Garage Electricity Not Working

1) When GARAGE ELECTRICITY NOT WORKING occurs, it can be a real problem.

Many homes in the UK have a garage separate to the main property and many people have chosen to have electrical supplies installed into the garage in order to be able to further utilise the space and improve their homes. 

Unfortunately, we come across many garage electric installations that have been completed poorly or in contravention to the wiring regulations meaning poor quality installations or plain dangerous wiring. As a result, there are often electrical issues that can occur meaning power loss to the garage or electric shock risk to the persons using the electrical installation. 

2) What types of things can go wrong with Garage installations?

• Cable damage when supplied from the main house to the garage: When cables are run otherwise than in accordance with safety regulations, damage can occur and put people at risk. Cables should be suitable protected if buried or run overhead and suitably sized to carry the require electrical load safely. If a cable is buried too shallow, installed poorly or undersized for the job, then all sorts of things can go wrong.
• Moisture and insects can affect the wiring: Water and nature can really affect electrical installations. We can see from the picture that a slug has crawled into this junction box and bridged two terminals causing total power loss to the garage and absolute havoc. 
• Nuisance tripping of switches In the consumer unit: When electrical faults develop, switches can trip to protect wiring and electrical accessories whilst letting you know that there are problems occurring. Do not keep resetting a trip switch, that’s not what they are for. They WILL eventually break and stay broken leaving you with problems. 
• Accidental damage to electrical accessories outside or in the garage: Garages can be fairly harsh environments for electrics to function safely in. Plastic accessories can often become damaged with accidental knocks and bangs from equipment stored in the area and moisture can easily enter if the garage is damp. 
• Faulty appliances can cause problems with electrical installations: An appliance that demands lots of power can burn out sockets and switches, overheat cables and cause fuses to blow or switches to trip. When appliances go wrong, depending on your electrical system, the whole property can lose power. If you have a faulty freezer in the garage then you could find the whole house trips off causing serious inconvenience. 

3) What is the best cable to have for a garage supply?

The type of cable can vary depending on how it is run from the electrics box to the garage. If the cable is to be buried in the ground for aesthetic reasons, then the cable needs to be suitably protected and something like a steel wired armoured cable should be used and buried at a sufficient depth to foreseeable avoid accidental damage. 

If the cable is to be clipped to a wall along its route and be visible then some UV protection or accidental damage protection is sensible such as trunking or conduit. 

There is no one size fits all for installing the best type of cable but your electrician will be able to make the necessary calculations, assess the risks and decide upon the best cable and installation method that not only complies with the wiring regulations but meets any aesthetic preferences that you have as the customer. There can be little worse than cables clipped all over the place ruining the look of the garden just to feed a light bulb and freezer in the garage. 

4) What is the best fuse box for the garage?

There are many different types of Fusebox available and something that is suitably designed and rated for the environment should be used. A fuse box or consumer unit should have enough space inside for all the different electrical circuits that may be needed in the garage. For example, if there are indoor sockets, garden lights and indoor lights then the box needs enough room for those three circuits an perhaps one or two spare spaces so that your electrician can add more circuits later on if needed. 

5) Is my current electrical system suitable for a garage supply to be added?

The only way to really ascertain this is to perform a site visit and undertake a couple of tests. This would normally be chargeable where tools and testing is required. A visual only visit to inspect cable routes and existing equipment would not be chargeable. Occasionally we can judge the condition of existing equipment via a video call or some photos from you so things can be sped up a little.

6) How much is it to fix a garage supply?

If your GARAGE ELECTRICITY NOT WORKING then there is an electrical fault that needs to be found in order to quote to put the installation right. Quite often, during investigations, things can be fixed easily and quickly so a quote for further work is not needed and many things can be fixed on site. 

• Example problem 1: A garage supply has failed and there is nothing working inside the garage. Nothing has tripped and it’s a mystery. During fault finding we find that a cable has been severed as it has not been sufficiently buried in the ground when the installation took place. 

Solution Time on site is charged for and a quote is given for the replacement of the cable in accordance with safety regulations. You can accept or decline the quote but you now know what the problem is and can seek other quotes. 

• Example problem 2: A garage supply has failed and there is no power. Something has tripped. We perform some testing and fault finding taking an hour and a half and during investigations we find that a socket has gone bad causing the supply to trip. 

Solution Time on site is charged for and the socket is replaced at minimal additional cost whilst already there as this is the most cost-effective option and makes the most sense. A quote for this additional work would likely be unnecessary. 

If your garage power supply is not working - call our friendly team today!