Living areas

The living room and dining room are likely to call for flexibility of approach. The lighting requirements of a family breakfast will be very different from those of a sophisticated dinner party in the same dining room. And you may want the option of lighting only certain areas of an open plan room, so that you can ‘lose’ the kitchen while dining, or simply highlight the areas you need.

The variety of effects you will need can best be produced by using several different lighting methods, each of which has a wide range of practical and decorative uses. With direct lighting, such as spotlights, 90% of the light falls downwards and, although it can be very harsh, it gives a strong clear light where needed. This is ideal for reading or paper work. I f the fittings are imaginatively positioned, this strong light will also bring out the form and texture of objects illuminated, and can be effective when directed onto a special ornament or other room feature. Semi-direct lighting also falls mainly downwards but gives a softer effect as some of the light diffuses around it. General-diffused lighting is equally distributed upwards and downwards.

This is the effect you get from most glass fitments, and round paper lampshades for example. The light is usually quite bright and generally useful, but it usually needs to be supplemented for activities that need strong light and dimmed for intimate atmosphere. Semi-indirect lighting has to be used with care. It throws a small amount of light downwards and tends to give a rather dull, fiat effect. (And yet, with a pendant fitting, this is the most commonly used lighting in the average living room.)

In attractive wall or movable fitments, however, semi-indirect lighting can give a gently relaxing background light. Ceilings would seem to benefit most from indirect lighting as it gives more than 90% upward light, but it does produce a shadowless, completely dull appearance. Depending on colour and intensity, it could vary from being bright and practical in the kitchen, to being soft and warm in another room. Otherwise indirect uplighters can add a touch of glamour to a wall of long curtains as long as they are positioned safely away from the fabric.

A centre light is generally not adequate on its own in a bedroom and most people have bedside light fitments. The traditional, shaded light, however, can cast shadow and spread a diffuse light over the whole room/ Although the effect may be attractive, many people enjoy reading in bed and it can be infuriating if your partner is reading when you want to sleep and the light disturbs you. This can be prevented by fitting low voltage spot lights at each side of the bed. the light will be bright enough for reading, can be angled in a suitable direction, and will leave the rest of the room in deep shadow. If you have an alcove bedroom, a soft hidden light behind a bed alcove will add a glamorous touch to the bedroom.

Mirrors, particularly make-up mirrors, cabinets and tables, always need to be lit clearly. Lights positioned at either side of the glass will fall directly on the user and avoid too much glare. Or a strip light along the top is an adequate alternative.

Safety should be of first importance when planning the lighting in your home. Potential accident spots must be clearly lit at all times, especially if there are very young, elderly or short-sighted members in the family. Stairs usually present the main hazard. All stairs whether a full flight up to another floor or a couple of steps between levels, should be lit so that the beginning of the flight, and the nosings of the treads are quite obvious.

Although you may know about those two unexpected steps down to the kitchen, a visitor could trip on them and fall. Staircases are best lit from the tops of the flights so that the rises are in shadow and the shadow on the risers, however, an infill light below the flight is also recommended. And it may be necessary to keep stairs and halls lit artificially during the day, as they often have inadequate natural light sources. Few people consider the necessity for special night-time lighting, but it can be important.

A child may have a nightmare and need reassuring; you may have to go to the bathroom; the telephone or front door bell may ring. Many emergencies can occur in the middle of the night. Switching on lights at their normal level of intensity in a blackened room can cause temporary blindness—enough for someone to misjudge the top of the stairs. So, at night, a much lower lighting level is required for safe movement.

The staircase, corridors, bathroom area can be lit effectively with 15 watt night lights and at this wattage, the cost of running the lights all night would be negligible. Regular night risers people on shift work, or mothers with young babies to feed, for example, might also find an additional low wattage switched light useful, that they can turn on by the bed.

A hall can often benefit greatly from careful lighting as it is so often a dull, long and narrow corridor with no attractive feature. The first impression of your home needs to be bright and welcoming, and so have plenty of light here. A bright ceiling fitted downlighter is effective and downcast shadows will not matter so much in this part of the house. Otherwise try a cluster of beautiful glittering glass lamps, or a glowing ceiling lit with concealed indirect uplighters combined with attractive wall bracket lights. As halls are for ‘passing through’, you could try a more daring and experimental approach than would be appropriate in the living room. Just be careful not to have a brilliant lamp glaring at eye level.

