Emergency lighting is a critical component of any building’s safety infrastructure. It ensures that occupants can navigate safely during power outages or emergency situations. By providing illumination in corridors, stairwells and other designated areas, emergency lighting plays a vital role in minimising panic, facilitating evacuation and reducing potential accidents. Compliance with safety regulations is paramount, making the proper installation, testing and repairs of emergency lighting systems essential.

Regular testing and maintenance are crucial to guarantee the reliability and effectiveness of emergency lighting systems. Here are the key aspects of testing:

1. Monthly Functional Testing:
A monthly test involves briefly switching off the main power supply to ensure that emergency lights activate automatically. This test checks for any faults or failures that may impede proper operation.

2. Annual Duration Testing:
A more comprehensive annual test is conducted to evaluate the battery capacity and duration of emergency lighting. This test ensures that lights remain illuminated for the required time, typically 1-3 hours, in the event of a power outage.

3. Documentation and Record Keeping:
It is essential to maintain accurate records of all testing and maintenance activities, including test results, dates and any remedial actions taken. This documentation helps demonstrate compliance with safety regulations.

Before we embark on our repair journey, let’s familiarise ourselves with the basics of hot water systems. There are two main types: storage tank systems and tankless systems. Let’s take a quick look at each:

Storage Tank Systems:
These systems feature a tank that stores and heats a specific volume of water. Once heated, the water is readily available for use. However, issues like leaks, sediment buildup and heating element failures can disrupt the smooth flow of hot water.

Tankless Systems:
Also known as on-demand or instantaneous systems, tankless systems heat water directly without relying on storage tanks. They provide hot water as needed, but mineral buildup, faulty heating elements, or inadequate water flow can put a damper on their performance.

While some issues can be DIY-ed, others require the touch of a professional. Here’s why seeking expert hot water repair services is a smart move:

Expertise and Knowledge: Professional technicians possess the necessary training, experience and knowledge to accurately diagnose and repair complex hot water issues.

Safety:
Hot water systems involve electrical and plumbing components. By entrusting the repairs to professionals, you ensure that safety protocols are adhered to, making repairs both effective and safe.

Warranty Preservation:
Protect your investment! Attempting repairs on your own may void the system’s warranty. Hiring professionals ensures repairs are compliant with warranty terms.

Time and Convenience:
Time is precious and so is hot water. Professional technicians efficiently diagnose and repair hot water issues, saving you time and effort. Armed with the necessary tools and replacement parts, they minimise downtime, so you can get back to enjoying your hot water without delay.

Did you know that smoke alarms emit different beeping sounds depending on how the smoke detector is being triggered? Below is a quick rundown on the various types of smoke alarm beeps and what they can mean.

Single beeps: that occur every 30-60 seconds apart could mean your alarm’s battery needs replacing.

Multiple beeps: where your alarm is making different beeping sounds can mean a few different things depending on what type of smoke alarm you have.

Multiple beeps can mean that your alarm:

• May have detected carbon monoxide (if your alarm has this feature).
• May have reached the end of its life.
• Is potentially malfunctioning or,
• Could be signalling that an interconnected alarm has detected smoke.

Be sure to check your alarm’s manual for more information on what each of the different types of beeps mean for your specific smoke alarm model.

Continuous beeps: usually indicate that your alarm has detected smoke.

Please note that if you have interconnected alarms throughout the property the smoke detection could be coming from any of the interlinked devices.

In order for smoke alarms to adequately provide protection and save lives, it’s important to keep them in top condition and get them serviced and maintained as required.

At the same time, there are a few things that can be done at home to minimise the chances of your alarm accidentally triggering:

• Keep them clean – Ensure the cover or sensor chamber is not covered in dirt or dust.
• Ventilation – Ensure rooms are adequately ventilated and that the alarms are positioned away from bathrooms, fireplaces or the kitchen oven/stove.
• Keep air movement to a minimum – air movement can trigger your smoke alarm so be sure to position them away from a drafty location that can blow dust and debris near the sensors.

Ordinarily, ceiling fans are fairly quiet when first installed in a home or business. However, over time certain things can cause a fan to become noisy including:

·      The ceiling fan blades have accumulated dirt or become unbalanced or misaligned

·      The fan motor needs lubricating

·      There are loose screws that need tightening

·      There is dirt or debris in the motor housing mount

If cleaning the blades didn’t solve the issue, perhaps the issue might be that the blades are warped or damaged. Warped or damaged blades can cause fans to become unbalanced, causing it to rock and make clicking sounds when in use.

Inspect the blades from the side and ensure the surfaces are flat and angled in the same way as the other blades. Try to bend warped blades into shape if you can, otherwise you may have to consider ordering replacement blades.

A brownout and blackout can often be mistaken as the same thing, however they are slightly different:

Generally speaking, a brownout is a short-term partial power outage. During a brownout, power is still flowing to homes and businesses, but at a reduced voltage level.

Brownouts often occur when the demand for electricity is high, and in order to prevent a total blackout from occurring (where a rise in demand could overload the grid), utility companies will reduce the flow of electricity by 10-25% to certain areas until demand for electricity decreases.

The main difference between a blackout and a brownout is that utility companies deliberately schedule brownouts and know exactly when they start and finish.