TIPS FOR CCTV INSTALLATION

Tips on installing CCTV to your home. 

WES ELECTRICAL WESTEND GLASGOW

The prospect of drilling a hole through the outside wall of your house to run the power and video cable for a camera may seem a big job. With a little forethought it can be quite simple. 

Positioning of cameras
Most people want to hide the camera as much as possible. The modern cctv camera can easily be located under or on the fascia/soffit boards where the roof meets the wall. When located here it is sheltered from wind and rain and can be shaded from most sunlight. The height of the camera gives a good area of view and minimizes the risk of vandalism. 

Another advantage of this location is cabling. It is pretty easy to run the cables into the loft from this position. Many houses have a small ventilation gap between the roof tiles and the external wall, or a small hole may be drilled in the fascia board to gain access to the loft. 

Cabling
It is usually quite easy to pick up mains power in the loft or, if additional cabling is required it is now internal. Wireless transmission can be used for the video signal with the receiver being placed next to the monitor or recorder (TV, VCR, PC etc.). That's it, job done. 

A 'hard-wired' system is almost as easy to install. Locate the TV aerial down-lead that may be in the loft or run down the outside of the house, then run the CCTV camera video cable alongside the aerial cable, which will lead directly to the TV. 

A good method of connection is an RF modulator. This changes the camera's video output to an RF output. You can pipe the CCTV images down the existing TV aerial down-lead and view on the TV/VCR as if it were another channel. If your house is fitted with a TV distribution system, this method will allow the pictures to be seen on all the TV sets. 

Addition of Switchers etc.
Consider placing switchers, multiplexers or DVRs in the loft. This keeps all the cabling in the loft with just one output cable to your monitor. It also hides your recording device. 

electricians partick glasgow

WES Electrical Westend Glasgow

Westend Glasgow Electricians employ three full-time electricians.

Between them they have over 50 years experience in all aspects of electrical works including Domestic Housing, Commercial and Industrial.

Each of our electricians are:

Fully qualified to 17^th edition Regulations

Fully qualified to City and Guilds 2391 Inspection, Testing and Certification

 At Westend Glasgow Electricians we have a well deserved reputation for being dependable, professional, reliable, and for carrying out all works to a high standard of quality at a very reasonable price.

DOMESTIC HOUSING

In order to give a top quality service we make sure to carry a stock of the most commonly requested items on our vans. This ensures that if the work we are asked to carry out is one of the most common things, for example changing a light fitting, or a light switch or socket, or adding additional sockets, we do not have to spend time going away to an electrical supplier to collect these items. This keeps the cost of the work down and enables us to provide an excellent service at a very reasonable price.For smaller works we are usually able to attend your home at a time of your choosing and advise on the best way of carrying out the work in the most cost effective manner. We will be able to give you a price there and then, and if you are happy with the price we can carry out the work straight away. This saves having to make a second visit and helps to keep the cost to a minimum.

Our electricians always make sure to keep disruption to a minimum while carrying out the works, and on completion carry out a thorough clean-up.

Westend Glasgow Electricians carry out all aspects of electrical works to Domestic Housing ranging from a Full Rewire to changing Plug Sockets and Lights.

  

At Wes electrical all quotes are given free of charge and at no obligation.

WESTEND GLASGOW ELECTRICIANS

RCDs Explained By   a Professional Electrician

An RCD, or residual current device, is a life-saving device which is designed to prevent you from getting a fatal electric shock if you touch something live, such as a bare wire. It can also provide some protection against electrical fires. RCDs offer a level of personal protection that ordinary fuses and circuit-breakers cannot provide.

Below are the questions most commonly asked about RCDs (click to expand answers).

What does an RCD do?

An RCD is a sensitive safety device that switches off electricity automatically if there is a fault.

An RCD is designed to protect against the risks of electrocution and fire caused by earth faults.  For example, if you cut through the cable when mowing the lawn and accidentally touched the exposed live wires or a faulty appliance overheats causing electric current to flow to earth.

How does it work?

An RCD constantly monitors the electric current flowing through one or more circuits it is used to protect. If it detects electricity flowing down an unintended path, such as through a person who has touched a live part, the RCD will switch the circuit off very quickly, significantly reducing the risk of death or serious injury.

What are the main types of RCD?

Fixed RCDs

These are installed in the consumer unit (fusebox) and can provide protection to individual or groups of circuits. A fixed RCD provides the highest level of protection as it protects all the wiring and the sockets on a circuit, and any connected appliances.

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Socket-Outlet RCDs

These are special socket-outlets with an RCD built into them which can be used in place of a standard socket-outlet. This type of RCD provides protection only to the person in contact with equipment, including its lead, plugged into the special socket-outlet.

