Recessed downlights are great to have installed in areas where you want a nice spread of light in room such as kitchens and large rooms. They are a perfect solution if you have low ceilings and don't want to hit your head on low hanging fittings.

If you are considering recessed downlights  in a room with beams you must have a void between the ceiling and the floor above.  This can be achieved either with a false ceiling in which the ceiling has been lowered below the height of the beams and covered with plasterboard OR having infills.  This is where the spaces between each beam are battened and plasterboarded leaving the bottom of the beams exposed, thus creating the necessary void for downlights.

Downlights must be installed correctly as even a low voltage or low wattage lamps get very hot in a short period of time.  When switched on a large amount of heat expels upwards and in a lot of cases can heat up the supply cable very quickly.  I have been to a few calls where the light has stopped working and found the transformer [12v] scorched and supply cables burnt.  The most common cause of this is due to insulation.  Where a downlight is fitted, it is recommended that a diameter of 500mm above the light is not insulated .  This will allow the heat to disperse safely.  Supply cables should be sheathed with a heat resistant sleeve. 

Next time you change a faulty lamp, make sure the light switch is off and check to see if the insulation is pushed away from the fitting above.  Not only will your lamps last a lot longer, but you will avoid overheating or a fire hazard.

The pictures below show cable that had been scorched.  Fortunately the cable was sheathed in a heat resistant cover, protecting the cable from serious damage. 

I  have seen many a property with relatively good electrics in them.  Then there are others, which are pardon the pun, literally quite shocking.

It seems that many an expat has purchased a property and applied their own knowledge to electrical installation. Which I believe and agree is fine up to a point, and that point is when you start to overload the supply that already comes into your home.  Or the work has been carried out by an 'incompetent' electrician.  Electrical wiring is completely different to the UK, my extensive training and understanding of electrics along with knowledge of French wiring puts me in a good position when it comes to making your French home safe.

This is where the knowledge of a qualified and competent electrician pays dividends as we understand the load of appliances and the impact that they have on the various circuits around your home. We know  where additions to existing circuits can be made and where new circuits need installing.   

I was recently asked to visit a house to look at their electrics.  A visual inspection and testing revealed that certain aspects of the present electrical work were fine, particularly those carried out by an electrician. The aspects which were not fine, were those carried out by the current or previous homeowner.  The diagnostic report verified these findings. The homeowner was somewhat surprised as they never had an issue with the electrics over the years.  To be fair, a reasonable amount of knowledge was applied to the internal work that was carried out, but much of the property was not protected by earth, so some fundamental aspects were completely missing from the home.  My philosophy is that if you are selling a home, it needs to be a safe home that you are selling.

I have also seen homes with UK boxes, boards and sockets, which are an absolute no no.  Outdoor circuits wired with incorrect cabling and fittings and cookers not on a designated circuit.  All these add up to frequent tripping within the circuits due to overload, under sized or damaged cables.  Just because you can turn the power on doesn't mean that the journey from supply to source is the right.

The basis of my business is to make your home electrically safe.  Research suggests that many fires in domestic homes across France are attributed to electrical faults.  Even some of France's beautiful properties have been destroyed by fire due to electrical fault, La Rochelle earlier this year, for example. 

I am in favour of diagnostic reports. They outline the basics but they do have 6 key areas of safety that need to be adhered to when selling your property.  

If you are in any doubt about the condition of your electrics be it frequent tripping, power outlets or lighting not working or no external earth connection  always refer to a  qualified electrician such as ourselves, we will be only too pleased to help. We are fully equipped to conduct relevant testing before recommendation and repair. 

How on earth do you know?
It is important that your electrical installation is correctly earthed.  The first thing is to visually check for a cable, usually green and yellow, going from the fuseboard in your home through the exterior wall and connected to a metal pole in the grounds outside. This cable should be a minimum of 10mm thick.

What on earth?
All electrical devices with exposed metallic parts, e.g. washing machines, fridges, microwaves, have an earth in the power lead.  When plugged into the socket, this makes connection to the earth running back to the fuseboard. For the 'earth' to be completed [bearing in mind this is the most important connection in the whole electrical installation] it runs through the cable and back to the ground. This completes the 'earth path'. We often see a lot of properties with undersized cable, which means that electricity is still travelling around and looks for the quickest path to the earth - it could be you!

Why on earth?
The object of earthing an electrical installation is in the event of a fault on the live cables, the metal casing of your electrical equipment will also become live, because metal conducts.  If you then touch this it will cause a dangerous electric shock of high intensity. [If your home has adequate RCD protection, this minimises the risk of shock]. This is because the current WILL pass through your body to connect to the earth.  If your earth is correctly installed, the current will pass back down the earth path wire and safely back to the ground with no electric shock.

When on earth?
This process is of utmost importance if you do not have RCD protection at your fuseboard.  

If you are concerned about either your earth connection and/or RCD protection, always seek the advice of a qualified Electrician.