So many times I have arrive at a job to do some work, and a smoke alarm has been pull down off the ceiling because it has driven someone crazy. The annoying constant beep is usually an indicator that the battery is flat. However some alarms will beep if the unit is faulty or needs cleaning, if vacuuming the alarm does not help then you will need to replace the unit. Some smoke alarm have no removable lithium batteries and these will last the life of the alarm which is 10 years. If the alarm goes with out power for sometime the battery can go flat, and it will beep until it is recharged which can take a day. All 240v mains powered smoke alarms have a green light with AC next to it to indicate that the alarm is correctly connected and receiving power.

Most smoke alarms will detach from the mounting base with out any wiring required, and if you purchase the same model the new one will click straight back in. Some smoke alarm will require a small philips screw be undone before it will slide out. However sometimes it can be tricky to find the same model, in that case a licensed electrician should change the alarm to a new one.

Additional recent requirement if you have a property in Perth WA, specify that to rent or sell a property the smoke alarm should be compliant with the standard AS 3786:2014 which has replaced the AS 3786:1993 and some alarms available for purchase may not comply with AS 3786:2014. Please see Real Estate Bulletin 142 HERE for more info.

Smoke are alarms are very important to have working correctly, as they can save your life in the event of a fire, and you can never know when or if you will have a house fire. Smoke alarms have a life of 10 years after which they should be replaced. If your home requires more than 1 alarm you should make sure that they are interconnected so when 1 alarm goes of the others will as well, this is a requirement in new homes. And it is recommended that photo electric smoke alarms or a mix of photo electric and ionization alarms are used.

There are 2 main different type of alarms photo electric and ionization and they detect smoke differently please see this fact sheet on how each type works

Additional there are 240v mains powered, Long life lithium and 12/24vdc that often are used on alarm systems. There are also a number a smart alarms that connect to home automation systems like the Fibaro Smoke Sensor that can alert you to a fire even if you are out of the house. However many of these don't comply to AS 3786:2014 so while they are added and worth while security for you personally, complying alarms are still required as well.

There are many ways to interconnect smoke alarms into a smart home, if you would like to know more and you live in Perth please contact us and we can design a good value system to suit your property.

Common areas of apartment complexes which have 24hr lighting, in car parks, corridors and stairwell, are potentially great areas where new lighting can save a lot of money. By reducing energy usage power bills are brought down, and green house causing emissions are reduced.

Good quality lights also require less maintenance, especially if the existing lights are starting to age. Greater efficiency can be achieve by the use of LED lights which provides the same light output with much less energy use. Additionally the use of individual motion sensors in each light reduces usage even more so. One type of motion sensor that is becoming more popular now days is High Frequency motion detection. They sense a change in the density of the volume within the detection area, and operate in a similar way weather radars work. But instead of detecting clouds, detect people. They respond quick than tradition IR sensors and can be incorporated into the light fitting without any visible change in the appearance of the light.

The light in the left is an excellent example of the type of lighting that is good for under cover car parks especially in the entrances and will replace 200w Induction or High Intensity Discharge lighting. With a light that use 42w.

The light does not leave the area in darkness when it deactivates but rather it set back to 5% output until the light is activated by motion.

Lights that operate the same, but have a different aesthetic appearance can be used in corridors, and small lights in fire escapes. These lights but Enlighten Australia also are available with emergency backup to operate on battery backup if the power goes out. With batteries that can easily be changed if required with out opening up the fitting or altering any wiring.

The lights from Enlighten Australia have a 7 year warranty, and considering the pay back period is in some cases as short as 2 years you really can't go wrong.

It's Friday night and it's raining, and the power has just gone out. A service call anytime from now till Monday is likely more than you'll enjoy paying. But there are things that you can try to do to fix this problem.

Check your switchboard if it's insideCheck out the street to see if everyones power is outWestern Power has a reported fault service on phone and onlineCheck inside your meter box to see if your meter has power/is lit upIf your switchboard has anything switched off you can try resetting itIf it is and RCD/Safety Switch and it keeps flicking off the RCD need trouble shootingIf you only have fuses you may need to change a fuse wire(this can be quite dangerous especially in the rain)

If your switchboard is conveniently located inside your house check there first to see if you circuit breaker are all on. Typical on position is with the level up, and if you look close is should have on or off written on it in small writing. If nothing is off then try the next step.

Next check to see if all the power is off in your street, stick your head out and look down the road and see how dark it is. If it's it looks like everyone is out then you should start by calling your local power utility. If you live in WA then that would be Western Power Fault and emergencies 13 13 51 or check their website www.WesternPower.com.au, reported faults are usually listed at both sources. It is sometimes possible for partial power to be out to the street, which can be tricky to work out but either way the next stop is your power box with the meter.

Inside your meter box your meter, if it is a newer one, the meter will have lights on it if you have power available, if the lights are not illuminated and the display is off, it would still be best to call the power utility. If you have a larger meter with 3 large black cartridge fuses, like in the above picture (the fuses are sometimes covered) this means you have 3 phase power or 3 separate circuits coming in, which means potential 1 phase can go out and leave you with partial power. The meter about has 3 lights in the top left if all 3 lights are lit then you have full power, so you need to head back to your switchboard, which is probably right next to the meter but not always.

