Summer holidays are over, the kids are back into a routine, and evenings are starting to draw in a little earlier. September has a way of nudging us all back into “get things sorted” mode.
Here are a few electrical jobs worth putting on the list this month.
Wifi dead spots driving you mad?
If homework, video calls, or streaming in the back bedroom have been a struggle all summer, now’s a good time to fix it properly rather than living with it another year.
Before spending anything, it’s worth trying the basics first. Moving your router to a central, elevated spot and keeping it away from things like microwaves and baby monitors is exactly what Ofcom’s guide to improving your wifi experience recommends.
If the basics don’t cut it, that’s where we come in. Whether that means running a few well-placed network points, or fitting a wifi antenna or booster in the right spot, a proper wired solution will get rid of dead spots for good instead of relying on a router doing its best from the hallway.
It’s a quick job for us, and it makes a noticeable difference to day to day life, especially with everyone back to school and work routines.
Is your outdoor lighting ready for autumn?
As the evenings pull in, you’ll be relying on outdoor lighting again for coming home in the dark, keeping the front path safe, and just generally feeling comfortable around the house.
If your current setup is patchy, dim, or simply not there, autumn is the natural time to sort it before you’re using it every single evening.
It’s also worth thinking beyond the practical.
A bit of feature lighting on trees, bushes, and borders can turn an already nice garden into somewhere genuinely beautiful to sit out in on an evening.
Uplighting a specimen tree or picking out the shape of a border adds real depth once it’s dark, and it’s the kind of touch that makes people ask who did your garden.
Smart exterior lighting is worth a look too.
Motion activated lights and lighting you can control from your phone give you a bit more convenience without needing to think about switches every night.
Thinking of selling this autumn?
If a move is on the cards, it’s worth knowing that while an EICR isn’t a legal requirement to sell your home, more and more buyers, solicitors and mortgage lenders are asking for one anyway.
A failed or missing report is one of the easiest things for a buyer to use to knock money off your price or slow the sale down.
Getting an EICR done before you list means you already know where you stand. If anything needs attention, you can deal with it on your own terms rather than mid-negotiation.
Electrical Safety First generally recommends homeowners get one done at least once every ten years, so even if you’re not selling, it’s worth checking when yours was last done.
Choosing the right EV charger, not just the cheapest or the priciest
If you’re thinking about getting an EV charger installed at home, it’s easy to assume the decision comes down to price. Go cheap and save some money, or go expensive and get the best. In reality, neither of those is quite right.
A charger is only as good as the installation behind it. Corners cut on cabling, earthing, or the consumer unit don’t tend to show up straight away, but they can cause real problems down the line, and they’re far more expensive to put right after the fact than to do properly the first time.
At the same time, the most expensive charger isn’t always the right one for your car. A lot of cars simply can’t accept anything above 3.6kW or 7kW when charging at home, no matter how powerful the charger sitting on your wall is.
Zapmap’s guide to home EV charging explains this well. Charging speed is always limited by whichever is lower, the charger’s output or your car’s onboard charger.
Beyond that limit, you’re not charging any faster, you’ve just paid more for capability your car can’t use.
If you’ve already got solar panels or battery storage, the charger you choose matters even more.
The right setup lets your car draw from your own generated electricity first, so you’re charging on power you’ve already paid for, rather than pulling more than you need to from the grid.
Done properly, solar, battery storage, and your EV charger should all work together, not just sit next to each other.
If you’re not seeing the returns you expected from your solar, or you’re not sure your current charger setup is right for your car, get in touch and we can carry out a full safety and efficiency assessment.
Get in touch
Whatever’s on your list this September, from a wifi fix to getting ready to sell or sorting out EV charging, GU Solutions is happy to help homes across Basingstoke get sorted before the darker months set in.
