked by a RECI contractor. We shall be glad to do this. It should be noted that it is not unusual for the MCB on the lighting circuit to trip when a bulb "blows".
If an RCD trips, like an MCB it will not reset until the fault has been removed. This can sometimes be difficult particularly on socket circuits feeding electrical appliances. To trace a fault on the socket first unplug all plugged in appliances, switch on the RCD and then plug in the appliances one after the other until the faulty appliance is found. If this procedure does not rectify the problem it is advisable to have the circuit examined by a RECI contractor. Notices or instructions provided by your electrical contractor should be followed. This applies particularly to earthing where earthwires or earth clamps should not be interfered with. They may not seem to be contributing much to the electrical installation but your life could depend on them. Electrically speaking the bathroom is the most dangerous room in the house. Circuits feeding the bathrooms are subject to very critical Rules which should not be broken or ignored. A portable electrical appliance should never be brought into a bathroom. Your immersion group has been protected by an RCD and adequately insulated with an insulating jacket. It is advisable also to consult your local ESB about cheaper night tariffs, this could make significant savings to your electricity bill. Each 13 amp plug top contains a small cartridge fuse. This should never be replaced by anything other than a suitable fuse. Among the other recommendations, always have any broken electrical items such as sockets, switches, appliances, etc. replaced. Be careful of flexible leads. Try to avoid long leads and do not make joints in cables. Replace worn cords on electric radiators; switch off equipment when not in use. Look after your electrical installation and portable appliances and they will give you years of service.
It is recommended that you have your electrical installation inspected and tested by a competent person at 5 year intervals. |