Testing anything electrical is of significant importance, as it essentially ensures your own safety as well as the safety of your home. Electrical equipment of any sort can be dangerous. Regular checks and care is required to make sure these appliances don’t pose any sort of risk or threat or could cause danger. Of course, certain types of portable electrical appliances are prone to more damage and faults than others, and some are used in different ways to others.
We wanted to tell you a little bit more about testing your portable appliances and why this is important…
What are portable appliances?
As the name suggests, portable appliances are essentially electrical appliances that you may have in your home, that can be moved around and are not fixed into any particular place. This means that they have a lead with a plug attached and can be placed more or less anywhere, as opposed to being hardwired into a wall. Some examples of these things include kettles, toasters, hairdryers and phone chargers.
What is portable appliance testing (PAT)?
PAT basically means the examination of portable electrical appliances to ensure that they are working correctly and are safe to use. A lot of common problems can be identified almost immediately by just a visual examination, however there are other more complicated issues that require closer and more in depth inspection. All equipment should be tested if there are signs of anything unusual or if they are a new appliance being used in your home.
How often should portable appliances be tested?
This completely comes down to the type of appliance in question, and the conditions in which they are used. So, something that poses more risk of danger or faults, should be tested much more frequently than something that doesn’t and is just a generally danger-free household item. As an example, if the portable appliance was perhaps a tool of some sort, this holds more responsibility and risks than say a kettle in your kitchen. Tools and things should be checked quite regularly depending on how much use they get. If they are used a lot, maybe every few months they should be checked. On the other hand, safer electrical appliances like lamps and hair straighteners for example, should perhaps just be checked around once a year as a precaution.
What if a new portable appliance is damaged?
Whenever you purchase a new portable appliance for your home, no matter what this may be, it should have been thoroughly checked and examined to make sure that it works properly and isn’t damaged or causing any potential risks. However, when you do purchase a new portable electrical appliance, you can give it a visual examination to ensure that everything is normal, and you can also test it to make sure it works correctly. If the product is faulty or damaged, you must contact the place it came from so that they can examine it and give you a replacement if necessary.
If you are in need of any portable appliance testing, simply get in touch with us via our contact page and we will be more than happy to help.