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Portable RCDs

These plug into any standard socket-outlet. An appliance can then be plugged into the RCD. They are useful when neither fixed nor socket-outlet RCDs are available but, as with socket-outlet RCDs, they provide protection only to the person in contact with the equipment, including its lead, plugged into the portable RCD.

• What are the main types of RCD?
• Why is RCD protection important?
  RCD protection can save lives by protecting you and your family from fatal electric shock, and can provide some protection against fire.

  Every year in the UK around 70 people die and 350,000 are injured as a result of electrical accidents at home.  A Government report also indicated that, each year, about 4,000 fires caused by electricity in homes might have been prevented if RCD protection had been fitted in the consumer unit.  Despite this, more than half of UK homes – that’s 13 million - don’t yet have any, or an adequate level of, such additional protection.

  RCD protection is particularly important whilst using mains-powered electrical equipment outdoors, where there is an increased risk of electric shock.

  (To provide additional protection against electric shock, an RCD must have a rated tripping current of no more than 30 mA. The rating will be marked on the RCD.)

How much will RCD protection cost?

A plug-in RCD can cost as little as £10. A fixed RCD will cost more, but will provide a greater degree of protection to help keep your family safe. Installation costs will vary, so we recommend getting several quotes before proceeding.

How do I check whether I already have fixed RCD protection?

To check if you have fixed RCD protection, go to your consumer unit and have a look to see if there is a device with a pushbutton marked ‘T’ or ‘Test’. This ‘test’ button is part of an RCD. If an RCD is fitted, there should also be a label on or near the consumer unit stating ‘test quarterly’.

If you have an RCD, you should check that it is functioning properly by pushing the test button every three months. When tested, the RCD should switch off the power to the areas of the home it protects. 

The RCD (or RCDs) in your consumer unit may not cover everything in your home, such as the lighting circuits, so it’s a good idea to check - while the RCD is off - which sockets and lights are no longer working, showing that they are protected by that RCD.

Switch the RCD back on to restore the supply.

If your RCD does not switch off the electricity supply to the protected circuits when the test button is pressed, or if it does not reset, get advice from a registered electrician.

If you don’t have RCD protection fitted in your consumer unit, the best way to protect yourself in the short term is by using a portable RCD, which you can find in most DIY or gardening stores.  All you have to do is plug it into a socket and plug the appliance into the RCD.  The appliance will then be safer to use.

However if, for example, you damage a hidden cable when fixing something to a wall, you won’t be protected against electric shock unless you have an RCD in your consumer unit protecting that circuit.

Is it a requirement to install RCDs?

In 2008 a new edition of the UK standard for the safety of electrical installations, BS 7671, came into effect. This standard calls for virtually all electrical circuits installed in homes since then to be provided with additional protection by means of an RCD.

The Electrical Safety Council has electrical safety advice on a range of issues regarding home electrics and other areas.

