Campaign Against DIY Electrics After Toddler Dies in Fire

coming up on this week's news the trade is  launching a major campaign to tackle DIY electrics   after a three-year-old boy dies in a fire BT  axes its plans to turn roadside cabinets into   EV chargers and electrical contractors prepare to  head to Westminster to demand action on tool theft   welcome to electrical news weekly in association  with Solar Trade Sales your easy One-Stop shop for   all things solar whether you're listening in the  van on site or down at the wholesale counter I'm  

Joe Robinson and I've been through the best of the  electrical industry news to save you the trouble   and if you think you've spotted the two words that  I've been challenged to slip into this week's show   comment with them below for the chance to win a  prize it really is worth staying until until the   end of the show to find out last week's winner  it's taken 134 episodes for this thing to happen   but it finally did I'm disproportionately  excited about it the trade is launching a  

major Crusade against do-it-yourself wiring this  week after a three-year-old boy died in a fire   the NICEIC's don't do DIY electrics campaign  comes hot on the heels of a coroners report in   the death of three-year-old Muhammad Esmael and  his father Naemat Lawa Esmael the pair died in   The Blaze at their Swansea home in July of last  year coroner Kirsten Heaven has now ruled that   the cause of the fire was probably electrical in  origin she said there was evidence that someone  

had carried out unauthorised electrical works  that fell below the standards of a competent   electrician some of these had been carried out by  Naemat Esmael Swansea council did not know about   the electrical works and so had not authorised  them investigators found an extension lead had   been wired into a socket in the room where the  fire started the NICEIC says a YouGov survey   ran found that almost one in three UK adults  has attempted DIY electrical work industry  

observers are blaming the upsurge on the cost  of living crisis the marketing and information   blitz will highlight the invisible dangers of  unsafe electrical work it's being rolled out   across social media channels YouTube and Facebook  this week also lending their weight to The Wider  

awareness operation is octopus EDF Eon and British  gas the organisations have teamed up to spread a   Stark message to householders stop using extension  leads they point out that larger appliances can   be fire threats when used with power strips  specifically the group says items that should   never be powered via a lead include air fryers  microwaves toasters fridges and heaters it also   warns of the dangers of daisy chaining extension  leads into other extension leads which can lead to  

Rapid overheating one way to avoid overheating  cables is to take our free training package on   design we recently released the second part of  this series made in association with the Luceco   Group so now you can design a circuit from start  to finish and it seems there might be an urgent  

need for our viewers to complete that course as  last week's question of the week was taken from it   and the results are troubling the question related  to Vault drop and asked to convert milivolts to   vaults you need to and the correct answer was  to divide by a thousand however on YouTube only   26% of respondents got it right meanwhile over on  LinkedIn for the third week in a row they beat the   competition and 59% of respondents nailed it still 

some room for improvement though so why not click   the link in the show notes and complete that free  training module you won't regret it in other news  

BT has announced that it's scrapping its ambitious  plan to turn redundant telecomms cabinets at the   side of the road into EV Chargers and it revealed  that out of 4,800 units which it's identified as   candidates for conversion last year only one  has been completed the company's sole plug-in   point is a repurposed telecom's cabinet in East  Lothian in Scotland and it will now be shut down   the metal containers are traditionally used for  broadband and phone cabling but many have fallen  

out of use due to changing technology the BT plan  which was run by a digital startup unit called Etc   would have worked around one of the key problems  for charger companies installing new connections   to the electricity Network a BT spokesperson  told the Guardian newspaper that the project   allowed the company to explore the challenges that  many on Street EV drivers are facing with charging   it said it would now look at where it could add 

most value to the UK EV ecosystem its next idea   is to use the cabinets instead to provide Wi-Fi  connectivity we'll keep you posted on progress  

BT may have given up but one enterprising firm  faced a particularly perplexing power problem   and were able to solve it by smuggling an EV  charger into post office infrastructure Northern   Irish plug-in Point installer Powered EVNI has  managed to conceal a charger inside a post box   from the Pony Express to adding horsepower  to your vehicle the mail always gets through   doesn't it the slim EOD unit from Ohme is hidden  inside the traditional red metal box featuring The  

Royal Crown the client is said to be delighted  with the discreet solution thanks very much to   installer Neil McGavock at Powered EVNI for the  heads up on that story if you've carried out an   unusual installation and you'd like a shout out  on the news get in touch just email me directly   at joe@efixx.co.uk the demand for chargers doesn't  look like it's slowing down anytime soon in fact  

the UK saw record electric vehicle sales in  2024 and it's now overtaken Germany to become   Europe's biggest Market that's partly because EV  brands doled out big discounts to motorists in a   bid to hit government targets sales of EVS are now  19.6% of all sales still short of the government's   Target of 22% by contrast Norway looks like it  will be the first country in the world to go   all electric in sales thanks to incentives there  nine out of 10 new cars are already Electric in  

fact Torben Aune the Norwegian entrepreneur behind  the Innovative Enua EV charger revealed to us last   week that Norway are pretty much leading the way  in all things electrification he joined friend of   the show Nick Tucker off of EV tower along with  Gordon Gary and Joe 3PO on last week's eFIXX TV   live stream to talk about his charger and also  debate Norwegian versus UK electrical installation   methods it was a brilliant show and well worth a 

catch up you'll find the link in the show notes   meanwhile back here in Blighty Anger over the  theft of power tools is rising and it looks set  

