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M

meluklady

Hi, My elderly parents house was built in the early 50's. Standard 3bed house. Its never had a complete re-wire, therefore still has the original wiring/colouring. As far as i'm aware, they have never had any trouble with the electrics.
My mother needs a stairlift installed, and she was advised that she needs to have the whole house completely re-wired for this! as the stairlift will be AC operated... Obviously at her age, she doesnt need the upheaval of the mess/disruption involved.
My question is, if she opted for a Battery operated stairlift, would she still need to have the house re-wired.
I am aware for the battery to be charged, would still be opertated in part from the electrics, however, surely it wouldnt need a complete re-wire.
Any advice would be appreciated.
Thankyou
 
The circuit to feed the stairlift could just be wired as new on its own CU and the house does not have to be rewired. Obviously without getting to see the electrics in the house it is hard for me to say if a rewire or new CU would be benificial. Although it probably would.
 
I was under the impression that most stair lifts (the chair part) are powered off rechargable batteries, which are charged automatically when at the top or bottom.

As for "a complete rewire" - no.

You could post your location and you may find a sparky on here may be just around the corner from your parents.

Good luck.
 
Thankyou to the 2 replies above.
Yes i can understand that they need to re-new/update the fuse box/circuit box as its the old black switches. However, there would be some installation of cables/sockets to supply near to the chair,as theres no sockets in the hallway, but dont want the whole house done, they dont need it at their time of life 80's. What they have is quite adequate for them, in terms of sockets/switches extensions etc. The funds for the rewire is no problem, its just the works involved. Also, if they did go for the complete rewire, would the electricians connect the supply for the evenings, and not leave them without electric.
Thanks.
 
Hi Murdoch, For an electric operated chair, is directly from the mains, i believe, which is why my parents have been advised to get the whole house completely re-wired. However, a battery chair, is plugged in to the socket near the chair, and the battery sits under the carriage. I was just thinking if they opted for the battery chair, they wouldnt need to up grade the whole house.
The other point is, that, if there ever is a power cut, the chair is still usuable depending how much battery is left. The battery is continously charged when 'parked' up.
 
Who ever advised a complete rewire is probably scare mongering.

Where in the UK are you? Any competent electrician should be able to give you options that don't include a rewire.
 
Who said that it needs a re-wire,?? without looking at the situation it is hard to say because there are so many variables, where is the fuseboard? would it be possible to put a socket at the bottom of the stairs run in surface mount trunking along the skirting board? if so, no need for RCD, in fact even if the cables were buried as it would be a dedicated circuit there would be no need for RCD protection, you might want to consider a fuseboard change though if your parents are infrail, as it would be a pain in the arse for them to have to re-wire a fuse if it blows as oppose to flicking a trip switch. Also a fuseboard change would mean that all the circuits in the house were tested, which should throw some light as to wether a re-wire would be needed,
 
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Rewiring the house to add a stairlift ?
It would be interesting to know who told you that load of garbage

Even if the existing installation was installed by Noah (he of the save the wildlife fame)
Its easily possible to make a simple seperate installation to comply with current regulations and with probably little inconvenience

If they dont want the upheaval and want to keep it simple,get other advisors
 
Thanks to everyone for your advice/comments, its been quite helpful. My mother was able to qualify for a stairlift from social services after she came out of hospital. So, the social services are arranging this, they organised an electrician of 'their' (SS's) choice. It doesnt sound like the electrician did a thorough inspection. Anyway, what does a thorough electrical inspection consist of.. perhaps a guided list from somenone, then i could say to SS's that the inspection wasn't carried out properly, and therefore, could request they send another elelctrician.
 
Thanks to everyone for your advice/comments, its been quite helpful. My mother was able to qualify for a stairlift from social services after she came out of hospital. So, the social services are arranging this, they organised an electrician of 'their' (SS's) choice. It doesnt sound like the electrician did a thorough inspection. Anyway, what does a thorough electrical inspection consist of.. perhaps a guided list from somenone, then i could say to SS's that the inspection wasn't carried out properly, and therefore, could request they send another elelctrician.

If a thorough inspection was done, your parents will have a copy?
 
Its not a case of an inspection of the existing to ascertain the suitability of that existing to be altered or added to,because you have stated you dont want a rewire
Its probable given the age of that installation that it will not be suitable and the electrician was spot on with his findings

The installation for the chair lift can "independantly" be carried out, without renewing what is already installed


Social services should more than likely agree to your request if you explain what you want and dont want
 
Ok, thank you once again... i now feel better when discussing this further with mother and SS's.
I will be back with more Q's if necessary if you are happy to give answers to.
Thankyou for all your time.
mel
 
Who ever told you you need a rewire was yanking your chain. I do know of companies who go into peoples homes and that is all they know to say. rewire
Dont let them take you

TJ
 
in order to ascertain wether the property needs a rewire either a Periodical Inspection Report ( P.I.R pre 2012) or an Electrical Installation Condition Report (E.I.C.R, post 2012) should have been carried out. there would be no sure way of knowing just by carrying out a visual inspection.


The purpose of a visual-only inspection of a domestic electrical installation is to determine, so far as is reasonably practicable, whether the installation has any visually-evident defects or has suffered any damage or deterioration which may affect safety. This domestic visual condition report provides an assessment of the condition of the electrical installation identified overleaf at the time it was inspected, taking into account the limitations of a visual-only inspection.
Whilst a visual inspection may reveal defects, damage or deterioration which may present electrical safety hazards, such an inspection alone cannot fully determine whether an installation is safe for continued use.
Furthermore, due to the significant limitations, it is not appropriate to report that an installation is in a satisfactory condition on the basis of visual inspection only.
Visual inspections do not include items that can only be checked with test instruments, such as the adequacy of earthing arrangements.
The contractor performing the visual inspection will recommend that a full inspection and test be performed if it is suspected that the installation is in an unsafe condition.


 
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Who ever told you you need a rewire was yanking your chain. I do know of companies who go into peoples homes and that is all they know to say. rewire
Dont let them take you

TJ
HOW can you tell it does NOT need a rewire ??? Have you seen the house in question??
My advice would be to get an independant NIC,ELESCA,NAPIT affiliated electrician round to give his opinion This may involve a full PIR or limited inspection and advice You could put your location and see if any members are close
 

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