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Posts Tagged ‘appliance<’
Posted in Electrical Work on Jul 12
If you can’t take the heat, then get out of the kitchen, at least that’s what professional chef’s like Gordon Ramsey bark at their charges! Our kitchens are the hearts of our homes, and they should be fun places where friends and family meet to share food. But there’s more to it unfortunately – greasy kitchens can cause electrical fires. The UK has around 20,000 fires a year arising mainly from faulty electrical appliances in the kitchen. Grease is a fire’s best friend, and can quickly spread flames and threaten our houses and even our families. 
Kitchens are not the only source of unwanted fires. The Electrical Safety Council (ESC) comments that more than half of fires reported, as already stated that’s around 20,000 a year, are down to people’s casual attitudes. Here at Mr-Skill, we say that you and your family – especially the kids – should always have a healthy respect for electrical safety, and never abuse electrical appliances.
The cost of an electrical call-out to check your appliances is insignificant, when compared with the cost of re-building a burned-out home with all the inconvenience that incurs. Mr-Skill urges you to get an electrical quote today, and sleep well at night.
The ESC goes on to say: “In our opinion – which is shared by the fire and rescue professionals we consulted – a considerable number of fires occur through a casual attitude to cleaning and safety, particularly in kitchens.” Leading research into the causes of domestic fires demonstrates that over 25% of the British public suspect faults with at least one of their electrical appliances. As Mr-Skill says, “SAFETY FIRST, ALWAYS!” So, if you are one of the many people with faulty equipment, find an electrician to thoroughly check your home appliances right now.
It doesn’t take a genius to realise that dangling electrical leads in fat deposits left on the counter-tops rate right up there as scary when it comes to fire risks. So too is the dangerous habit of storing items on top of the microwave oven, including tea towels, and forgetting to remove them when the appliance is in use. 
Martin – he’s one of our regular London electricians – advises that we should never take electricity for granted. Because we live in a modern electrical world, we need to understand that this power source is a potential fire-maker and even a killer. “Never let your guard down, and keeping a clean and grease-free home is a good start,” says Martin.
Tags: abuse, appliance, cable, casual, cleaning, electrical fire, electrical leads, electrical quote, faulty appliances, find an electrician, fire, fire risk, fire-maker, grease, home, house, killer fire, kitchen, london electrician, safety
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Posted in Electrical Work on Apr 02
Children and teenagers are tomorrow’s people. It is with their safety in mind that we present some straightforward safety tips in your bathroom and kitchen.
Caution: If you have any faulty electrical equipment or appliances, rather find an electrician to check for problems. Fiddling with gadgets ourselves is all fine and dandy, but just think about the consequences of getting it wrong. Electricians take several years to qualify, and there’s a good reason for this – they have to learn a lot, and then put their knowledge into practice throughout their working lives.
Child Safety
Be sure to dry your children thoroughly after bathing or showering, and before they approach anything electrical in the house. Water and electricity are a lethal combination. Teach your kids to keep drinks far away from any electrical appliances. It’s also a good habit to teach your youngsters to switch off appliances at the wall socket, whenever they are not in use.
Keep electrical appliance cords out of the reach of your children too, particularly for hot gadgets such as kettles, irons and hair dryers. And, never keep a charger plugged in without connecting to the actual appliance – kids love to explore and may regard a dangling cable as a tasty item to put in their mouths!
Kitchen Safety 
One recipe never to be followed is water and electricity…this combination will prove stunning, and may even turn out fatal. When you plan your new kitchen, ensure that sockets and switches are located a safe distance from water sources such as the sink. If you are thinking of a quote for electrical work, make sure the drawings include safe distances between water outlets and plugs or switches.
One of our London Electricians suggests you make sure your heavy-duty appliances such as washing machines or dishwashers connect through a fusible-link switch. This should be above the worktop surface, so that you can switch on or off quickly in emergencies.
Some Definite No-Goes
- Never use any electrical equipment or switch with wet hands.
- Don’t wrap power cables around an iron or a kettle while still warm or hot
- Always unplug an appliance from the wall socket when cleaning it.
- Unplug irons and kettles when filling them with water.
- If bread sticks in your toaster, don’t stick metal objects inside the toasting compartment to dislodge the bread. Switch off all kitchen appliances when not in use.
Tags: appliance, bathroom, children, cord, dishwahers, electrical safety, electricity, equipment, find an electrician, hot, kettle, kitchen, lethal, london electricians, power cable, quote for electrical work, safety, sink, switch, washing machines, water, wet
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There’s nothing quite as annoying as having a badly-fitting outside door, especially on a winter’s day when there’s gale outside. It’s amazing how much harder central heating has to work, and what this costs. Don’t just sit back and accept this. Either Get Door Fitting Quotes on Mr-Skill, or have a crack at it yourself.
