How to prevent frozen garden hosepipes and taps this winter!

As the weather becomes colder and winter approaches, we will soon be enjoying cold frosty mornings! So now is the time to remove your garden hosepipe from your outside tap and store it safely inside. This will prolong the life of your hosepipe and save you spending money on regular replacements.

And don’t forget to also remove the threaded or round plastic hosepipe connector attached to the outside tap. The plastic is liable to crack during very cold weather.

Additionally, it is very important to turn off the isolation valve for your outdoor tap, which you will find inside your property in the vicinity of the tap. Once the valve is off, drain any water left in the tap and its pipe by opening the outside tap until the water stops running.


For additional protection, outdoor tap covers are available from DIY shops.

Free Offer!
If you live in Berkshire, in or around Wokingham, Bracknell, Ascot, Reading or Maidenhead,and would like a plumber from Chez-Vous Property Services to assess if the pipes in your property are at risk from freezing, please contact us now. During November 2009, Chez-Vous Property Services will come and do an initial visual "frozen pipe prevention check-up" free-of-charge. For more details call us now on 0118 9770215.

Protect downlights from fire hazards and loft insulation

At Chez-Vous Property Services, we often come across the situation in lofts where downlights are either not protected properly against fire hazards or are left with no insulation around them.

Downlights can produce significant heat. So when downlights are installed in the void between the ground floor ceiling and the upstairs floor, adequate space should surround them. Building debris and other flammable material must be removed from the void. Cables must be secured so that they do not come into contact with the hot surfaces of the downlights.

Similarly, when downlights are fitted in a ceiling with a loft space above, precautions must be taken to ensure that the loft insulation or other material does not come into contact with the downlights.
The solution many people employ is to permanently move the insulation away from the area containing downlights (see picture above). This of course, defeats the object of having insulation and allows condensation to form in the loft. It also results in a lot of energy being wasted in winter and complaints of drafts from the attic.

A solution to this problem is to fit insulation guards or fire hoods above downlights. They cost around £10 per unit and protect the lights from the insulation covering above and prevent them from overheating. A simple solution to improve safety, as well as keeping the loft fully insulated and energy bills down.

Downlight guards and fire hoods are available at DIY stores, electrical or lighting specialists.

Pictures below: fire hood and insulation guard

If you are based in Berkshire and need help to install downlight protection guards in your loft, please contact Chez-Vous Property Services now.

Going on a summer holiday? Tips to secure and protect your home!

Summer is here! Many of us will be going on a well-deserved and long-awaited holiday. Before departing, we enjoy planning activities and what to take with us. So remember to take a bit of time to include plans for protecting your home during your absence. Then you will be able to relax and enjoy your time-off knowing that that you have done your best to make your property safe from criminals or from potential incidents.

Avoid incidents in the home
• Make sure the gas is turned off.
• Turn the water off at the mains stopcock.
This is normally located in your kitchen or in the under stairs cupboard. This ensures that should you have a water leak or a burst pipe whilst you are away, the water will eventually stop.
• Unplug mains sockets and TV aerials from televisions, videos, computers and any electronic equipment that does not need to be left on.
Not only will you save money on your electricity bill, but such items will be protected from lighting strikes, as the aerial could receive a substantial charge if lightening hits.

Engage the help of a friendly neighbour
At a minimum, let a trusted neighbour know that you going to be away. You could ask them to keep an eye on your house and help make it look lived-in whilst you’re away. Promise to do the same for them in return.

Ask the neighbour if they would be willing to help with the following:
• push post and junk mail completely through letter box, rather than leaving it visibly stuck half-way through
• open and close curtains
• switch on lights in the evenings
• collect post
• mow the lawn
• park their car or their visitors cars on your driveway.

They may also be willing to water plants and look after pets.

Postpone deliveries
If you don’t want to rely on a neighbour then cancel any milk or paper deliveries for the duration of your holiday, and make use of Royal Mail's letter and parcel holding service.

Put lights on a timer
Putting lamps on a timer is an excellent way to give the appearance that someone is at home. These simple and useful electronic devices can be used to set particular times at which the lights go on and off. Why not use them all year round?