Your eyes are sensitive and delicate instruments. They scan your surroundings more efficiently than radar to provide an enormous amount of information. But they are totally dependent on one thing. Light. The reflection of light enables the eye to interpret distance, size, colour, shape, texture and movement— and the quality of this light is all-important. Not only can bad lighting spoil the appearance of your home (under a flat light velvet can look as dull as the cheapest denim) but it can also make it inefficient—and dangerous. To plan your lighting you must consider exactly what you need it for.

You will need suitable lighting for each hobby or activity. Decide what has to be lit—a work surface, a draining board, a tabletop—then how it should best be lit. The lighting in your home deserves very careful consideration. And yet, examples of bad lighting are all too common. Often, the only source of artificial light in a living room, for example, is the single, centre light fitting. Numerous, different activities are carried out daily under this one, pitifully inadequate light.

Even reading may be difficult, if you find you are sitting in your own shadow, with the light throwing distracting reflections off mirrors or other shiny surfaces. Glare, high contrast, under-lighting, working in your own shadow—all are examples of bad lighting which can cause headaches, eyestrain, and inconvenience, and may even cause accidents.

Lighting can make your house appear bigger, fresher and decidedly more modern, and adds value to your property.

Always use a qualified electrician.

Modern light bulbs and Lights

The room above demonstrates how different types of bulb are suited to different purposes. The table lamp on the right is fitted with an Osram Classic A Energy Saving bulb, for warmth and atmosphere. The central spot and strip lighting in the shelves are energy efficient LEDs, as is the uplighter against the garden wall (which uses only 1 watt of power). An old fashioned incandescent spot is used for the artwork, where colour rendition is paramount.

Energy Saving, Energy Efficient, Warm White, White or LED lights ?

Current building regulations state that 25 per cent of your home lighting can still be energy inefficient. LED lights are very efficient, with a single watt of power producing a very bright light and it comes in different colours.

Robuild London Electricians, will always recommend LED lights, low voltage, for lighting.

For Flats Rewiring or House Rewiring, the electricians can calculate and design the energy consumed by lighting fixtures.

Building a private cinema, Building a home cinema

In London, space can be a problem, you need a dedicated room big enough to accommodate the furniture and cinema equipment. A compromise can be reached by part time using a room as a In Home Cinema room.

Another option is to build an outdoor building/room, if you have space in the garden. Or the garage can be converted. Contact Robuild London Builders for a Quote.

For the entertainment-electronics, a large flat screen TV can be used, or a projector, with amplifiers and a climate control system. The installation of your new plasma screen,TV Projector,Speakers, home cinema system, high-quality Hi-Fi system, plays an important part in building a Home Cinema room.

TV Projector

Most projectors are capable of taking inputs from both a PC and video sources, such as a Games Console, DVD player or Set top box. However, most are also optimised either for PC use or for home cinema.

Home Theater Decor and Home Theater Seating

Soundproofing the walls and ceilings, can be done using acoustic sound insulation. The furniture ( cinema seats ) is normally bought ready made. To achive a Cinema seating feel, a platform can be built for the second row of seating.

The wiring for the Projector Screen and TV projector is normally done inside the ceiling. The speakers can be installed in the floor, ceiling, walls, or free standing. The electrician will advise you about the best way to achieve a perfect sound.

Electricians in Mill Hill

Robuild London Electricians are accredited NICEIC Approved electricians. Our Electrical Services includes domestic and commercial dwellings, and we cover North West London, Mill Hill area.

Partial or full rewires, Lighting, Fault finding, Cookers, Electric Showers, Consumer unit, fuse board installations, Outdoor electrics, Portable appliance testing (PAT), Consumer unit,fuse board upgrades, Smoke Alarms,Inspection certificates.

Electrical fireplace installers in London

An open fire in a attractive fireplace will make a room feel special, but if you don’t want to have Gas Fireplace , an Electric Modern Fireplace can be the answer and safer than Gas fires. A compromise between traditional fires and convenience. Our Electricians are NICEIC Registered electricians. Fireplaces make an attractive feature in the room where they are installed.

Most fireplaces consist of a surround, a fireback and grate, and a front hearth. The surround serves a purely decorative function while the fireback, grate and hearth ensure that the fire burns efficiently without risk of an accident. Because all of these features vary so much in their construction, it is important to understand how they are built before attempting to demolish, remove them and install new ones.

Tiled surround: A number of fireplaces, particularly UK ones built in the 1940s and 1950s, consist of a concrete surround and hearth which is then covered in decorative tiles. The surround is held in place by two metal plugs, bonded to the concrete backing and screwed firmly into the chimney breast or wall behind the fire.

