the staggering cost of tool theft in the uk is revealed for the first time the bosses of one of
the nation's biggest electrical contracting firms like the company so much they've just
gone and bought it and the 10 annoying habits of customers that make electricians
pull their hair out welcome to electrical news weekly in association with schneider electric
whether you're listening in the van on site down at the wholesale counter or if you're a 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 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
and stay tuned to the end of the show to see who won from last week and of course if you've got a
story you'd like to feature in the news then please click the link in the show notes for
more information on how to do so a new study shows that in the last two years alone the
amount of tools stolen from contractors in the uk has topped 100 million pounds
there have been almost 59 000 robberies in that time period that's an average of 81 thefts every
single day property management firm helped me fix who conducted the research have come up with tips
to prevent tool theft they advise that if possible park your van against a wall or other obstruction
to make it more difficult for thieves to get in get your tools insured and mark them with
indelible ink to show that they're yours consider putting trackers like apple air tags on the most
expensive items which might help you get them back if they're stolen where you park your
electric vehicle is also very important according to research from delta ee it reckons 42 of drivers
are missing out on the best charging rates drivers should use a dedicated home charging point which
gives them access to smart charging you can also make the cost of driving an ev cheaper by using a
time of use tariff which means you pay less when charging overnight in a survey of eight countries
fewer than half of ev drivers were using this trick one home charger you could use for overnight
savings is the juice charger it has just won an award for sustainability from the people at green
good design the juice is a plug and play wall box which automatically starts charging any car that
meets the iso 15118 standard the award recognizes original designs which promote sustainability
recycling and energy conservation to make the switch to driving an ev even more cost effective
octopus electric vehicles are running an all-in-one program to help workers afford
the change over 1 500 companies have joined what's called a salary sacrifice scheme it's
been so successful that the team working on the scheme have had to hire over a hundred staff
in the last year to keep up the plan gives employees access to a brand new electric car
and lets them pay for it from their gross salary rather than take home pay this means they save
thousands of pounds on national insurance and income tax the company also gives people a free
charge point at home and the scheme includes servicing and breakdown cover through the aaa
it's not just individual people making the switch to electric of course the company tarmac has just
bought the first electric concrete mixer truck in the uk they are working with renault and
total vehicle solutions hoping to create a new generation of mixers to use all across their work
the company have also committed to upgrade all 2000 corporate cars and vans to electric by 2030.
tarmac says the new mixer is a big practical step along the way to their goal of cutting down on
emissions also mixing it up in the corporate world are the managers of one of the country's biggest
electrical contracting businesses the bosses of gloucestershire based clarks and evans have
just bought the operation from current owner steve evans in a management buyout the company
is a specialist in the new build housing sector and it wires up around 24 000 homes every year
more recently it's been focused on installing ev charging points solar panels and air source
heat pumps at this point in the show we'd like to give a shout out to one of our social media
followers and this week it's jack dot the dot electrician or sparky jack who's producing some
excellent work and electrical content not only does he own a business in the uk hogan electrical
but he's currently posting from australia where he's involved in some inspirational electrical
installation work from high-end residential to big commercial projects so why not check out his posts
and give him a follow at the very least it's nice to see some sunshine in your feed now did you know
that the sky box that sits under your tele could be costing you 70 pounds a year even when it isn't
being used that's because in standby mode it consumes around 30 watts because it slowly and
quietly sucks energy away for no gain this type of kit is known as a vampire appliance it's estimated
that almost a quarter of household energy is used by phone chargers set-top boxes monitors printers
and games consoles that are just sitting idle but with energy prices soaring one company has decided
that enough is enough knightsbridge thinks that it has come up with a solution the firm has developed
a range of smart sockets which show when power is being used and can be controlled to turn off
when no one is around there are two 13 amp two gang smart switch sockets that can be controlled
remotely or by voice the sockets have a power monitoring function that displays energy use in
kilowatt hours and a green led that indicates which gang is in use the range also includes
a 16 amp smart plug adapter a 10 amp three gang smart extension lead with usb chargers
and smart motion and entry sensors to help extend the smart capability of the home
you can use an app to set timers schedules scenes and even set up the devices so they only activate
when the occupants get home you can even issue instructions to either alexa or google assistant
to turn on or off the connected appliances another way to save a lot of energy in your home of course
is to switch to heat pumps and this month controlling them is set to become a whole lot
easier that's because schneider has teamed up with panasonic to make it easier to control heat pumps
the companies have announced that the wiser range of kit from schneider will now work seamlessly
with panasonic's aquaria air source heat pump the wiser range also integrates with aquarius
smart cloud and service cloud apps so homeowners can regulate their heating room by room they can
monitor and adjust the heating using a smartphone or tablet it also allows them to manage their
energy consumption through intelligent automation making homes more energy efficient as well as
lowering their bills and speaking of schneider electric we're just going to pause the podcast
for a moment to say a big thank you to them for supporting today's show if you're involved in
electrical work at any level then you've almost definitely used schneider products at some stage
in your career i know when i was doing design work we used to specify their distribution gear all the
