Wiring Accessories
Creating Opportunity H
Paul Dawsonfrom Niglondiscusses why quality, design and choice are key drivers for the wiring accessories sector
alf a century ago when Niglon first began supplying the electrical wholesale market with wiring
accessories, no-one could have predicted the level of change that the sector would see over the next 50 years. Back then, wiring accessories were generic, functional products, largely hidden away in the anaglypta of our home interiors and mostly limited to standard sockets and switches. Times have changed. Not only do we require
more wiring accessories in our homes than ever before to power and charge an increasing number of electrical and electronic devices, but we also have more advanced and diverse wiring accessories to install, including dimmer switches, multi-media points and USB charge points. Our aesthetic sensibilities have changed too, and the biggest trend of all is to make your home as individual as you are.
Quality Control for a Technically Advanced Era The proliferation and variety of wiring accessories now found in modern homes ought to ensure that the category has become more differentiated, with contractors and their customers able to select products based on quality rather than simply choosing the commodity item with the cheapest price. Unfortunately, while consumers are often
willing to pay extra for the right look, far too little attention is paid to build quality, design innovation and safety. As a result, some accessories that appear to offer excellent value
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don’t offer the quality that their design-led looks might imply.
A good example of this is the growth in the use of USB charge points and sockets with an integral USB charge facility. With so many of us now needing to charge multiple mobile devices, it’s not uncommon to find several USB points in a domestic installation and most of Niglon’s wiring accessories ranges now offer several USB options. We’re not alone in that, but we have gone the
extra mile in terms of design and quality of the these units because we understand that safely combining a USB point and an ordinary socket in a single unit is a lot more complex than simply putting them both in the same casing and plugging them in. The wiring accessory needs to be smart enough to recognise the different charge requirements of different devices - an iPhone and an iPad operate on different currents for example – and mixing 240v with a 5v output in a USB outlet not only presents the danger of damage to the device but could also increase the risk of an electric shock, or a house fire. When we consider that many of us routinely
leave mobile devices on charge overnight, it becomes clear that technically-basic products that have not been put through a rigorous testing, certification and quality assurance process could present an unacceptable level of risk to the end user. Conversely, all of Niglon’s USB-enabled wiring accessories have been fully-certified and safety approved, with a differentiated current for the socket and USB charge point and smart technology to detect when the mobile device is
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fully charged, preventing over-charging, which can damage the device and waste energy. These high quality standards are applied across
the Niglon range and wholesalers should be aware when discussing product choices with contractors that wiring accessories may appear to be like for like products but appearances can be deceiving. It is always advisable to understand the detail of the technical spec and certification.
Creating the Look While contractors and end users should never be seduced by wiring accessories that offer the right look but let them down on quality, there is no doubt that buyers are influenced by aesthetics. And with DDA legislation ensuring that wiring
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