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Electricians in North London: Local Guides Borough by Borough

Looking for an electrician in North London? Energy North Ltd has been based on Bowes Road in N11, between Southgate and Friern Barnet, since 2017. This page brings together our local guides borough by borough, so you can see what we do near you, what it costs and what we usually find in local homes. What we do EICR certificates for landlords, buyers, sellers and homeowners, with the report emailed the same day. Consumer unit and fuse board upgrades to the current edition of BS 7671. EV charger installation for houses, flats and workplaces. Rewiring, fault finding, PAT testing, fire alarms and lighting. Our electricians are City & Guilds certified, prices are fixed before we start and booking is usually within 48 hours. See the full list of services on the Energy North electrician page . Local guides by borough Enfield: EICR cost in Enfield and EICR certificates in Southgate and Palmers Green . Palmers Green and Winchmore Hill: EICR and EV chargers in N13 and N21 ...
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Extension Leads and Multi-Way Adaptors: How Sockets Get Overloaded in London Homes

Extension leads and multi-way adaptors are in almost every London home, and most of the time they are fine. The trouble starts when a four-way block under a desk ends up feeding a heater, a kettle and a second extension lead. This guide explains what overloads a socket, the warning signs, and the point at which the right answer is an extra socket rather than another adaptor.

How much a socket can take

A standard UK socket is rated at 13 amps, which is about 3,000 watts. A multi-way adaptor does not raise that limit; it shares it. Two items that each draw 2,000 watts, such as a fan heater and a kettle, will overload one socket however many ways the adaptor has. Low-power items like phone chargers, lamps and a laptop are a different story: ten of those together use less than one heater.

The combinations that cause problems

  • Heaters of any kind on an extension lead, especially coiled or reeled leads that cannot shed heat.
  • Tumble dryers, washing machines, dishwashers and ovens: these belong on their own socket or circuit, never on an adaptor.
  • Extension leads plugged into extension leads, which adds loose connections and hides the total load.
  • Cheap unbranded adaptors with no fuse, or a fuse that has been swapped for a bigger one.
  • Leads run under carpets or through door gaps, where the cable gets crushed and the heat has nowhere to go.

Warning signs

A warm plug, a brown or yellow mark around the socket, a smell of hot plastic, flickering when something switches on, or a fuse that keeps blowing all mean the socket or adaptor is working too hard. Stop using the adaptor and have the socket checked. A scorched socket face is a sign the terminals behind it may already be damaged.

What an EICR picks up

An EICR does not test your extension leads, but it does find the fixed-wiring faults that adaptors tend to hide: loose terminals, heat-damaged sockets, rings that have been broken by a careless spur, and a consumer unit with no RCD protection on socket circuits. Landlords in particular should expect a tenant's adaptor collection to be a symptom of too few sockets, which is cheap to fix and far cheaper than a fire.

When to add sockets instead

If a room needs a four-way block to work, it needs more sockets. Adding a double socket to an existing ring is a small job with a minor works certificate at the end of it. Home offices, kitchens and bedrooms with gaming set-ups are the usual candidates. For EV drivers the same rule applies with extra force: a charger wants its own circuit, which is why we survey the supply before quoting an EV charger installation.

Energy North adds sockets, replaces damaged ones and carries out EICRs across North, East and West London. This guide is general information, not legal advice. 

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