Basic precautions before departure
Before leaving on your travels it is worthwhile taking extra care to run through the following checklist:
• Ensure that all doors and windows are locked securely, and any burglar alarms are set.
• Never leave keys near the letterbox or doors
• Don’t leave keys on window handles or on window ledges
• Make sure ladders and tools are locked away, out of sight.
• If you have valuable items in the shed, such as bikes or tools, then it might be a good idea to store them in the house over the holiday period.
• If there are any items of particular value in the house, such as important confidential documents, and you don’t have a safe, then it is worth leaving these things with family or in a bank safety deposit box.
• Leave a key and/or contact telephone number with a trusted neighbour or nearby friend or family member. In case of need, they will be able to access your property and contact you.

Now all you have to do is enjoy your holiday knowing that you have taken necessary precautions before leaving. Have fun!

(Note: this blog has also been posted on the following sister blog sites: www.thePropertyAdviser.com & www.thePropertyStylist.co.uk)

Safety issue: electrical sockets under water pipes!

At Chez-Vous Property Services, we have been coming across an increasing number of cases where electrical sockets and boxes have been installed on the base of kitchen under sink cupboards or on the floor of airing cupboards, directly beneath pipe work.

Safety hazard: electrical box installed below water pipes

This clearly constitutes a safety hazard as any water leaking from the pipes above will drip straight onto the electrical box. And, as we all know, water and electricity do not mix!

All sockets and other electrical boxes should be ideally installed vertically on a wall or cupboard side, but most importantly away from pipes.

Safe: electrical boxes located out of the way of potential leaks from water pipes

For all your Berkshire electrical needs, visit www.ServicesForProperty.co.uk

Simple energy saver tips for the summer

There are many simple ways to save energy in and around the home. We cover some easy tips that you can put in place to improve efficiency and save money, from the kitchen to the garden.

Turn appliances off standby

The average household wastes £30 a year simply by leaving appliances on standby.

• to turn off an appliance completely, use the power switch on the appliance itself or turn it off at the plug
• if a charger or power pack is warm or has a light on, it's probably using power.

In the kitchen

• boil a kettle with only as much water as you need
• cover pots and pans when cooking – they will boil a lot quicker
• defrost your freezer regularly
• let hot food cool before putting it in the fridge or freezer
• there's emerging research that using a microwave rather than a conventional oven to heat up a small amount of food may save you energy.

Washing clothes

• washing clothes at 30 degrees can be just as effective for a normally soiled load
• run your washing machine or dishwasher with full loads
• avoid tumble drying – dry clothes outdoors or on indoor dryers when possible to save money and energy. Turning off your tumble dryer during the summer months could save you around £16 a year.

Lighting

• use energy efficient light bulbs – if every UK home installed three of them, it would save enough energy to power all the UK's street lights
• a 20 watt energy efficient bulb can save £60 over its lifetime compared to a standard 100 watt bulb
• remember to switch the lights off every time you leave a room.

Garden

• set up a water butt for the garden - you could collect 100-200 litres of rainwater in a water butt to use for watering plants, cleaning the car, and other outside water needs
• start a compost heap - it reduces waste going to landfill and cuts associated greenhouse gas emissions. And your flowers and vegetables will flourish on free fertiliser.

Are you paying for loyalty to local energy suppliers?

Energy customers are paying up to 33% more on their bills by staying loyal to their local suppliers, claims new research from uSwitch.com. The research shows suppliers charge an average of 6% higher in their home regions than to other customers.

Ann Robinson, Director of Consumer Policy at uSwitch.com, commented, "The downside is that suppliers are charging local customers a loyalty tax, but the upside is that they are providing a really good incentive for households to switch, which is what competition is all about".

The statistics show that in seven out of 14 electricity regions, the incumbent supplier is the most expensive, with consumers collectively forking out an additional £681 million on their bills.

uSwitch recently stated that households are becoming more energy-efficient in a bid to slash the cost of their bills.

So we recommend that you do a bit of research. Find out how much you could save on your utility bills by switching supplier, or simply by changing the product or tariff provided by your current company.

A new regime for UK domestic gas safety

From 1 April 2009, Gas Safe Register replaces CORGI gas registration as the UK's official gas safety body.

This means that from 1st April, by law, only Gas Safe registered engineers should carry out work on gas appliances or installations in your home.

To find a Gas Safe registered engineer in your area from 1 April visit:
www.GasSafeRegister.co.uk


Note: Chez-Vous Property Services works with heating systems except where gas is involved, eg. gas boiler work. In these cases, we will refer a Gas Safe engineer.