to get political that's because contractors fed up  with losing their kit are taking their grievance   to Parliament a group of installers called Trades  United is set to hold a rally in Westminster this   coming Monday the 3rd of February it follows  the success of last year's inaugural event   participants will stage a go slow van Convoy  in Westminster driving through the area for 2   hours to raise awareness organisers say they want  to draw the attention of MPs to the continuing  

problem of tool theft and the resale of stolen  goods they're demanding stricter enforcement of   existing theft laws particularly concerning tools  they want a ban on the sale of power tools at car   boot sales in similar markets group founder Shoaib  Awan says getting a crime reference number for a   van breakin is no longer acceptable he says  he doesn't want policies that don't work but   instead the trade needs strict enforcement and  a Crackdown operation with immediate effect the  

rally starts at Brent Cross in North London at  11:00 a.m. and then heads to Parliament Square   for a gathering there at midday I've popped a link  to the group's Instagram account in the show notes  

in product news this week we've been hearing  the backstory to the Innovative speed cutter   if you're not familiar with it it's a hole cutter  that includes an integral fire collar featuring an   Intumescent lining after using the hole cutter  to drill through the plaster board using the   drill attachment the cutter remains in the hole  to maintain the Fire Protection in the event of   a fire the in material will expand and close off  the hole so there's no need for intumescent mastic  

to be applied after you run the cables through  inventor Marc Katz came up with the idea while   site manager with a national house Builder Mark  noticed repeat problems with the fire stopping   after penetrations for Electrical Plumbing  and other services the M&E folks were either   drilling the holes too big which means more  intumescent material or too small which means   you can't apply the intumescent material without  enlarging the hole and damaging the plaster board  

the speed cutter has classification for EI30 this  means it can be used in in any 30-minute firewall   if it has a 70 mil stud and a layer of 12.5 mm  board on each side another Innovation helping   the trade remain compliant and fast is Wieland's  RST round connector as they Plug and Play they're   super fast to install there are six Pole to seven  pole connector versions and they're available as   barrier seal models this prevents the spread of 

moisture through the cable system and means that   they can be used in messy conditions you can  also get them in high IP ratings Gordon used   them recently to speed up what would have been  a full day's work into a job lasting just 50   minutes don't believe him take a look at a video  he's produced all about the RTS's capabilities   the link as always is in the show notes lighting  manufacturer Trilux has unveiled a moisture proof   Luminaire whose diffuser and housing is made from 

100% recycled plastic it's aimed at green-minded   clients the diffuser is made of post-industrial  polycarbonate mainly car headlights and computer   monitor covers the housing is manufactured from  recycled shredded water bottles the company says   there's a growing demand for products with an  environmental backstory like this the latest   JIB handbook is now available the 2025 Edition  is the definitive guide to employment matters   for jib members and their operatives it contains 

information on the national working rules grading   definitions industry training schemes the jib  benefit scheme and advice on employment law and   practice you can download a PDF from the jib  website again I popped a link to that in the   show notes thanks to our good friend and regular  contributor Sergio from Costa Del Watford for the   heads up on that one and finally an update on  the crime That Shook Skipton and environs last  

week we revealed that criminality had arrived  in Sleepy Skipton the Yorkshire home of eFIXX a   customer in our local fish and chipper decided to  help herself to a distinctive light fitting but a   security camera caught her in the act within  hours of showing the security video in last   week's news that light mysteriously reappeared  in the restaurant it appears that Common Sense   has prevailed or maybe she's found Cod either  way police say there will be no further action  

they clearly have bigger fish to fry and finally a  reminder that we're in the market for your stories   your projects and your recommendations as we'd  like to share them with the wider eFIXX Community   send us pictures of your installs or let us know  if you've come across any new kit that's making   your job easier and just before we get to your  favourite bit of the show where I reveal last  

week's challenge words and winners we want to  thank our premium Partners we couldn't make the   news without you first up they're the people  who've created the Swiss army knife of solar   inverters along with all weather batteries very  much the Boy Scouts of the solar industry it's   Sunsynk and speaking of solar with manufacturing  powered by a 250 GW solar PV they're literally   the greenest test instrument maker in Europe both  physically and ethically it's KPS are you a bit  

of a control freak motor control that is if so  with huge stocks and excellent service check out   Crompton Controls as they said to me in a recent  conversation if we don't have it then we can build   it and the best thing to come out of Yorkshire  since stainless steel the home of EV Ultra and   other groundbreaking and quality products it's  Doncaster Cables click the links in the show   notes to find out more about these great Brands  big thanks to you all we we really appreciate  

your ongoing support for the news if you think  you know the words that I've smuggled into this  

week's show pop your guess into the comments  we'll take all the correct guesses and select   one at random to be the winner of an eFIXX goodie  bag prize answers submitted after about lunchtime   on the Thursday after release will not be entered  into the draw now let's reveal the winner of last   week's challenge word competition last week's  words were exfoliate and egregious and finally   after 134 shows shows where I've wrestled with my  conscience and resisted influence the genuinely  

random outcome of selecting a winner it's happened  we've had our very first randomly selected winner   from LinkedIn it gives me great pleasure to tell  you that this week's winner is Stuart Wilson   excellent work Stuart you've made a middle-aged  man very happy click the link in the show notes   to claim your prize and to anyone watching on  LinkedIn please do get your guesses into the   comments of this video they all go into the prize  draw for next week thanks for listening to this  

episode of electrical news weekly in association  with solar trade sales your easy OneStop shop for   all things solar remember to click the link  in the show notes to check out their online   shop make sure you subscribe to receive the next  update thanks for listening and until next time   have a great week stay safe out there and remember  there's no such thing as a Torque Calibrated Arm