ENW20
In today’s news…
A knife gang is targeting electrical contractors for their vans in terrifying night time attacks in Doncaster…
The Guardian newspaper reveals that big housebuilders lobbied the government to drop plans to include electric car chargers in every new home…
And an Irish start-up thinks it has come up with the next big thing as it unveils a combined EV charger, heat pump and air conditioning system…
Welcome to Electrical News Weekly in association with Schneider Electric, 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 so you don’t have to.
And as always, if you think you’ve spotted the two words I’ve been challenged to slip into today’s show, comment them below for the chance to win a prize.
A knife wielding gang has targeted electrical contractors for their vans in Doncaster.
Two self-employed electricians had their vehicles stolen in separate attacks just hours apart.
The raiders broke into their homes and menaced the men with iron bars and a knife.
It’s understood that the gang of four entered one house while a two year old was asleep.
They then threatened to kill the self-employed man and his family if he didn’t give them the keys to his van which contained all his tools.
South Yorkshire Police say they have now seized a blue Ford Focus which they believe is linked to the incidents.
Anyone with any information is encouraged to contact South Yorkshire Police directly.
You can also call 101 or contact Crime Stoppers on 0800 555 111.
[https://www.doncasterfreepress.co.uk/news/weapon-wielding-gangs-target-doncaster-electricians-and-steal-vans-in-terrifying-night-time-attacks-3842970]
In a separate incident, an electrical contractor says he lost his livelihood after thieves cut into his van in Warrington.
They stole his tools as well as solar equipment worth £7,000.
The van had been parked outside the Gulliver’s World theme park in the town while the man and his son had a family day out.
The criminals cut into the bodywork of the Volkswagen Caddy.
They then removed all his tools including test equipment, drills and even his golf clubs.
The insurance company says it will pay to fix the van but not for his tools, as he was not at work when it happened.
A family friend has now set up a fundraising campaign to help him replace his kit – and get back working again.
If you’d like to contribute, I’ve popped a link in the show notes.
[LINK FUNDRAISER: https://www.gofundme.com/f/replacing-tools-stolen-form-a-van]
In this case, any information to Cheshire Police or Crimestoppers.
STORY LINK: [https://www.warringtonguardian.co.uk/news/21250767.fundraiser-equipment-stolen-van-gullivers-world/]
In product news this week, the big story is a clever new consumer unit from Schneider Electric.
The Easy9 Multirow consumer unit features multiple rows that can have up to 12 modules fitted, with several neutral bars which can be joined or split up to create various systems.
There are lots of different cable entry knockouts.
These allow you to route the cable from top to bottom.
There’s also buckets of space to make it easy to connect devices.
There’s a five-way comb busbar which you can trim to size.
It distributes both phase and neutral to five additional AFDDs.
A 100amp terminal block feeds the comb busbar and the AFDDs.
There’s also a cable kit that extends the power from the main incoming switch to the second or even the third row.
As a result, you can come up with endless configurations of devices.
For instance, you could fit the main switch on the left-hand side at the bottom, with a surge protection device, an MCB and a series of RCBOs.
You can even feed a dedicated type-B RCD specifically used for electric vehicles.
The Multirow’s three-row variant has the capacity to fit up to twelve 18mm modules on each row, for a total of 36.
[https://www.se.com/uk/en/work/products/product-launch/easy9/]
Another innovation this week is a combined EV charger, heat pump and air conditioning system.
Yes, you heard me correctly this is not made up hogwash.
An Irish company says bringing all the technologies together is the way to go.
It says it has applied for a patent on its new system which lowers both installation and running costs.
It cuts carbon dioxide emissions and energy use.
And it allows the onboard computer to manage power consumption in the home in real time.
The firm, called evHACS, says that because a charger is rated around 7kW, and a heat pump can be up to 5kW, using them together can trip the mains breaker in many homes if other appliances are on.
Uniquely, the evHACS system balances both the heat pump and the charger to keep the whole show on the road.
So is this the next big thing? We hope to check it out soon so watch this space.
[https://irishtechnews.ie/new-irish-solution-combines-electric-vehicle-ev-charging-with-heat-pumps-and-air-conditioning-units-hvac/amp/]
EV chargers are of course compulsory in new homes, and it’s been that way since June.
But did you know the UK’s largest house builders actually tried to stop the requirement?
The Guardian newspaper reveals that Barratt Developments, Berkeley Group and Taylor Wimpey lobbied the government to try to get it drop the plan.
The firms argued that home charging points could tie people into obsolete technology.
It could also prevent them from buying cars which might have a different charger.
Taylor Wimpey warned that compulsory home chargers could result in fewer homes being built.
The Berkeley Group said people didn’t need them because they could charge up at work or while going to the gym.
And the companies even brought up the possibility of electric shocks.
You won’t be surprised to learn that the Department for Transport was deeply unconvinced by these arguments, and went ahead anyway with its plan to make them compulsory.
[https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/sep/12/housebuilders-lobbied-against-plan-for-electric-car-chargers-in-new-homes-in-england]
And finally, a company that takes discarded computer screens and turns them into ceiling lights has won a major award.
Brighteco from Sweden reconditions and upgrades old screens. It tunes them to the right colour of light and then mounts them in a frame ready for the electrical contractor to install.
The lights are leased to schools who pay a monthly subscription charge, and now it's won a build back better award.
[https://www.buildbackbetterawards.com/winners-2022 AND SCROLL DOWN]
If YOU want to win the applause of your peers and maybe an eFIXX prize, guess the two words I've smuggled into today's show.
Simply pop them into the comments and we'll dig out a goodie bag prize to the first to get the right answers. Last week's words were shampoo and pantaloons, oddly enough shampoo was the harder of those two to smuggle in, who knew? Due to the record numbers of other odd words from the scriptwriters however not many people got both correct and in pole position and this weeks winner was someone going by the name of James. Just that, no second name, apparently if you're famous enough you only need one name to be recognised by.
And coming up on our YouTube channel this week, it's a live stream week and we'll be seeing all your usual favourites like the challenge wall, Gary's Swap Shop and the welcome return of occasional feature Pointless View where we share some of the insightful, charming and never ever personally insulting messages we've received on our videos, we've also got a review of a brand new tool from knipex, the nex strip which combines three tools into one, it's very cool, we'll also be looking at a new weatherproof strip light from JCC which is just packed with features to make installation easier and something a little different with the mains link from RF solutions which is a really clever bit of kit that could get you out of bother if you've forgotten to install a cable as well as lots of other practical uses to simplify wiring, it's all enough to make you cry goody gumdrops!
Thanks for listening to this episode of Electrical News Weekly in Association with Schneider Electric, make sure you're subscribed 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.