Are you preparing for a home electrical installation?

When you are rewiring your home, it is important to think about how you use your home so that the new electrical installation can be planned to appropriately match your lifestyle and the way your family uses electrical appliances within the home. By asking the right questions at the start of the electrical installation process, you can avoid using connector blocks or overloading circuits in your home and create a home that is ideally suited to your family's needs.

Examine your home usage

When considering a new home electrical installation, the first thing your electrical contractors will want to know is how you use each room in your home. Understanding the usage of each room helps to ensure that the electrical facilities in each room are correctly matched to your needs. You will need to take into account not just the number of electrical items but how much power each appliance will draw. In addition to the obvious home appliances such as a television, kettle and similar kitchen items, you will also need to bear in mind your lighting sources. Do you want a single light fitting in the centre of each room or would wall lighting be more effective? Do you want lighting fitted in your kitchen cupboards to help you find what you need at the back of the cupboard? How will all of these lighting fixtures be controlled?

Planning your layout

Once you know how each room in your property will be used, it is time to consider the more technical side of your electrical installation. You will need to decide issues such as the number of sockets you need in each room and the number of electrical circuits you will need within the home. In addition to the standard electrical connections, you must also determine how your communication connections for your computers and telephones will be handled during the electrical installation. It's possible that you will want to maintain conventional switch control for your electrical systems but other options are available. You might want to consider preparing your home for smart functions such as automatic light controls, multi-room audio or even the ability to draw your home curtains from an app on your cell phone.  

Preparing your plan

Your electrical installation plan will need to be drawn up in collaboration with your electrical contractors so that all of you have a clear idea of exactly what is expected and how each stage of the installation will be achieved. Speak with an electrical contractor about your needs.