 Draught-Proofing Strips – The handiest solutions are the rolls of sticky-backed foam that hardware stores all sell. The upside is that the result is instantaneous. The downside is they soon wear out. At best, this is a cheap stop-gap measure.
Sealing Door Bottoms – Gaps at the bottom of doors are a common problem where tiles have replaced a thick-pile carpet. You could try a draught-excluder, although in my experience these don’t always work particularly well. My advice would be to Find a Door Fitter and ask them to attach a matching piece to the bottom of the door. That way the problem should go away, permanently.
While You’re At It - Check out other suspect areas by holding a burning candle near the letterbox and keyhole. Flaps and keyhole covers become sticky and it’s in human nature to adapt to almost anything. It could be an idea to check all the other doors and windows too. You never know what’s there until you look.
 Safety Warning – When I mentioned that I was writing this, my friend the London Door Fitter who hangs out in Charing Cross whistled sharply. I think I may have mentioned him before. Don’t make the place completely airtight, he grumbled. Air still needs to move around the house especially when your central heating and gas appliances are working.
This information comes to you with compliments of Mr-Skill. That’s the matchmaker website that connects customers with tradespeople. Use us with confidence anytime you like. We only recommend first-class craftspeople whose rates are reasonable too. You can trust them to get the job done properly.
Tags: airtight, appliance, bad, bottom, carpet, cheap, door, doot fitting quotes, draught, exclude, find a door fitter, fit, foam, gale, gap, heat, key, keyhole, letterbox, london door fitter, outside, roll, tile, window, winter
Posted in Window & Door Fitting | Comments Off
Posted in Kitchen Fitting on Dec 19
London Kitchen Fitters are an astute lot, and the first thing they’ll ask when invited to quote is usually, have you got a plug for it? That’s because if they find you don’t, then they’ll have to come back a second time when they’ve already quoted a set price. Here’s how you might be able to go about the job yourself. If you don’t want to though, you can always Find a Kitchen Fitter on Mr-Skill right here.
• Decide where you want the under counter freezer to go. Everything is modular these days – if you have a modern kitchen  most freezers will fit into the space behind a cupboard door. Make sure you allow an inch of free-space all around when measuring. That’s for air circulation, and to get your hands in to pull it out again for cleaning.
• Have the power supply installed. This is usually on the wall behind the freezer which should have sufficient cable length supplied. Don’t get clever with electricity though. Find an Electrician to do the job.
• Purchase your under counter freezer. Base your decision on three factors. These are appearance, energy efficiency and usable capacity. Does it have a drain for when you decide to defrost it, and finally, is the electric cable going to be long enough?
• Prepare for installation. The electrician may have removed the cupboard door and any shelves. If not, then now’s the time to do so. HINT The door and shelf make useful spares. Keep them, don’t chuck them away.
 • Inspect the under counter freezer. Unwrap your new appliance carefully and check for any damage. Plug it in to see if it starts up, then turn it off again and unplug it. Remove it from the packaging completely, and set it down near the opening where you can make sure that it’s perfectly level.
• Now finally install it. Plug in the appliance again, and gently slide it into the cavity taking care not to snag the cable as it goes in. Then turn it on. That’s all folks. You did it yourself. Congratulations!
Now that sounds easy, doesn’t it? But sometimes the cavity is too small or the kitchen floor uneven. When that happens there’s no need to despair. That’s because you can get Incredible Kitchen Fitting Quotes right here, and not pay a penny for them either.
Tags: air circulation, appearance, appliance, cable, capacity, cavity, door, drain, electrician, electricity, energy, find a kitchen fitter, freezer, install, kitchen, kitchen fitting quote, level, london kitchen fitter, modular, package, plug, power, remove, shelf, shelves, space, supply, turn on, under counter, undercounter
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Posted in Electrical Work on Sep 26
The United Kingdom government added Part P to the Electrical Regulations in 2005, with the intention of eliminating cowboy installers and discouraging dangerous work by homeowners who lacked essential skills. The intention was to give local Councils improved oversight over what was happening, and to eliminate potentially lethal situations. This was one of the drivers behind the establishment of Mr-Skill. We want to help people Find an Electrician who is properly registered, and whose work should be readily approved by the local Council too.
 Failure to comply with Part P can have the following serious implications for United Kingdom householders:
• Accidental death through electric shock …
• Permanent disability through electric shock …
• An electrical fire not covered by home insurance …
• Impediments to the sale of a property …
• A fine not exceeding £50,000 …
We encourage our readers to consider carefully whether these are not sufficient reasons in themselves to get Electrician Quotes instead.