Next you need to check to see if any circuits breakers are tripped off. Your switchboard should be labeled this can help you work out what is what. If anything is off try turning it on. If it is an RCD/safety switch which are usually double the width of a circuit breaker and it keeps tripping then you need to fault find the RCD. The RCD in the picture to the left are marked RCD 1,2 and 3. RCDs protect a number of circuits, it shouldn't be more than 3 circuits though. The switchboard displayed clearly shows which circuit are powered by which RCDs however it is not always that clear.

RCD Trouble shooting

Start by turning off all the circuit breakers, but not the main switch. Turn on the RCDs Turn the circuit breakers on one at a time If one circuit breaker trips the RCD when turned on, then leave it off Congratulations you have successfully isolated the fault If it is indicated to be lights eg. some lights are not working, you can walk around and turn all the lights off, turn on the circuit breaker, then walk around turning the light back on and you may find a single light is causing the problem.If it is power then walk around and what ever appliance that is plug in is off, unplug the plug from the wall, remember the pool or spa pump, fridge, and dishwasherThen turn the circuit on and walk around plugging stuff in till you find the problem appliance

If these steps still don't work you can call us and we can help on the phone or attend and repair the fault for you. If you have a switchboard like the one below, then you seriously need to consider getting an upgrade as they pose a safety risk, due to the potential to cause of fires and if you need to replace fuse wire. Semi-enclosed re wirable fuses are no longer allowed to be use in new installation according to the Australian Standards.

A big caution if you do have these fuses, don't hold the meter box at all if it is metal when removing the fuse, prop the door open, and although it's a bit hard to pull out the fuse this way, hold your finger on the left and right, NOT the top and bottom as it is possible to have your finger slip in the top of the fuse and you will get a zap and if you are holding the meter box which is everyones natural inclination, it will be a very bad and pain full zap. The fuses serve the same function as circuit breaker but if you do decide to go ahead and trouble shoot your RCD if you have fuses make sure you put them back in the same positions and never use any wire other than a single piece of the correct sized fuse wire. Lights are 8 AMP and Power 15 AMP.

I hope this has help solve your problem. If you have any electrical related queries please contact me via phone or email andI will be happy to help.

LED strip lighting comes in many styles, voltages, colours, quality, lumen output levels and prices. Pricing can vary from $1/m to $200/m. So which strip light should you use? If you just want to light the shelves in your shed or work van then cheap and cheerful will probably do, but if you would like to use the strip lighting as the primary light source for a room via concealed bulkhead light method then you will need to look for better quality and prices of around $50/m. In addition the strip light it self you will also need to select a driver to power the light either 12v DC or 24v DC and aluminium channel which acts as both a heat sink to cool the LED chips and will aid in keeping the light nice a linear in appearance which is especially important for installations concealed and lighting across a ceiling.

So what do you get if you pay more?

- Firstly the copper tape that the LED chips are mounted on is much thicker and therefore transfer more heat away from the chip. If the chip is kept cooler then is life will be much longer, specifications for LED chips will sometimes provide a lifetime vs temperature charts.

- Second the colour output from the LED chips from chip to chip or roll to roll we be closer to the specified colour. This is referred to as SDCM (standard deviation colour matching) any thing less then 3 is good, any thing higher than 3 the colours will deviated more and it will be more and more visible to the eye.

- Thirdly the actual light output is what is specified, cheap rolls usually don't output as specified.

- And last of all the CRI or colour rendition is higher usually 80+ and will as the name suggests make objects display their true colours better.

What other thing do you need to consider when selecting LED strip?

- Usually LED strip is either 12v DC or 24v DC, I would recommend in almost all cases 24v DC as the volt drop is lower and the current level in the circuit is lower.

- The colour of the backing tape usually is white, but can come in black and copper

- The type of chip: Either a single colour from 2500K(yellow) up to 6500K(blue/white), or multi colour chips which include variable colour from 2500k to 6500K, or RGB colours a chip that can blend different intensities of each colour to make millions of different colour combinations(using a PWM controller), or RGBW the same as RGB but is also includes a white diode which creates nicer looking white colours than RGB is able to and will also make pastel colours, and digital chips which can be individually and in groups of 3 controlled via a digital signal to go to a set colour.

- The spacing of the chips on the tape or number of chips per meter, which usually dictates the output power.

The final consideration is what driver to use. Almost all LED strip light runs on constant voltage. Constant voltage drivers that convert 240v main power to 24v DC can not be dimmed with a standard dimmer. If no dimming is required then that is no problem, but if dimming is required then a dimming method needs to be selected which will vary depending on the switch plates or if home automation is in use etc. You can buy drivers that accept an input of 0-10v that will dim the driver and the LED strip lighting but an external 0-10v signal from an automation system or a simple 0-10v dimming mechanism is still required as well. Additional there are a number of different control system that will dim the output of the driver on the 24v DC side, however these do not usually match existing switch plates and are often remote controlled which may or may not be desirable to the home owner.

This is not an exhaustive list of consideration and information on LED lighting, however when we select LED strip lighting options for our customers we take all these things into account plus much more to choose the best option that provides the best value for the situation, and makes the lighting project look great.