What Are The Best Materials To Use When Working As An Electrician
With so many materials for electricians on the market, it's tough to determine which ones to use.
What brand is the best to use, also for a good price.
With everything there are brands that come and go.
Thay have a great reputation for a year or so, but then start to go wrong.
When the customer needs something to replace - the kit you installed is obsolete!!
So you want to install good, quality kit but also keep up with the new technology on the market.
In this podcast im going to talk about the materials I have used over time that have helped me build a successful business.
Along with a few I have taken a gamble on.
Tool Box Talk For Electricians - Helping electricians reduce stress, gain back time and earn more money.
Welcome back once again to toolbox talk for electricians podcast, Im your host Ben poulter.
This question I have been asked a few times from electricians, what are the best materials to use?
I dont think its a easy answer, I cant just say I use:
Hager boards
JCC Downlights
And click switches and sockets for every job I do.
The thing is every job is different and each installation requires different materials.
For example if the customer has existing sockets and switches, you want to keep them all the same, so you're going to have to source them too, unless they are a really bad brand, I just get them as close as I can and explain why they're a little different.
Just because the existing sockets and switches are crap, it doesn't mean you have to follow suit.
I have worked all over the UK and what ever area I work in I get an idea of what brand is popular in that area.
Usually because it's the cheapest.
It's always one of the brands that I haven't heard of until it's in front of you.
And after a quick google you find that it's a brand you know, just with a different logo.
I hate it when that happens. Because you can however get a RCBO or MCB to fit the board, but it's got different branding and looks terrible inside the consumer unit.
In an ideal world you would rip the board out and replace it, but the customer doesn't want to spend that much money, so you do your best.
The main thing in any property is the fuse board. That is what protects the wiring and stops any fault from happening.
Spend your money there and everything else is after that.
The fancy sockets and switches can always be white plastic, or even changed at a later date, it's the main board that's going to be the bulk of the job.
The first board I used was MK. Everyone used to say MK was the best and it wasn't too expensive.
Split load boards were around 100 and came fully loaded.
SPDs weren't around at the time, so changing a board over for under £500 was common.
Times have changed and splitboard boards are a thing of the past.
I haven't installed a split load board for a long time. It's all RCBOs now.
For good reason too.
Testing, fault finding and customer convenience.
It needs to be a good brand too. Something you have heard of and maybe used in the past, not the cheapest on the shelf at screwfix or tool station.
A fully loaded board will cost you around £200, plenty of different brands and different prices.
The brand you install i would say is down to you, So many electricians have there go to brand, maybe because it's what their favourite wholesalers supply.
The thing is, it's sold at an electrical wholesalers it is fit for purpose. Its going to be tested for safety regulations in the UK.
So with consumer units or fuse boards I would say get the best one you can to fit the budget, not from ebay.
Another common piece of kit used by electricians in domestic houses are down lights.
They look better than a ceiling pendant and my selling point is that if it's a high ceiling, no cobwebs are going to build up around it.
Customers love that, it's less cleaning.
Downlights have come a long way in my time.
From the fire rated can, where you fitted the GU10 lamp that got red hot
To
The LEd gu10 LAMPS, that were good, but sometimes didn't last that long.
Now we have the all singing and dancing colour changing LED downlight with changeable bezels.
The first ones I fitted of these were the JCC downlights, they came with a 7 year warranty and it was a good selling point I thought.
Until one or 2 went faulty and the customer had a bit of a nightmare to get it changed, then of course - I was the one who had to change it over.
So the 7 year warranty wasn't a great deal after all.
I don't mind going back within the first 12 months because I can take it back to the wholesalers, but after that I will need to contact JCC, and time is money.
You may as well just buy another fitting and put it up.
That's of course if the fittings haven't been discontinued!
JCC also did this and I had to replace the old fitting with the new design, if you have OCD you can tell it didn't look right.
Smaller and more rounded bezels.
This is the whole reason I gave KSR downlights a go.
3 x interchangeable colours and magnetic changeable bezels.
It wasn't a problem if the customer wanted cool white, warm white or daylight.
Also the fitting didn't need to be taken out the ceiling to change the bezel.
A dream come true! All you need now is one that changes colour.
KSR isn't the only downlight on the market that does this, as always a popular idea makes others follow.
But as I havent had to change or revisit any of the downlights, I keep installing them.
Socket and switches. Simple, get the best brand your local wholesalers does.
With double pole isolations - the single pole double sockets always seem to fail over time.
You may think white plastic sockets are all the same, this is a mistake.
I have installed cheap own brand wholesalers sockets and they are cheap for a reason, they don't last long, even if they actually work straight out the box.
Buy cheap - buy twice. Not only that you have to spend your time going back to the job to switch it out too.
This goes even more for decorative sockets. If it's a good brand it won't be cheap.
The customer may say they can get them from a shop in town for 99p each, theres a reason there 99p.
They last 99 minutes.
Switches stop working and the fancy white or black inserts start to melt.
The most common place for decorative sockets is in the kitchen, the kitchen is where the appliances that pull the most are plugged in.
So when that kettle is boiled 3 times a day, the cheap socket you installed is constantly put under load.
Then when it gives up - POP the fuse will go. Not only does it make you look rubbish, but you have to replace it with the same cheap socket as the rest and it happens all over again.
So you or the customer may see them on amazon for a great price, but its not worth the hassle installing cheap sockets or switches.
You WILL regret it in the long run.
Thats the main materials that a domestic electrician uses covered, apart from
Cable
Clips
Boxes
Screws
Etc.
All these I would say can be bought anywhere. The cheaper version may be harder to work with.
I have heard of cable being hard to terminate as its cheap, even twin and earth cable being labelled up wrong on the drum, so after you wire that cooker circuit thinking its 6mm, you find out it's 4.
This has never happened to me just yet! I wouldn't be happy if it did!
I would recommend getting all your materials from your favourite wholesalers. The more you spend, the more discounts you get.
Take a look at the delivery notes you get from the wholesales next time you go.
The public gets one price and there's a column where your discount has been applied.
Sometimes it's as much as 75% from the actual retail price the public gets.
Seems a bit crazy, but wholesales want you to come back and spend more money.
The better you get along with them, the better prices you get.
When they say it's the best price they can do! That's like - they can always do better.
If my local wholesalers are listening to this - yes I mean you.
If you dont think you're getting the best deal you can always shop around, that's just what I did for a podcast a while ago.
I will leave a link in the show notes for you to check it out.
Until next time, I will see you again