While we do not discourage all DIY Electrical Work by competent and capable people, we decided to list the Do’s and Dont’s that apply to this. This is because we would like to see less than the 10 deaths, 750 serious injuries and 12,500 fires caused by faulty amateur electrical work in the United Kingdom every year. In considering the lists of permitted and outlawed amateur Electrical Work that follow, please bear in mind that the scope applies to dwellings, outbuildings of any kind including garden sheds, and common areas of communal space too.
 Work falling Within the Scope of Part P
New or rewired installations, circuits, fuse boards, sockets, lighting points, and power showers. Supply to outbuildings and installations therein. Under floor heating, pool pumps, garden lighting, and generators.
Work falling Outside the Scope of Part P
Connecting an appliance to an existing circuit. Replacing damaged single-circuit wiring, single outlets and single light fittings. Fitting a storage heater to an existing adjacent connection point, and replacing an immersion heater.
We encourage all our customers to comply with these regulations for their health and safety’s sake, and not to take on electrical work with which they are unfamiliar. We list rated London Electricians and their counterparts in virtually every United Kingdom town, whose quality services are also up to 30% less than prevailing rates. It’s just not worth taking chances with electricity and lives.
Tags: accident, amateur, appliance, approve, capable, circuit, competent, comply, dangerous, death, disability, discourage, dwelling, electrical, electrician quotes, electricity, find an electrician, fine, fire, immersion, implication, injuries, install, insurance, legal, lethal, light, london electricians, outbuilding, outlet, part p, register, regulalations, shed, shock, skill, wire
Posted in Electrical Work | Comments Off
Posted in Kitchen Fitting on Aug 10
In time gone past, people built large kitchens because appliances like stoves were huge, and kitchens doubled as lounges and even bedrooms. More and more London Kitchen Fitting Quotes are proving a distinctively different trend these days.  Rooms are getting smaller, and many people prefer to eat while watching television in the lounge or even on the bed.
These days some kitchens are not even destination places any more. Fast foods and convenience stores have dismissed the traditional stove in favour of the microwave, and kitchens are almost part of other spaces now.
The kitchen-in-the-cupboard is becoming increasingly popular, and you would struggle to Find a Kitchen Fitter who has not already done at least a few of these. It really is amazing what can be done with space in terms of modern compact fittings, and to make things even better you can just close the doors on dirty dishes, and all is well at least until the morning.
Another modern innovation is the circular free-standing kitchen that’s almost like a hyper store display stand.  While this may make little sense at first, it’s actually quite logical because several people can get to it at the same time.
This does not mean that it is impossible to get Kitchen Fitting Quotes for traditional kitchen installations. These are benefiting from compact kitchen technologies too, which is important because there seems to be a competition among architects for who can design the smallest Kitchen space.
The counterpoint to diminishing space is the technology behind modern appliances, that fit so well together thanks to standardized dimensions. Would Granny have traded her farmhouse kitchen with room for cats and dogs for a far smaller compact one? I wonder, but I think not. What say you?
Tags: appliance, bed, circular, compact, convenience, cooker, cupboard, dirty dish, door, fast food, find a kitchen fitter, fitting, free standing, kitchen, Kitchen Fitting, large, london kitchen fitting quotes, lounge, microwave, round, small, stove, television, tradition
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Carbon monoxide is a colourless, tasteless odourless gas that is the product of incomplete combustion of carbon-based fuels. These fuels include gas, oil, coal and wood, but all are however safe when used correctly. According to the Health and Safety Executive, approximately twenty people die in Britain every year from carbon monoxide poisoning caused by wrongly installed gas appliances, and flues that  have not been properly maintained and cleaned. If there ever was a reason to Find a Heating Engineer, then surely this is it.
These people all probably died from a sudden intake of the deadly gas that prevented their blood from carrying oxygen to their tissues, skin and other organs. The gas may however also kill almost imperceptibly over a longer period of slow leaks. These are the sensible precautions you could follow to avoid this happening to you and your family.
o Make sure that any work carried out in your home is done by a Gas Safe registered engineer who is competent to do the particular job. You can get Gas Fitting Quotes right here.
o Arrange for regular inspections by a Gas Safe registered firm as recommended by them.
o Ensure that any room containing a gas appliance is adequately ventilated, and that any chimneys, vents and flues do not become blocked. If you have one, get your chimney swept annually,
o  Never use any heating appliance that burns carbon-based fuel without a flue installed by a Gas Safe registered fitter. Paraffin and cabinet heaters are never completely safe and should not be used.
o Fossil-burning appliances outside the remit of Gas-Safe registered fitters should be regularly inspected by another person competent to do the work.