Timber surround: Many fires have a wooden surround, usually with a stone or concrete front hearth protruding beneath the fire opening. The surround is screwed in position on top of a framework of wooden battens fixed to the chimney breast or wall.

Stone or brick surround: This type consists of a number of stone or brickwork courses built up from the hearth against the wall or chimney breast. The gap above the fire is often bridged by a ‘soldier’ arch of bricks placed on end, held up by a steel support underneath. Although stone or brickwork surrounds are usually built without being tied into the wall behind, occasionally steel wall ties—similar to those used in cavity wall construction—are inserted between courses to help strengthen the structure.

Cast-iron surround: These are held in place in a similar fashion to tiled surrounds: plugs bonded to the back of the cast-iron frame are held tight against the wall with screws. Most cast-iron surrounds also have an inner cast-iron grate frame fitted around the sides and top of the fireplace and held in position either with nuts and bolts or countersunk screws.

Front hearth: Some fires have a front hearth which protrudes into the room below the fireplace opening and is made of the same material as the surround. This is intended to reduce the risk of hot coals or sparks falling from the grate and accidentally damaging floorings.

Fireback: This is a shell-shaped backing made of fireclay which surrounds the grate and prevents the damage to the brickwork.

London Electricians in London

Our electricians are fully qualified, 17th Edition, Part P approved, NICEIC. Full rewiring, wiring, lights,sockets, Fuse Box – Consumer Units, Electrical Safety Certificates, Maintenance and all types of electrical work for Domestic and Commercial Properties.

Our undertake a wide variety of electrical installation work including:

Storage and panel heaters
House Rewiring
Flat Rewiring
Smoke alarms
Fire alarms
Extra sockets/lighting
Cooker circuits
Security lighting
Data cables
Garden lighting
Consumer unit (fuse board) upgrades
Electrical Showers

We cover most of London area :

Central London: (wc1, wc2, ec1, ec2, ec3, ec4)
Barbican, Clerkenwell, Monument, Shoreditch, West End, Gray’s Inn, Bloomsbury, Holborn, Soho, Moorgate, St Paul’s Cray, Tower Hill, St. Paul’s, Covent Garden, St Mary’s Cray, Belgravia, Building Company Central London, Home renovations Central London, Building Company Central London, Home Extensions Central London

North London: (n1, n2, n3, n4, n5, n6, n7, n8, n9, n10, n11, n12, n13, n14, n15, n16, n17, n18, n19, n20, n21, n22)
East Barnet, Archway, Finsbury, Alexandra Palace, Fortis Green, Barnet, Kentish Town, Canonbury, Crouch End, East Finchley, Enfield Park, Cockfosters, Enfield, Finsbury Park, Friern Barnet, Epping Forest, Hampstead Garden Suburb, Finchley Central, Islington, Barnsbury, Highbury, Highgate, Hornsey, Lower Edmonton, Tufnell Park, Manor House, New Southgate, Holloway, North Finchley, Hendon, Palmers Green, Pinner Green, Pinner, Ponders End, Muswell Hill, Potters Bar, Woodside Park, Seven Sisters, Winchmore Hill, Southgate, Totteridge, Upper Edmonton, Whetstone, Tottenham, Woodford Green, New Barnet, Stoke Newington,

West London: (w1, w2, w3, w4, w5, w6, w7, w8, w9, w10, w11, w12, w13, w14)
Isleworth, Acton, Eastcote, Bayswater, Charlton, Brook Green, Chiswick, Ealing, Uxbridge, Greenford, Hanger Lane, Hanwell, Hammersmith, Holland Park, Kensington, Elsham, Notting Hill, East Molesley, Ladbroke Grove, Marylebone, Mayfair, North Kensington, Warwick Avenue, Osterley, Paddington, Perivale, Shepherd’s Bush, Strand,Addlestone, West Brompton, Kensal Green, Queens Park, West Ealing,

Southwest London: (sw1, sw2, sw3, sw4, sw5, sw6, sw7, sw8, sw9, sw10, sw11, sw12, sw13, sw14, sw15, sw16, sw17, sw18, sw19, sw20)
Twickenham, Balham, Barnes, Beddington Corner, Earl’s Court, Epsom Downs, Beddington, Parson’s Green, Battersea, Ewell, Chelsea, Chertsey, East Sheen, Stockwell, Kew, Clapham Junction, Earlsfield, Brixton, Raynes Park, Streatham, Castelnau, Fulham, Mitcham, Morden, Kew Gardens, Tulse Hill, Kingston-upon-Thames, Merton, Mortlake, Putney, Kingston, Nine Elms, Wandsworth, Epsom, Esher, West Kensington, Teddington, Wimbledon, Claygate, Richmond, Southfields, Hook, South Wimbledon, Tooting, World’s End, Chessington, Streatham Hill, Weston Green, South Kensington, South Lambeth, Westminster, Woodmansterne, Pimlico, Clapham, Brompton, Carshalton, Brentford, Worcester Park

Northwest London: (nw1, nw2, nw3, nw4, nw5, nw6, nw7, nw8, nw9, nw10, nw11, nw12, nw13, nw14, nw15)
Neasden, Brent Cross, West Hampstead, Wembley, Camden Town, Northolt, Hampstead,Kilburn, Havering, Golders Green, Harrow, Temple Fortune, Cricklewood, Kingsbury, St John’s Wood, Greenhill, Harlesden, Colindale, Maida Vale, Mill Hill, Regent’s Park, Hampstead Heath, Harrow on the hill, Willesden, Sudbury, Swiss Cottage,

East London: (e1, e2, e3, e4, e5, e6, e7, e8, e9, e10, e11, e12, e13, e14, e15, e16, e17, e18)
Homerton, Aldgate, Bethnal Green, Forest Gate, Highams Park, Bow, Chigwell, Bexley, Canning Town, Clapton, Dalston, Bromley-by-Bow, Hackney, Buckhurst Hill, Grange Hill, South Woodford, Millwall, Isle of Dogs, West Ham, Whitechapel, Leyton, Stratford, East End, Upper Wandsworth, Bromley, Leytonstone, Barking, Becontree, North Woolwich, Stamford Hill, East Ham, Hainault, Manor Park, Plaistow, Redbridge, Dagenham, Chingford, Stepney,Walthamstow, Woodford Green, Poplar, Woodford, Upton Park,

Southeast London: (se1, se2, se3, se4, se5, se6, se7, se8, se9, se10, se11, se12, se13, se14, se15, se16, se17, se18, se19, se20, se21, se22, se23, se24, se25, se26, se27, se28)
Greenwich, Grove Park, Bellingham, Addington, Anerley, Blackheath, Chislehurst, Crofton Park, Cross, Deptford, Eltham, Lee, Lewisham, New Cross Gate, Dulwich, Elephant & Castle, Eltham Park, Foots Cray, Herne Hill, Crystal Palace, Plumstead, East Dulwich, Forest Hill, Hither Green, Sydenham, Walworth, Abbey Wood, Waterloo, Lambeth, Peckham, West Norwood, Beckenham, Rotherhithe, Penge, New Cross, Croydon, Shirley, North Woolwich, Sidcup, Honor Oak Park, Charlton, Upper Norwood, Southwark, Nunhead, Borough, Brockley, Camberwell, Catford, Westcombe Park, East Croydon, South Bermondsey

London Electricians

Electrical Systems in London, domestic properties

The Fuse Box or Consumer Unit

The fuse box is the house or flat’s insurance against electrical fires and safety against electrical shocks. If an electrical circuit is made to carry more current than it was designed for, perhaps by running a heater from a lighting power point, the fuse for that circuit will overheat and melt if the Fuse Box is the old style or the modern fuse will be cutting off the current to the electrical circuit.

If an old fuse is replaced by heavier wire, instead of the fuse melting, it is the cables, out of sight, under the floor boards, inside the walls and ceilings, against wooden joists and timber that will overheat and melt. This can start a fire and fires started this way are not covered by the Insurance Policy. Upgrade your electrical system to be safe using a qualified electrician.

Circuit Breakers

Circuit Breakers are switches that turn off when overloading by current. They can be reset.

Fuses

Old fuses are thin wires designed as weak links in electrical circuits. In even older electrical circuits, there are usually two fuses, one for live wire and one for neutral. The standard for old electrical systems is just one fuse fitted to the live wire. Old fuses melt when overloaded, slowly with a small overload or with a big noise ( bang ) if for example two bare wires touch. ( Live & Neutral, etc )

Modern fuses called MCB (Micro Circuit Breaker) are designed with safety and practicability in mind. They detect when a circuit is overloaded with precision and trips the electrical circuit. They are very easy to reset.

Modern Fuse Boxes – Consumer Units are protected by RCD system (Residual Current Device) for domestic buildings and RCBO ( Residual Current Breaker with Overload Protection ) for commercial – industrial buildings.

RCDs are designed to trip (shutdown) the electrical circuit if there it detects an imbalance in the electrical system, making the electrical system even safer.

Electricians in London
London Electricians