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Griffbabe, your buzzing dimmer is not necessarily due to the load - some dimmers buzz, end of story. If you leave your 250W dimmer connected to 300W of halogens it will probably burn out before you can replace the lamps with LEDs. Not all LEDs are dimmable, and those that are need a...

You mentioned a stud in the wall? Does that mean it's plasterboard - in which case cutting it open to insert an FCU needn't disrupt your decoration. If it's a stud for lath and plaster it's a different matter of course ... pj

Health and Safety Executive - this would come under their remit if the landlord or agent doesn't do anything. HSE has more clout and is more likely to use it than the local council, who usually know naff all about electrics PJ

It's OK to do that, but may not be as economic as you think. As you have Economy 7 your "daytime" rate will be higher than would otherwise be the case. Check out the supplier tariffs that would be available if you didn't have the E7. pj

Or loose wiring. Try tightening all the terminals, including those inside the light fittings assuming you can get at them. pj

Any recent work done around the house, even something as simple as putting up a picture? As the upstairs lighting circuit starts downstairs the wiring has to get upstairs, so a nail in the wall could be downstairs. Check the light fittings - I recently had a similar symptom, which turned out to...

At the risk of dragging this back to the original question, has everyone missed a simple and obvious error Total £517.00 Plus VAT @20% £162.62 TOTAL £975.62 Admittedly I went to school back when we still had to learn our times tables, and education has improved enormously since then...

And have you double checked the connections at all points - cooker, outlet, isolator - that you haven't crossed L and N somewhere? We can all do that in a senior moment PJ

Maybe it's because we're electricians some of us have problems thinking in terms of "without wire". The whole point of a wireless system is to avoid lifting floorboards and running cables everywhere. If it's new build or a full refurb and the walls and floors are open then fine, run in the...

Basically, yes. The old mechanical sort relies on a slow-release spring to set the time. The newer ones are electronic and have a basic electronic timer on a chip in the back. There is/used to be a type that used a central control box to set the time, but I haven't seen them around very much. PJ

Put in the right position it's supposed to stop the cable coming off the reel, but I've never known it to work very effectively. but like all such things, once a manufacturer has started something they never know when to stop PJ

My mistake, I meant to type "earth or neutral", cos of course the line (live) is separate. PJ

But you're trying to identify the circuitry so you will be going near the electrics - can't be avoided. As has been explained, without a sure-fire circuit diagram (which you haven't got and they've never existed in the wild anyway) the only way to check which socket outlets are on which circuit...

Can you clarify - you say the fuse for light and power is one switch - is it a switch (circuit breaker) or a fuse (a piece of wire that breaks when it overloads)? Photo of the box and its contents would help us. If you truly have the power and lighting all through the same fuse/switch it...

If you've not touched anything then quite possibly it's the MCB itself. If you feel competent/happy enough, move the offending circuit to another MCB, see if the fault goes with it. If it doesn't, it's the MCB; if it does, you'll need to look somewhere elsse but at least you've ruled out the MCB...

If you don't have an earth, and if you are getting shocks from your appliances, the landlord is not fulfilling his duty of care towards you as his tenant (and likely his other tenants by the sound of it). I think you would be entitled to go to the Health and Safety Executive for advice and...

Probably, having been overloaded for 2.37 hours

Another potential problem with swapping a pendant for a recessed downlight is that the pendant might be screwed to a joist, or even wired through it. In which case the downlight will have to be offset several inches rather than replacing in the same spot. pj

To connect the neutrals together use a connector block, aka choc block, but you'll need to have it tucked away somewhere safe where it can't be touched - inside the switch box is a good place. Just because you've got a double insulated fitting, don't cut back the earth wire (cpc) in case it's...

When I followed the link to EBay the page included the advert: "You're in safe hands when you shop on E-Bay". So it must be all right PJ