Maintenance

There’s no legal requirement for homeowners, so it comes down to the age of the wiring and how the house is used. As a rough guide, a house wired in the last 20 years is fine with a check every five years or so. Anything older, particularly a home that still has its original switchboard or has never had RCDs fitted, should be checked more often. If you notice breakers tripping repeatedly, flickering lights or warm switch plates, get in touch to book a check. A burning smell near a power point or switchboard is urgent: turn off the main switch if it’s safe to do so and call us on straight away.

We inspect the switchboard, test RCDs, check the condition and rating of circuit protection, inspect accessible wiring, and test power points and lighting circuits. You get a clear report on what’s safe, what needs attention now, and what can wait. Work is charged at our standard hourly rate, published on our rates page, and if the check turns up work that needs doing we’ll quote it separately before going ahead.

Find the RCD on your switchboard. It looks like a switch but has a small button marked T or Test. Press the button: it should trip straight away and cut power to those circuits, then flip the switch back up to reset it. Do this every three months, and after any power outage or electrical storm. If it doesn’t trip when you press the button, the device that’s meant to protect you from electric shock isn’t working, so call an electrician promptly. If your switchboard has no test buttons at all, you likely have no RCD protection, and we’d recommend having it upgraded.

First work out whether it’s your house or the network. Check whether your neighbours have power, and check Northpower’s outage information, since a network fault is theirs to fix, not something an electrician can help with. If it’s just your property, look at the switchboard. If the main switch or an RCD has tripped, unplug appliances on that circuit and try resetting it once. If it won’t reset, or it trips again straight away, stop and call us on .

Anything involving smoke, burning smells, sparking, or a shock from an appliance or fitting is an emergency. So is water reaching a switchboard or wiring, and a total loss of power where the network isn’t at fault. In those situations, turn off the main switch if it’s safe to reach, keep people away from the affected area, and call us on . Things that can usually wait for normal hours: a single dead power point, a light that won’t work, or a heat pump that’s stopped, as long as nothing is hot, sparking or smoking.

Yes, and it’s worth doing on any older Northland home. A builder’s report covers the structure, but it won’t tell you whether the switchboard is at capacity, whether there’s RCD protection, or whether there’s degraded wiring in the roof space that will require significant work to replace. We carry out an inspection and tell you what you’re taking on, so you can factor it into your offer.

Yes. Landlords can’t carry out electrical work on their own rentals, so anything from a faulty switch through to a switchboard upgrade needs a registered electrician. We also do checks between tenancies, which make sense on older housing where the wiring may predate RCDs, and where you’re relying on tenants to report faults.

Annually for most Northland properties, and more often if you’re near the coast or under trees. Salt spray, pollen, dust and bird mess all impact generation, and because the loss is gradual many people don’t notice it. Coastal properties around Whangārei Heads, Bream Bay and Tūtūkākā tend to build up salt film faster than inland sites. Cleaning can be done alongside a system check so you’re not paying for two visits.

Yes, with care. Ground-mounted panels are straightforward to clean yourself. Roof-mounted panels are harder. Roofs get slippery when they’re wet or mossy, so take your time, wait for a dry day and use proper fall protection. If you’d rather stay on the ground, we’re happy to do it for you. Either way, use plain water and a soft brush, never a water blaster or anything abrasive, and never cold water on hot panels. Don’t stand or lean on the panels. Our cleaning visits also include checking the connections and mounting hardware, which can be easy to miss.

Check your monitoring on a clear, sunny day. If output is well below what you’d normally see on a day like that, something’s likely wrong. Other signs are an inverter showing a fault code or warning light, or a power bill that’s increased significantly without your usage changing. If you’re not sure what you’re looking at, or your system has no monitoring at all, call us on . We’ll check the panels, inverter and connections and tell you whether it’s a fault or just the weather.

We check and clean the filters, clean the coils, check the drainage and condensate, inspect the electrical connections, test the refrigerant operation, and check the outdoor unit for corrosion and airflow obstruction. Between services, cleaning the filters yourself every few months is the single most useful thing you can do for efficiency and air quality.

Yes. We can set up regular maintenance for your home, farm or business, covering your electrical installation, solar system and heat pumps. It suits any property where a breakdown costs you money or comfort: commercial premises, farms, rental properties and busy households. Regular checks help to find faults before they turn into breakdowns, and you also build a documented maintenance history, which helps with insurance and when you sell.