There could hardly be a London Plumber who does not also recommend the installation of audible carbon monoxide alarms in every room, although these are no substitute for proper maintenance. This is because in the event of sudden failure, carbon monoxide could kill you in your sleep. Sobering words today from Mr-Skill.
Tags: alarm, appliance, audible, carbon monoxide, check, chimney, clean, CO, coal, colour, competent, danger, die, find a heating engineer, fitter, flue, gas, gas fitting quote, gas safe, inspect, install, installation, kill, london plumber, maintain, odour, oil, poison, register, registered, safe, service, smell, sweep, swept, taste, vent, wood
Posted in Plumbing, Heating & Gas | Comments Off
The last thing that we want to do is to hurt a child, and that means we should teach them electrical, and other safety for  the times when we may not be there These are some thoughts that an Electrician in London, or elsewhere for that matter should include in an electrical safety talk if invited to give one down at a local school.
o Do not plug in more appliances than a socket design allows. There are two rules of thumb – not more than two appliances per outlet point, and remove one if the plug pins become warm. If you need to plug in more, Find an Electrician to sort this for you safely.
o Turn off appliances before unplugging them. Never, ever pull a plug out by the wire. If you do and the wire breaks, you could receive a shock
o On a similar basis, avoid touching the contact prongs when plugging or unplugging. Use the plug only as intended.
o  Never, ever bring liquid within an arm’s reach of an electrical appliance. Water conducts electricity, and you could get shocked this way too.
o If a plug will not go into a socket, never force it. There is a problem somewhere, and you need an Electrician Quote to fix it.
o Only, ever, put a plug into an electric outlet. Treat an outlet with respect, or it may not respect your life.
While this may seem obvious to you, it may not be obvious to young enquiring minds. Find informal opportunities to teach lessons that should last a long lifetime. This information comes to you with compliments of Mr-Skill, for all our children’s safety sake, and your and my peace of mind as well.
Tags: appliance, child, contact, electric, electrician london, electrician quote, find an electrician, force, hurt, lesson, liquid, outlet, pin, plug, point, prong, safe, safety, shock, teach, turn off, unplug, warm, water, wire
Posted in Electrical Work, Project Advice | Comments Off
Posted in Kitchen Fitting on Feb 03
Stripping out an old Kitchen is not the most pleasant way to spend a Saturday. This is because you will be surprised at the old filth that you can find and could pick up a nasty badly infected cut too. For this reason we recommended that you  wear stout clothing, a pair of good boots, heavy duty gloves and a face mask. I know that Harry’s Kitchen Fitters in London insist that their staff disinfect their hands and faces after every job. Doesn’t appeal to you? Rather Find a Kitchen Fitter on Mr-Skill. If you are game, read on.
o Make sure that you have everything you need for your replacement Kitchen before you start, that you have inspected it and that nothing is missing, damaged or broken.
o Set up a temporary Kitchen in another room where you can make a cup of tea and heat take
aways in the microwave.
o Clear everything out of the kitchen cupboards, and I do mean everything. If you don’t want it, de-clutter it and chuck it away.
 o Turn off the electricity and water and have a Gas Safe technician isolate the gas. Remove all appliances so that just the cabinets are left.
o Remove all doors and drawers and store them neatly outside in the yard. Find out how the worktops are attached (usually with screws from underneath) and remove them to the yard too. Try to remove the sections intact – believe me this is quicker that ending up with a pile of dirty, dusty scrap
Are you sweating at the thought of all this work? Either get a Kitchen Fitter Quote or read on.
o Remove the floor-standing cabinets. If you are lucky these were assembled in sections and you just need to separate them from each other and the wall. If your home is very old though they may have been built up on site. In that case, forget about what I said about removing them intact and use a wrecking bar (mind the wall).  Remove the upper cabinets in the same way. You will need help with this because they can be fairly heavy.
o Finally remove the wall tiles and the floor covering (unless the latter is still firmly in position and can be covered over with flexible flooring or tiles)
After you have stored all the scrap tidily outside in the yard (I am a nag but you will appreciate the thought tomorrow) give the Kitchen a thorough clean so you have a clear start in the morning. If you have any energy left over, wash it down with sugar soap followed by a mild disinfectant. You have decided you need help with this after all? No problem. Contact Mr-Skill.
Tags: appliance, boot, broken, clean, clear, clothing, cupboards, damaged, disinfect, door, drawer, electricity, empty, face, face mask, find a kitchen fitter, floor, gas, glove, hand, kitchen, kitchen fitter london, kitchen fitter quote, kitchen fitting london, kitchen fitting quotes, missing, remove, replacement, screw, strip, sugar soap, tiles, wall, wash, water, worktop, wrecking bar
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