How to Know if an Electrical Socket Replacement is Needed?

Often electric systems can be complicated to navigate. Thus, with the odd glitch here and there, it may become difficult to distinguish a serious issue from a mundane one. Therefore, it is important to know when an electrical socket replacement is needed. Furthermore, when more serious issues are occurring on your electrical wiring and a thorough test is required

Often an accurate indicator is the frequency of the issues. Thus, if the issue involves a specific aspect of the system, then the possibility for an electrical socket replacement becomes necessary.

The Health and Safety Executive in the UK has guidance on overall electrical wiring safety that can be reviewed on their Website Here

Electrical Wiring Safety

They point out the main hazards of electricity are

1. Electrical wiring shock from contact with live electrical systems. Furthermore, burns and injury
2. Injury from exposure to electrical arcing. Furthermore fires caused by faulty electrical equipment or electrical wiring installations
3. An explosion caused by unsuitable electrical items. Furthermore static electricity igniting flammable vapours or dust.

If you still are unsure about other common indicators, here are some:

Flickering or Dimmed Lights

Damaged and frayed wiring can create issues with the lights within your building. Furthermore, lighting has a shelf life and the fixings themselves can go into fault. Especially if wired incorrectly and experiencing a poor electrical wiring connection.

If either one of these occurs, it may suggest that your building requires an electrical socket replacement or light fixing replacement.

The advancement in lighting to LED bulbs, panels, and fixings has seen a large decrease in faulty lighting and replacements. LED Lighting lasts longer and operates with fewer power requirements. However, if your lighting is outdated, then it might be time to have them replaced with efficient LED fixtures.

For further information on the best Commercial Lighting, you can read our articles here

How do I Choose the Best Commercial Lighting?

Office Lighting Ideas

Older Buildings

Older buildings equal older wiring. As discussed above, older lighting systems cause more regular problems. The same can be said of the overall electrical wiring in the building.

With older buildings and especially those with a large gap since the refurbishment, the wiring will likely be outdated. Thus, the electrical wiring will require some maintenance. Furthermore, regular electrical testing should be considered.

Evolving and modern technology requires increased electrical wiring considerations. Therefore, power supply issues could be a cause of this.

The Smell of Smoke or Burning

In the event this happens, please urgently contact an emergency electrician. A qualified electrified electrician such as our team of engineers will inspect your outlets and seek to find the problem. This can be caused by an overworked circuit or damaged wires affecting the system. After calling an emergency electrician, ensure you go to the breaker box and turn off the power in the specific area. This will reduce any further safety risks for you and those around you until it can be correctly tested and observed

You’re Tripping the Electrical Breaker

When you have lost power in certain areas of the building and not overall then an electrical breaker has usually tripped. Your office electrical wiring will be split into separate electrical wiring circuits. Therefore, when one circuit has a problem only that breaker trips. The other electrical circuits remain operating

If repetitive fuse tripping occurs, this is often a key sign that your power is being overworked. Overworked power systems often mean a replacement is required to help increase the power supply and the functionality of your electrical wiring.

Some of the main reasons your electrical breaker would trip are

1. An Arc Fault
2. A Ground Fault
3. An overloaded Circuit
4. A Short Circuit

These are discussed in separate articles. However, whenever a breaker constantly trips you need to call in a qualified electrician for investigative testing.

Electrical Socket Replacement Summary

The main consideration with all electrical wiring is; If in doubt get it tested. It is always better to be safe and sure than take the risk yourself and regret it

There are two main types of testing for your office

1. Pat Testing
2. Electrical Wiring Testing

We have created separate articles for each and both can be viewed by clicking the links below

What is a PAT test

What is EICR Electrical Testing

If you have any electrical installation concerns please call our project team on 0203 912 62000 or sales@electricalinstallationservices.co.uk and they will be able to advise you on the best course of action

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