time from switch panels down to consumer units as we knew we could access their information easily
and they'd always have a solution to whatever design challenges we were facing on top of great
quality products schneider are also focused on energy efficiency and sustainability which is
extremely important at this time so thanks again to schneider electric for making this week's
podcast possible okay on with the show if you want to get into the booming heat pump game you could
do a lot worse than pay a visit to napit's new center for low carbon technologies in mansfield
it has just opened its doors to electrical contractors wanting to learn about installing heat
pumps as well as other low carbon technologies the centre will offer courses on the installation of
solar pv panels heat pumps energy storage and electric vehicle charging equipment
the centre includes real-life work scenarios and you'll get an industry recognised qualification
on completion and if you've never had the chance to visit nope headquarters it really is worth
a visit it's a beautiful old mill type building and a lovely valley looks like the kind of place
you'd expect children still to be playing hopscotch in the street anyway i'll pop the
link to the center in the show notes the move to heat pumps may be creating opportunities for
many but it's also proving a headache for some people yes spare a thought for those running
our power supply all this new electric stuff is putting the network under intense pressure
for instance western power distribution the operator for much of wales is projecting that it
will have to cope with over 600 000 heat pumps on its patch in the coming years to create the power
capacity necessary it's spending 7 million pounds on larger cables and new substations
the move is being replicated across the country as we prepare for a low carbon future also being
urged to prepare for a low-carbon future is the nation's schools and colleges the rising cost of
energy and inflation means that now is the time to invest in energy efficiency and specifically
upgrades to led lighting that's the message from retrofit energy specialist energis group the
company is urging business managers in maintained schools and colleges to reap the cost efficiencies
that upgrades to led lighting can offer it says it's the easiest way to save money and cook carbon
to support schools the company has announced a multi-million pound energy efficiency fund for
maintained schools under the plan no upfront payment is needed schools simply pay monthly
from their energy savings the company says the plan will help schools weather the current cost
of living crisis i've popped a link to more info in the show notes now the cost of living
crisis forced one electrician to turn to crime to make ends meet joseph greio used his electrical
skills to set up a cannabis farm at his home in bolton he was so successful that when caught
28 mature plants had been produced but his plan came unstuck when he failed to pay his electricity
bill and the power company got a warrant to enter the semi-detached house where they discovered the
plants and called the police prosecutor david farley told how the plants were being grown with
the use of led lights a cooling fan and extractor fan and automatic watering system grajo said he'd
been struggling financially and had heard of the possibility of growing cannabis from
someone in a pub he said he had no idea how he was going to sell it it was he said the last act
of a desperate man grayer was given a suspended sentence in order to do 140 hours of unpaid work
in the community and finally contractors have revealed the 10 things that annoy them most when
they're out working in their own communities iron mongeri direct asked them what was the number one
thing that really gets their goat the answer being watched while they work they should try being a
youtuber that is the most irritating behavior by a mile cited by 41 of respondents that's being
watched while they work not being a youtuber meanwhile one in six trades people get active
customers don't offer them a brew a third hate it when clients constantly check on their progress
some 28 get exasperated when they get asked to do extra little jobs while you're here other
things that give electricians a pain in the neck is homeowners who ask for a discount when the job
is done or who don't pay on time or worse give you suggestions or instructions on how to do your job
and others in sister job is urgent when it isn't and the absolute worst of the worst are those
punters who aren't at home when you arrive so you can't start on the job you sparky's out
there having to put up with all that are the real heroes so what would you add to the list
i personally had a nightmare of a time wiring up a community center in an allotment once
i was specifically told to avoid damaging dahlia tubers that were lying dormant in the ground
and one kind gardener with the dirtiest hands that i've ever seen made me a cup of coffee
and somehow managed to dip his entire thumb into the mug as he served it to me needless to say some
geraniums got a caffeine hit that day pop your pet hate in the comments and for the best ones
we'll dig out an e-fix goody bag we'll announce the winners next week coming up this week on
our youtube channel rick and gary go fishing with interlocked industrial sockets from cnorm
find out if bad light will stop play with a new multi-function tester attachment from matrel
keep your eyes peeled on the mohawk page for a brand new fully accredited free training package
to help you with your cpd on the hot topic of afds and of course we'll have the usual mix of
shorts q a's and product reviews 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 last week's words were crestfallen and kaleidoscope with that second one being a
monumental challenge to slip in and clearly i wasn't as subtle as the previous week as several
people got it right but some honorable mentions first planet cipher and jsk0176 who both spotted
kaleidoscope but went wrong on the second word with basketball and hobnob respectively i just had
to go back and actually check as i had no memory of saying basketball but they're quite right i did
kathy quinlan who also suggested kaleidoscope and basketball mostly my mark iii mondeo interesting
username there got crestfallen only but people who guessed the words right included choochter james
brown who also has a brand new bag apparently and steve eustis so top work to you all however
you were just just edged out by stephen carter who found both and commented them separately so
stephen please click the link in the description below to claim your prize hopefully by the time
this episode goes live joe 2.0 will be back from his holly bobs and can start shipping prizes again
thanks for listening to this episode of electrical news weekly in association with schneider electric
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