Emergency Power Help

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1) What is a temporary power supply?

A temporary supply can also be known as an emergency electrical supply. This is something that we can install in your home as a temporary measure following some kind of home emergency. If your home has suffered a flood for instance then it is often not safe to use the electrical installation due to water ingress, aging cabling, insufficient electric shock protection, outdated consumer unit and so on. In these cases, you may need EMERGENCY POWER HELP. 

A temporary power supply is there as a temporary measure to provide some power. 

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2) Can I use all my electrical items as normal?

No. A temporary power supply is not suitable for powering an entire house. That is what the main electrical system in your home is for. A temporary power supply is often just for the use of drying equipment, fans, dehumidifiers and possible for keeping the odd freezer from defrosting. It is not a suitable power supply for powering up the whole house. There would be multiple extension leads needed for this and likely would overload the temporary consumer unit anyway. 

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3) What is needed to install a temporary power supply?

We need access to the property and the electrical supply at the property. Sometimes we may need to get the electricity supply people involved but whatever happens we will take care of everything for you. We need to make sure that your safety electrical connections to any pipework in the house are proper and in accordance with the wiring regulations. This may be an additional cost to installing the temporary supply. 

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4) What safety measures are in place on a temporary supply?

As a minimum we ensure that the supply has an RCD. This is basically an electric shock prevention device that turns off the supply if it senses a problem. We ensure that the latest type of RCD protection is used in accordance with the wiring regulations. There may be necessity for other safety measure on the supply as each installation is different but we make an assessment in each case to ensure that the supply is suitable. 

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5) How many sockets are there on a temporary supply?

Normally not that many. Two double sockets is normally sufficient to power all the necessary equipment to dry the house out or run power tools and battery chargers to carry out building work. 

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6) When else would I need a temporary supply?

If you have purchased a property second hand and the electrical system has been condemned as unsafe to use then a temporary power supply could be installed whilst a rewire was carried out. Fire restoration works would require EMERGENCY POWER HELP as well. 

There are times when old consumer units can fail leaving you without power, a lot of customers are worried about the contents of their fridge and freezer and will ask us if we can get some temporary power on for them. This is another instance when it helps to have emergency stock of these power supplies. We pre-assemble them for situations just like this. 😊 

Following an electrical inspection we may deem that any circuits with serious faults on are too dangerous to turn back on and a temporary power supply may be needed before further fault finding works can be carried out.

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7) How quickly can you install a temporary power supply for us?

Normally we have these units pre-assembled (we have nothing better to do with our weekends) and ready to go in an emergency. That means that we will either have one on the van ready to install for you OR we will have one nearby in a lock up that we can fetch at any time of day or night. We like to be prepared and hate being caught out with no parts so we carry a vast range of stock for situations where our customers really need our help. 

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8) What does a temporary power supply cost? 

From £220. Assuming that no safety earthing needs to be carried out to pipework in the property. If you require a larger supply or more sockets then it will be more costly. Please bear in mind though that this is only a temporary supply and designed to last you a couple of days or so before further works can be carried out. 

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9) My house has had a flood / fire what are the steps we need to take?

In most cases your home insurance company will be able to guide you through this. Electrically speaking, if you have had an electrical inspection carried out in the last 10 years then please dig out the report for us. This is a useful document and we will be able to compare our test results to the ones on the document to see if there is a large discrepancy indicating permanent damage. 

Following trauma to an electrical installation the IET (Institute of Engineering and Technology) recommend that a Periodic Electrical Inspection is carried out to ascertain the condition of the installation and its suitability for continued use. There is little point in carrying this out immediately following a flood. The property should be allowed some time to dry by using a temporary power supply if the electrics have been adversely affected. 

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10) What will I get after an inspection?

After an electrical inspection has been carried out a document is produced called an Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR).  Assuming the inspection has been done thoroughly by an experienced and qualified inspector then the document is a valuable document. It will details any defects, safety concerns and non-compliances with the wiring regulations. The inspector should explain any issues found and the solutions for rectifying them. Please be aware of cheap inspections completed quickly and with no or limited testing. A thorough inspection should take a few hours.

If you need EMERGENCY POWER HELP then please call us or use the contact form on our website. We are here to help and we are specialists in sorting our disasters. 😊

For more information on Electrical Inspections and what is involved, check our help sheet on this link: https://www.electricalfaultsfixed.co.uk/helpsheet/eicr-what-expect

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