if in doubt contact an electrician westend glasgow

electricians in uk protest

Thousands of electricians march between London building sites to protest against changes to pay and conditions. Hours before students took to London's streets, electricians and construction workers were arriving from across the UK, to march over a new deal on pay and conditions. Today's demonstration comes after several months of unrest within the construction industry. In May a consortium of seven large construction companies, led by Balfour Beatty, announced it was withdrawing from a long standing pay and conditions deal known as the Joint Industry Board agreement. The replacement deal, the Building and Engineering Services National Agreement (BESNA) is the subject of much controversy with Unite - the union which represents construction workers - claiming skilled electricians will be replaced by lower grade, less skilled workers. BESNA is being developed by the Heating and Ventilating Contractors' Association. Chief Executive Blane Judd says that workers are being fed misinformation about what the deal will mean. He told Channel 4 News: "The industry has changed and we need multi skilled teams. At the moment you have three different operatives travelling in the same van, to the same site on different rates and different conditions. It's unwieldy. We want to level the playing field and 30% will see an increase in pay. Others will see no drop in salary. We need our operatives to compete in the market place so to suggest that we want to de-skill people is nonsense. " There has been rolling industrial action at major construction sites across the UK since the deal was announced. London has seen weekly demonstrations, while workers have also picketed Sellafield, the Lindsey oil refinery and Paper Mill in Carrington, near Manchester. Today coaches from across the country brought workers to London to demonstrate, starting with early marches of several hundred people to the Occupy site at St Pauls, then to two major construction sites, the Shard near London Bridge and then Blackfriars Bridge. Both sites are partly controlled by Balfour Beatty. The workers then moved on to Parliament where a group went in for an arranged meeting with their local MPs. Only around a third of the demonstrators made it to Parliament Square, after police held some back to stop them mixing with the students already in Parliament Square. Read more: Pop up tents in Trafalgar Square as students protest "The firms are trying to brainwash the lads" Speaking from the march, one electrician, who wanted to be known only as Bob, said he had come down from Manchester with 30 others to protect his industry. He told Channel 4 News: "This agreement had been in place for 40 years and then totally out of the blue a gang of the employers got together and said they were making a new agreement, whether we like it or not. There was no negotiation. The firms are trying to brainwash the lads into this and it will cut our rates. The management are telling us that the wage structure won't change but we don't believe them. "It's de-skilling, they will get people who are not in the electrical game to do this work and will put union members out of work. I see my pay going down by a third. I'm surprised, it was completely out of the blue and it's almost been done in a vindictive way. They are making good profits at the moment and they should be bringing the standard up, not knocking it down." But Blane Judd says workers are being fed misinformation by the unions: "I think there are people in the unions who are hell bent on protesting. Some in the union want to negotiate but can't because of the others. What's been lost is the opportunity for the operatives to be able to make a decision without being misinformed." He explains that there is clear evidence that many workers will benefit from higher salaries. "We have even got the employers guaranteeing that workers will transfer from existing grade to a new grade at their current salary or higher - where do you get guarantees like that nowadays? If you are on a particular grade you will be advanced, there will now be London weighting that there wasn't before. We just want to be able to deal with one wage agreement, with everyone on the same terms and conditions." Ballot over strike action Unite are balloting for strike action from November 16th until the 29th. They warned that any action could hit some of the UK's key infrastructure projects, including power stations and London's Crossrail development. Unite's General Secretary Len McCluskey said: "Balfour Beatty will be the first of the rogue firms to feel the anger of its workers. The failure of senior management at Balfour Beatty to withdraw the threats of dismissal has left Unite with no choice but to ballot members for industrial action." Unite's spokesperson Leanne Groves also spoke to Channel 4 News from the march, as protestors gathered. She said: "This is an attack on people's skills. There will be a new semi-skilled grade, with eight semi-skilled workers for every one qualified electrician. This work will be paid a third less. "The employers have looked at the agreement and tried to squeeze every single penny out of it." Leanne Groves, Unite "Before, they would clock on at the entrance to a large site before walking to where they work. That could take 20 minutes, so now the companies are saying they will deduct this time from their pay. People will lose an hour and a half of work a day just because of this. The employers have looked at the agreement and tried to squeeze every single penny out of it." Groves says that workers are fighting for other sectors as well: The agreements electricians have worked under for years were the benchmark for the industry. If these employers take on the sparks, nobody will be safe, there will be a massive push to squeeze all workers. "The companies involved say no workers will lose pay as a result of the deal. But Groves says Unite does not believe this: "Our members are already being offered work by agencies who say they only want semi-skilled people on site. This has massive financial implications for workers." At BESNA, Blane Judd is frustrated that the unions are refusing to discuss changes that the industry believe are necessary: "There is a real risk that we will cease to be competitive in our own markets and that should be a concern to everybody, if British workers cease to be competitive in our own market place." But Bob is not convinced. "I very much hope I don't have to sign it, I don't think I will, but the threat will be, if you don't sign it you are sacked."

electricians in Edinburgh

The tram line between Edinburgh Airport and York Place is to be completed in 2014 Continue reading the main story Related Stories Tram work suspended for Christmas Edinburgh trams: What went wrong? Trams inquiry 'on hold for now' Commuters are being advised to add 10 minutes to their journeys through Edinburgh centre when work on the tram project enters a new phase in January. St Andrew Street will be closed to traffic on 7 January, with Shandwick Place closing on 14 January. A series of diversions will be put in place in the city centre as part of what Edinburgh City Council calls a "a co-ordinated traffic management plan". Princes Street work will resume after Christmas and Hogmanay celebrations. City council officials said the project was now "progressing well", following the end of a lengthy dispute with the companies building the line. Expressed concerns Dave Anderson, Edinburgh City Council's director of city development, said: "We are now moving forward with the project and, from January, work on all sections of the route, from the airport to St Andrew Square, will be under way". "We would like to thank the people of Edinburgh for their continued patience throughout this process and reassure them that the project is on track to be completed within our current timescale." The local authority has pledged to support businesses in the city centre, which have expressed concerns about the impact the continuing disruption is having on trade. Gordon Mackenzie, Edinburgh City Council's transport convener, said: "We have been working closely with city centre businesses to minimise the impact on trade during the course of the works, committing close to £1m to our business support scheme over the next two years". The tram line between Edinburgh Airport and York Place in the city centre is scheduled to be completed in 2014. A public inquiry is to be held to examine why the project is years behind schedule and over budget.