When moving house, refurbishing or building an extension, there always seems to be a plug point issue. How many should you have and where should they be? There is no rule that says you must have or must not have a certain number, but here are some top tips to steer you through the conundrum.

Moving house

When you are looking to buy, make sure as you walk around to view a property that you take a note of how many plug sockets there are in each room and where they are. Sometimes, they can seem to be in the most random places, but this is less of an issue than if they are not there at all. Beware if you see everything plugged into one four-way at the top of the hall landing and also take a look at the style of plug socket, in case it is looks very out of date. By checking out how many there are and roughly age they are, you can get a good idea of how new the electrics are in your prospective dream home. The last thing you want to do is move in and have to get everything completely rewired if you weren’t expecting to do so.

Refurbing

Refurbishing and remodelling can be a great way of updating your home. But beware, there are certain times when the power in your house might cause other issues. If, for instance, you are installing a new large induction hob, plug points might not be as much of an issue as the level of power required for the cooker. You may need to get an electrician to change a circuit breaker in your consumer unit and upgrade your cooker cable. If you have older plugs, it is not too much of a job to get an electrician to change single sockets to doubles. But make sure you are sensible about how much power you want from one socket. It’s not a good idea to plug in a hairdryer, tongs and a couple of heaters in to the same socket for example.

New plug points

When you are building an extension or a new home, make sure you speak to your electrician and builder together and think about how you use power in your home. There is nothing more annoying than creating a new dream room and then finding you can’t push your furniture flush to the wall because you didn’t count how many plugs are involved with the TV set up. If you have a fresh canvas, draw out what you will need before any building takes place. That way you can incorporate cabling and wires as part of the build rather than an unsightly add on.

If you are feeling a bit overwhelmed and want to speak to an electrician about it, speak to one who has the CG 2391-52 qualification. It is the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IEE) standard for testing of electrical installations and is probably the hardest exam electricians can take. She or he might not like your answers of how many sockets you want, but they will be able to come up with a solution to help you meet your needs.

If you are looking for help with any electrical issues, you may find some of these services useful: