DANGER OF THE WEEK AWARD

Bad DIYers…

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So you drive down to Ikea or B&Q and pick up a nice looking light fixture for your bathroom. You get home and turn off the bathroom electrics (we hope!) and then remove the current fitting. You’re not sure what you’re doing so you hook up the wires in a way that seems logical. Red/brown to red/brown and black/blue to black/blue. As you don’t know that the symbol for earthing is where the bare copper wires or the green/yellow stripe wire should connect so they don’t get connected. And here is where the potential for electrocution start.

As was the case with the Swedish light fixture pictured here the unit is not sealed against moisture and therefore is not rated for a bathroom or kitchen. Every time hot water is used to fill a tub, sink or shower the hot moist air rises up to the ceiling. When all that moisture hits the colder ceiling (and light fixture) it condenses just like the water droplets on a window. So that moisture then drips down the walls which are usually well painted or tiled. But is also drips into the light fixture which is not sealed as it is not designed for a moist area.

So if the water causes a short circuit at the same time you happen to touch it (the ceiling in this bathroom is low enough to be touched by the older children in the home) then the lack of earthing means that the electricity will try and get to EARTH through your body travelling right through your heart. If you’re lucky and your heart is healthy and the circuit breaker and/or RCD trips like it should then you might get a little shock. Once the ozone smell disappears most folks then call an electrician to ‘come and see what’s wrong with my house.”

There is rarely anything wrong with ‘the’ house. It’s the layers of inadequate bonding of pipe work, inadequate earthing of metal work (back boxes, fittings, lights, fans, etc) and in a lot of cases the improper running of cables in the first place. As a home owner you are allowed to undertake certain electrical work in your house but not in what is deemed to be special areas. A kitchen and bathroom is a place where electricity and water or moisture meet on a daily basis.

Surly people can see the need for making sure that even if there is a short circuit due to some unseen issue that the home owner (or their children or your nan) don’t end up like a fried chicken dinner!

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