Faulty lighting...Help!

1) My light in my Liverpool home has stopped working, what is the problem?

There can be any number of problems that can cause a light to stop working in your home.

• Wiring Faults at the light fitting.
• Wiring problems at the switch.
• Faulty cables.
• Damage to cables.
• Faulty switches.
• Issues in the electrical box / consumer unit.
• Blown bulbs (lamps) in the light fitting.

A light fitting that has stopped working will normally need investigating by an electrician so if you need Faulty Light Help then please give us a call and we will come and assist you in sorting the problem out.

2) Some of the things you mentioned sound dangerous?

Not all wiring issues result in a dangerous situation. There are certain problems that are a nuisance and certain problems that can be a danger. Blown bulbs in a light fitting are not normally a danger for example but loose wiring or faulty cables can be a very real danger and should be investigated without delay.

3) Is there anything I can do myself to check the problem?

Yes. There are a few limited things that you can do yourself before paying an electrician to come and investigate for you. Try the following things first.

• Turn the light switch on and off a couple of times.
• There may be dirt in the contacts or the switch may be failing - give it a good clean!
• Check the consumer unit has not tripped.
• If you have a consumer unit with trip switches installed then make sure none of these has tripped resulting in a loss of lighting.
• Swap out the bulbs (lamps) in your light fitting with ones that you know work to see if that is the problem.

If you have no luck with any of the above fixes then call us and we will come and help. It is important that you do not try to resolve any further issues without professional help. Electricity is very dangerous and should only be worked on by qualified and competent operatives. We will ensure we take all necessary safety precautions when working on electrical systems to ensure the safety of everyone around us and ourselves.

4) What will you do if you have to come and visit?

The first thing we will do is have a conversation with you about the problem to try and get as much information as possible before we begin our investigations. It is beneficial to have a quick chat before we begin as that will sometimes let us know where to look first and may save some time and money.

We will sometimes need to turn ALL the electricity off in your home to all circuits not just lights. We will occasionally have to disconnect light switches, light fittings, go into the loft and utilise our specialist test equipment in order to get to the root of the problem.

There can be many things wrong when a light fails or a lighting circuit fails. It is our job to find out what has gone wrong and then carry out the repairs. Faulty light help is one of the areas we specialise in.

5) How long will it take to fix and what will it cost?

There needs to be some investigation carried out first. Normally within an hour our investigation has concluded but this does depend on several factors:

• How much furniture and personal belongings are in our way.
• How many lighting points you have in your home.
• How much stuff is in your loft if we have to go up there.
• How accessible your consumer unit is.
• The nature of the issue we are investigating.

Investigation can go on for up to two or three hours but not normally beyond that. Most issues are fixed within the hour.

Costs can depend on what is needed but for example let’s say the fault was found within the first hour and repaired without the need for a second visit or parts then it would be just the cost of the initial attendance that would be charged.

Let’s say that the investigation took two hours and then a quote was necessary for a partial rewire of the lighting circuit then the costs would be more. Our charges are laid out on our website here.

6) Will you keep me updated?

Of course. Communication with our customers is very important to us and we will keep you updated throughout the process. As our first hour draws to a close, if we have not fixed the issue, we would normally issue you with a quote for rectifying the problem. It is up to you if you decide to continue to use our services or employ another electrician to carry out the works. We never pressure you.

7) Is your work guaranteed?

Yes. Our work is covered by the NICEIC 6-year platinum promise guarantee. We also warranty our work and any parts used for 12 months. Different manufacturers will also warranty their products for longer than this sometimes.

Bear in mind that the warranty will apply only to work we have carried out and not pre-existing work. Say for example we repair a piece of cable on the lighting circuit and 11 months later there is another problem. We will definitely come and investigate but if there is damage to a separate area of the circuit that we had not previously repaired we will charge to repair this for you. This can be a common problem in the case of rodent damage where sometimes the damage will not affect the circuit for a while until a cable is nudged, moved or heated and cooled during normal use several times.

8) Do I have rodents?

We don’t know. It is more common than you may think though. These little creatures can play havoc with wiring systems. We often will only perform a temporary repair if this happens and will advise that you have pest control in to sort the rodent problem for you. There is often no point in us repairing wiring if the cables are going to get chewed immediately.

9) What else could have happened to cause damage to the wiring?

We have seen many different causes of damage to wiring in domestic properties. One common occurrence is damage to wiring in the loft when things have been stored up there, people have trodden all over the loft and wiring in order to retrieve possessions, loft ladders have been chucked back up with a lack of care and so on.

If you are in need of faulty light help then give us a call, we are happy to come and investigate for you.