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Emergency electrician in Sutton

For an electrical emergency in Sutton, Cheam or Carshalton, check neighbours first and call 105 for UK Power Networks if the street is off. If only your home is affected, or a socket smells of burning, switch off at the main switch if it is safe and call an emergency electrician to make it safe.

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Sutton

Electrician in Sutton

Tell us what is wrong and where. If it might be a power cut, check the street first and call 105.

The homes in Sutton

Sutton is an interwar borough. The Valuation Office Agency counts 41% of its 86,290 homes as built between 1919 and 1939, and 18% between 1973 and 1999. The St Helier estate, built by the London County Council between the wars and spanning Sutton and Merton, is one of the largest cottage estates of its time. Cheam, Carshalton and Wallington have interwar semis and terraces, with older Victorian houses in Carshalton village and around Sutton town. 39% of homes are flats. Most houses here have been rewired at least once, often in the 1960s or 70s.

Burning smells from sockets in winter

In colder months, plug in heaters, electric blankets and dehumidifiers add load to circuits that were never meant to carry it for hours. A socket that runs a fan heater all evening can heat up at a loose terminal and give off a hot plastic smell. If you smell burning, switch off and unplug the heater if the plug is not hot, switch off the circuit at the consumer unit, and do not use the socket again until it is checked. Our advice on a burning smell from a plug socket covers the steps.

Extension leads plugged into extension leads are a common sight in winter. Each lead has a maximum load printed on it, and heaters use a large share of it. Run heaters straight from a wall socket, one per socket, and switch them off when you go to bed or leave the room.

St Helier and interwar homes

Homes on the St Helier estate and across Sutton's interwar streets often had their wiring renewed during council or private modernisation. Some have consumer units from that work that have no RCD protection on sockets. An EICR will show where an installation stands. Electrical Safety First recommends owner occupiers have one at least every 10 years. A report will also show whether your earthing and the bonding to gas and water pipes meet today's rules, which older homes often do not.

Landlords, new boards and who to call in Sutton

Landlords need an EICR at least every 5 years under the 2020 regulations, with copies to tenants within 28 days. The price depends on the size of the home, the number of circuits and the age of the wiring. Our guide to EICR costs in London explains what changes the price.

For a power cut affecting the street, call 105 or check the UK Power Networks map. For a fault inside your home, an electrician. Notifiable work, including a new consumer unit, is self certified by a registered competent person or notified to the London Borough of Sutton's building control. If you are fitting a new board in an interwar house, expect the circuits to be tested first. Older sections of wiring, often in lofts and under floors, are the usual reason a new board trips in its first week.

Most asked for in Sutton