the government gets tough on electrical safety in council housing a copper thief suffers an 11
kv shock and third degree burns and a nationwide poll answers a question that's dogged the trade
for decades just what is the electrical trades favorite biscuit welcome to electrical news weekly
whether you're listening in the van on-site down at the wholesale counter or if you're an
electrical designer and you've made it safely to your desk wherever you are i hope your week
is off to a great start i'm joe robinson and i've been through the best of the electrical industry
news to save you the trouble and as always don't forget to listen out for the two words that i've
been challenged to slip into today's show comment below or tag us on social media if you think
you've spotted them the government has announced that it's set to act on electrical safety in
england's social housing the move follows mounting pressure from campaigners who say standards
in local authority and housing association properties don't match those in the private sector
the department for leveling up housing and communities is proposing compulsory checks on
electrical installations every five years as well as portable appliance testing on all electrical
devices that are provided by social landlords as part of the tenancy it's also floating the idea of
mandatory checks and electrical installations for owner occupier leasehold properties within social
housing blocks every five years ministers say the ambitious plans could radically improve housing
quality and ensure that it's safe and decent for everyone meanwhile in wales the new welsh
regulations on electrical safety come into effect in december these bring in new legal requirements
for electrical safety checks as well as the installation of smoke and carbon monoxide alarms
there are important differences between the rules in england and wales so if you do installation
work in wales we'd recommend you check a special webinar series on a topic from napit these free
tutorials are presented by nate pitts technical expert frank bertie i've popped the registration
links in the show notes the government regulations in both countries will of course provide a boost
in work for approved electrical contractors who carry out installation and pat testing however
we gain on the roundabouts but lose on the swings as this month the government is scrapping the 1
500 pound grant that it gives to those buying electric vehicles it says the scheme
has achieved its purpose of kickstarting the sale of electric vehicles and anyway electric
drivers should save over 2 000 pounds in running costs compared to pricey fossil fuel one way ev
owners can mitigate the loss of the grant is by renting their charge points to their neighbours
you could for instance let local drivers who don't have their own charger paid to
use yours during the day when you've driven to work and yes there are apps for that
lots of them they handle the matchmaking between electric vehicle owners just like a dating site
you set the rental price and the apps take care of bookings and payments there are two we'd recommend
checking out co-charger is aimed at homeowners with a charge point while monte does this and
more even allowing you to manage a full network of charges all over the country i've popped the
links to both apps in the show notes plugging in isn't the only way to boost your batteries however
how would you like to simply park your car over a wireless charger that's the promise of companies
such as us tech from wytricity the charging pad on the ground uses what's called resonant
induction to exchange power with a receiving coil attached on the underside of the car or van
there are no moving parts or physical connectors it works with both low slung
sports cars the type that gary favors as well as with the chunky suvs that gordon tools around in
siemens has just given a big endorsement to wytricity it has ponied up 20 million pounds
to take a stake in the firm and if you can't be doing with all that plugging in and parking
over pads how about a car that powers itself from the sun a solar powered car which can run for an
astonishing seven months has just been unveiled in the netherlands according to the autonomous
website the light year zero is capable of running for up to seven months without being plugged
into a traditional charger the curved solar panels are cleverly integrated into the bonnet
and the roof and these provide enough power alone for commutes of 44 miles or less there's also a
60 kilowatt hour battery pack which combined with the pv panels gives the car a range of 388 miles
wouldn't it be great if our solar system had two tons to charge from but i guess the non-binary
version we've got is actually pretty awesome now that range of 388 miles is enough to get
you from london to grimsby and back now why would you want to go there you may ask well to see the
mighty grimsby town fc of course if you're a footy fan you'll know that the mariners have just won
promotion to efl league two in spectacular style and things got even better this week with the news
that they've just landed a big name sponsor in the shape of my energy it's a completely natural fit
my energy is of course best known for its zappy ev charges and it has its uk manufacturing facilities
in the heart of grimsby the company says it wants to put the town on the map as a national hub
of renewable technology a town that's been put on the map for all the wrong reasons
is camden town in north london the hipster hangout has been named as britain's most expensive place
for contractors to park the local camelon council charges the tidy sum of 41 pounds 39
for a trade permit to park during business hours if you add in a 15 quid congestion charge
it means a full day's work of eight hours will cost you a princely 56 pounds 39 pence
according to tool stations 71 of trades people now think they should be given parking exemptions and
emergency parking spots went out on an emergency job research also shows that 80 of trades people
have had to raise their prices because of spiraling parking costs and the price of fuel
the cost of living is being blamed in part by a scaffolder who turned to crime during the pandemic
damian harris from manchester suffered a massive electric shock and was set on fire when he tried
to steal energized copper buzz bars in 2020 harris was technically dead for two minutes after
the incident and he has suffered life-changing third-degree burns he now requires reconstructive
surgery on his injuries harris hopes his experience will inspire others and is urging
young people not to turn to crime in hard times young people appear to be increasingly turning to
apprenticeships according to a report from the eca the association says that a quarter of its
members say they are hiring more apprentices than last year almost a third plan to directly employ
more staff than in the past showing the value of keeping qualified people in the business much of
the extra work is being driven by the installation of renewables such as photovoltaic panels ev
charges and heat pumps an example of these innovative new projects is a community ground
source heat pump installation in cornwall which broke ground this week householders in carlion
bay and harlin bay will soon have their year-round heating and hot water provided by what's termed
a shared loop ground array this is an ultra low temperature heat network used with ground source
heat pumps a series of ball holes are linked to create a shared ground loop array that
provides heat to multiple properties the company behind the project cancer utilities will retain
ownership of the ground array and it will charge a fixed annual fee to householders for its use
if you're keen to get into heat pumps the good news this week is that viva training has upgraded
its established heat pump courses by switching to the british plumbing employers council heat
pump systems program this includes superior course material to ensure learners gain the information
they need in an engaging and easy to digest format this bpec heat pump qualification covers both
air source and ground source heat pump technology training in renewable technologies is crucial for
the trades as a new study it found that no fewer than four out of five electrical contractors don't
feel confident discussing sustainability with customers clients are increasingly asking for low
carbon tech says the report from electrical direct and more than a fifth of electricians have been
directly asked about their environmental impact but there's a knowledge gap which needs addressing
a great place to start would be to check out some of our heat pump and pv panel installation videos
and again i've put some links in the show notes as regular viewers we'll know we've also created a
lot of videos on the subject of surge protection as we get a lot of questions about it and the
18th edition is bringing in some changes to the requirements under the new rules there
are three scenarios where surge arresters must be fitted where over voltage could result in serious
injury or loss of human life failure of a safety service or significant financial or data loss
but the regulations also state the owner of the property where the circuit is being installed
can opt not to have protective devices included and accept any risk associated in all other cases
however paul dawson commercial director at niglon has got in touch to say that he believes most over
voltage issues have the potential to result in injury or worse he says most buildings will have
people using them for at least a proportion of the time even storage facilities or data centers
he says need to be checked by a person regularly that means the risk to life is always there should
the surge occur when the building is in use he recommends going above and beyond the regs and
installing afdds as an extra layer of protection and finally for reasons best known to themselves
tool station has conducted a survey to find the electrical trades favorite biscuit while chocolate
digestives are by far the most popular biscuit to accompany a cuppa for the whole population that's
not how the cookie crumbles for sparks apparently it turns out what we really like to dunk into our
yorkshire tea is a plain hobnob this revelation has broken like a ginger snap across lineside
studios gordon has long been a custard cream man joe jr likes a pink wafer i enjoy a chocolate
digestive but it's got to be dark chocolate if you think it should be milk chocolate then quite
frankly you're a deviant and my other presenting colleague likes currents in his cautiously
flavoursome tea time treats is a huge fan of 19th century italian generals and like me is starting
to go a bit thin on top so we've taken to calling him gary baldy no nothing that works on so many
levels is this thing on no anyway coming up this week on our youtube channel we'll be attending the
installer show and we'll bring you our top picks from there if you haven't already registered to
attend there's a link in the show notes and we're really looking forward to seeing you there we've
also got videos coming out on the riot from rf solutions the iot there stands for internet of
things so maybe a bit of a leap into the metaverse there an ingenious and unexpected new product
from marshall tufflex an awesome new consumer unit relocation kit from whisker and a q a on
ev charge point installation in association with zaptech on the regulation that was too
controversial to stay in bs7671 so stay tuned for all of that last week's challenge words were
tiara and discombobulate apparently ray maloney is just starting to hate me now so if you spotted
them in our newscast last week congratulations but nobody commented that they found both
and so special congratulations to the only person who said that they'd spotted discombobulate that's
sergio fernandez so well done you click the get involved link in the show notes to get in touch
and claim your prize if you think you know the words we've smuggled into today's show pop your
guess into the comments and we'll dig out a goody bag prize to the first to get the right answers
make sure you subscribe to receive the next update thanks for listening and until next time
have a great week stay safe out there and remember there's no such thing as a torque calibrated arm