Electrician in Berkeley

The full details for Berkeley

Berkeley sits on the hill above the northern shore of Lake Illawarra, and a lot of the houses here have that classic post-war Illawarra look: solid brick or fibro, built in the 1950s and 60s, on decent sized blocks with room for a shed out the back. They are good homes. Most of them just have electrical systems that are a few decades behind how people live now.

Where to start in an older Berkeley home

If you have bought in Berkeley recently, or you have been here a long time and never had the wiring looked at, three things are worth checking first.

• The switchboard. Ceramic fuses, a cramped meter box and no safety switches are common in homes of this age. A switchboard upgrade gives you proper circuit protection and room to add circuits later.
• Safety switches. Older homes often have none, or only one covering the power points. Adding safety switches to lighting and power circuits is one of the simplest ways to make a house safer for kids and anyone doing DIY.
• Smoke alarms. NSW law requires working smoke alarms on every level of a home. If yours are old, beeping or missing, we can install battery, hard wired or interconnected smoke alarms, so when one goes off they all do.

While working on other jobs, Kalani has found fire hazards in meter boxes that the owners had no idea about. It is one reason we always take a careful look at the board, whatever we came out to do.

Comfort upgrades

Berkeley gets the sea breeze, but summer afternoons can still be heavy, especially in brick homes that hold the heat. Ceiling fans in bedrooms and the living area are an easy win. They use very little power and make a real difference. We can also replace old fluorescent battens and dated fittings with LED lighting that is brighter and cheaper to run.

Boats, sheds and backyards

Plenty of Berkeley households have a boat on a trailer or a workshop out the back. If the shed is running off an extension lead, it is time to talk about a proper supply with its own protection. Outdoor power points, sensor lights over the driveway and lighting along the side of the house all make life easier, especially when you are hitching up the boat before sunrise for an early start on the lake.

Talk to the person doing the work

Flowstate Electrical Co is run by Kalani, and you deal with him directly. He will tell you what he finds, what needs doing now and what can wait. No pressure and no jargon.

We also work across Lake Heights and Unanderra, as well as the rest of the Wollongong area.

Call or text 0424 400 346 to book a time. A photo of your switchboard is a great place to start.