Author: Malcom

Recently I read an article in one of my electrical trade magazines and was shocked by a new trend developing called Recall Insurance.
It seems tradesmen are now responsible for the dodgy products available on the market. I accept the logic. If I purchase products online from overseas and they are not approved for the Australian market, as a tradesperson, I should be liable if they break down or cause damage.
Products purchased in good faith in Australia, though, should be covered by the manufacturer for recalls or faults. But if a manufacturer goes belly-up then I am left holding the can for the costs to replace/repair the product with no means of recompense. How can that be fair? This supposedly is what this new insurance will cover.
We need to heed the advice ‘Buy from Reputed Suppliers’ and ask questions regarding warranty and replacement. There are good manufacturers and suppliers out there, just look a little bit harder and pay a little bit more.
Did you know that Recall Insurance is a major growth area for insurance companies? Crikey! Don’t worry about fixing the problem of faulty electrical products coming into Australia — hell no! Lets make folks pay for another insurance policy instead. This means we will have to keep putting up our prices to cover extra costs.
This doesn’t just affect us trade folk, but also retail and wholesalers will be forced to take out Recall Insurance if this madness keeps on spiralling out of control.
Be warned, electrical fittings purchased cheaply on the net will unlikely be installed by your electrician if the fitting isn’t approved for the Australian market, because the electrician will be liable.
By the way, I Googled Recall Insurance just to check that I wasn’t panicking about nothing — I nearly fell off my chair. I am off to investigate how much this insurance will cost, then I’ll need a walk I think, just to make sure I’m still living on planet earth.

I received a text message from a prospective client the other day— it’s how its done these days my daughter tells me — needing an electrician. It read, “we need an electrician, how much do you charge?” There was no enquiry about my experience, licensing or insurance just the bald question on price.

As a tradesman who actually cares about his clients, the quality of his work, fully licenced and insured, and insists on using quality Australian approved products; it was a disheartening text message.

For crying out loud, you want a stranger to come in and work on the most expensive investment you own based on price?!

Perhaps we should ask doctors and surgeons to offer a discount and see where that leads. Now I’m not saying that we shouldn’t shop around for good prices, but not at the expense of quality and safety. Especially when dealing with electricity.

For too long we have been manipulated to accept mediocrity as the norm. We get angry when we purchase a ridiculously cheap product from a ‘Mega Store’, only to find when home, a part is missing, its already broken or it lasts for only two weeks. Did we actually want quality but didn’t want to pay for it? In our hearts I think we know it’s rubbish, but we buy it because it’s cheap. Unfortunately it wasn’t really all that cheap in the end, hey?

I used to own an electrical repair company. We were service agents for many products that you all know. These companies are good at producing shiny appliances that break during their warranty periods. These crafty manufacturers were using warranty agents to rectify the problems with their crappy appliances, doing R&D on the fly for them and not covering costs. We gave them all the flick and told them why.

Don’t get me started on built in obsolescence. Did you know that electrical tool motors have an hourly life rating? So if you buy a cheap drill or a pressure water cleaner it can have a life as little as a few hours. Some water cleaners can only run for 8-10 minutes before needing a rest or you’ll burn it out. Cool huh? You will be back in a month or two to buy another piece of junk for your garbage bin.
As a tradesman, I know that the only way to make a job cheaper is to cut the quality of the products or workmanship.

Look at LED lighting as an example. Cheap versions of these products are flooding the internet, market stalls and retailers and they are often under-performing, unapproved and even dangerous. I recently received a trade publication warning us that these products can block TV signals, disrupt mobile phones and Wi Fi signals, disrupt central locking systems on motor vehicles and present a fire risk through dodgy electronics.

Quality folks is the key. Ask questions before you jump in and buy a product or service on price alone. So be aware and take care. Don’t let quality die.

Did you know some downlights can cause fires?

They can set fire to roof installation or timbers which burn in the roof space above fire alarms and so remain undetected until too late. Often people only know their house is on fire when flaming material comes through the air vents or the ceiling collapses. It makes a safe escape difficult and causes significant damage.

In over 30 years’ experience as an electrician I have found many instances where this type of house fire is highly probable.

One of the main culprits is the dichroic downlight, also known as the halogen globe. A 50 watt dichroic downlight can reach temperatures of up to 370 degrees Celsius. If they haven’t been installed correctly and come in contact with the insulation, leaf litter or timber, that represents a serious fire hazard.

Old or poorly installed ceiling downlights are through to cause at least one house fire each week in West Australia alone.

This need not be the case. There are Australian Standards to ensure safe installation of down lights. They do not pose a fire risk if they are installed so that flammable material does not come in contact with them and there is air flow around them to prevent temperatures building to extreme levels.

Let’s be upbeat about downlights

On a cheerier note, there is an alternative. Let’s look at four good reasons to consider LED (light emitting diode) downlights in your home or business.

1.       LED downlights are low power, and so low temperature, alternatives. The better quality LED globes and fittings give off as much or more light as the old 50 watt dichroic globes. In most cases the new globe inserts simply slot into the existing downlight fittings, or a new fitting fits into the hole cut for the original downlight.
2.       Because they consume much less power to produce the same amount of light, LED lights (of any shape and size) use much less electricity and are considerably cheaper to run.
3.       Because they produce very little heat they do not heat up the rooms or the roof cavity. Did you know that over 75 percent of the energy consumed by traditional light globes is converted to heat rather than light? Installing LED lights not only reduces electricity consumption required to light your house it will also save you considerable money on the costs of air conditioning.
4.       LED globes generally last for up to 50,000 hours of use. This low maintenance and long life makes them even more cost effective in the long run.

The challenge for the average householder in replacing existing light globes with LED lights is the alarming variation in quality out there in the market.

With my considerable experience in buying and installing all sorts of LED globes I often see advertisements and claims made on market stalls about the brightness of LED globes that are completely misleading.

The best globes on the market at the moment, which are not cheap but are cost effective, are only four or five times more efficient that typical old fashioned incandescent globes, or halogen downlights.

Look for sensible numbers about the claim of how many times more efficient the globes are. Low cost LEDs will rarely achieve anything like the four or five times greater efficiency of the high quality globes.

Compare the specifications of the globe with other products. What is its power rating (watts) and how much light does it produce (lumens)? Realistically an LED lamp claiming to be equivalent to a 60 watt globe would consume between 10 and 15 watts of power.

Next month for Westender, Mal will look at the running costs of various forms of lighting in the average business.

Running costs based on Origin Energy standard rates. Other statistics sourced from Aust. Govt. Dept of Industry and WA Fire and Energy Services Authority.

Malcom Mackenzie is owner of Mackenzie Electrical, and specialises in cost-saving solutions for homes and businesses.