What is a good brand of socket/switches? Black nickel

[leetodd94]

Hi guys,

My partner and I are in the process of renovating our first property. However I am not a qualified electrician by any means therefore we will be getting someone who knows what they’re doing to do a full property rewire for us.

We’ve had a couple quotes and most electricians want to fit white plastic sockets and switches throughout. That’s fine, but personally we wanted to spend a little extra and fit ‘black nickel’ style switches/sockets.

Originally we’d seen Screwfix’s brand of sockets - LAP. I was well impressed with the price and thought doing the full house in this would be doable, however one electrician who came to quote us advised that we stay well away from LAP because they’re bad quality and cheap.

So I have started looking elsewhere. Schneider was the brand he recommended however the price for Schneider compared to cheaper brands makes it quite a significant increase. I know you get what you pay for but I’m just wondering if anyone has had any experience with a certain brand of socket they like to us which we could get in black nickel finish and won’t break the bank?

We also looked at M2 brand, which was about double the price of LAP but upon researching further, I think this is CEF’s own brand also?

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks guys.

 

[binky]

Hamilton every time for this sort of stuff. LAP is dog poo!

 

[kerching]

LAP..?..good luck with that one!
Schneider
Hamilton
Eurolite
Varilight

 

[Murdoch]

Cheaper brands are always cheap for the obvious reasons

 

[SPECIAL LOCATION]

We’ve had a couple quotes and most electricians want to fit white plastic sockets and switches throughout. That’s fine, but personally we wanted to spend a little extra and fit ‘black nickel’ style switches/sockets.

I think many electricians will be happy to fit whatever style of finish a customer prefers....
But by default would probably quote for standard white finish unless otherwise stated..

Remembering that a basic rule for success in any business is "being able to do what the customer wants at a price you are both happy with"

And.. reality is that far to much stuff is produced in China and labelled with various brand names...
So even some products that used to be "good-quality" British brands... are not always a vast improvement, proportional to the extra cost.

Irrespective of colour choice... one thing to consider is complications that some 'flat-plate' accessories can introduce....
i.e.
If the back-box is not deep enough...
OR If there are additional cables spurred off a particular accessory...
OR If the walls are a bit uneven... etc..
Then getting a flat-plate socket to sit nice and flush to the wall can be a real pain in the rear!

ALSO..
Some flat-plate accessories have 'concealed-screws' and a front plate that just clips on..
But it is fair to say that some of the clipping methods are better than others!!!!

AND...
if you want any sockets that include integral USB charger sockets..
then with some manufactures they could need deeper back boxes, greater than the basic 25mm box!


At the end of the day if a customer specifically wants a particular brand that they like, within their budget...
I will happily fit anything at all..
BUT..
I may not be happy to supply anything at all..
So...
I will either "supply and fit".. Or assist the customer with a list of what they need to supply... for me to fit!


My basic bottom-line evaluation is something along the lines of:-

Does the customer get some goods or service they are happy with?
AND
Do I get a reasonable payment that I am happy with, without any unreasonable liabilities?

If both answers are Yes.. then we are Good-to-Go!

(I am still trying to suss out who actually makes "LAP" stuff for "Screwfix & B&Q"? some stuff looks very similar to "BG" products ?)

On a positive note, if a LAP product does fail within the statutory 12month period then 'Kingfisher', who own both 'B&Q' and 'Screwfix', cannot deny liability as "LAP" is a 'Kingfisher' own-brand product range!

 

[UNG]

I've just done a job using Scolmore Click Deco with the black nickel finish and black inserts, it's quite adaptable when it comes to fitting out a kitchen with it's grid format

 

[Mike P]

Crabtree make a very good black nickel sockets and switches in all combinations, usb etc. Look on-line and you can get them at very competitive prices

 

[BorisJ]

Black nickel is a current fad. After a few years it gets scratched and looks awful. Then you will be changing them to the new current fad. Up to you and your partner of course. Bet you have no matching black nickel 13a matching plugs though.

 

[andy_spark]

Hi guys,

My partner and I are in the process of renovating our first property. However I am not a qualified electrician by any means therefore we will be getting someone who knows what they’re doing to do a full property rewire for us.

We’ve had a couple quotes and most electricians want to fit white plastic sockets and switches throughout. That’s fine, but personally we wanted to spend a little extra and fit ‘black nickel’ style switches/sockets.

Originally we’d seen Screwfix’s brand of sockets - LAP. I was well impressed with the price and thought doing the full house in this would be doable, however one electrician who came to quote us advised that we stay well away from LAP because they’re bad quality and cheap.

So I have started looking elsewhere. Schneider was the brand he recommended however the price for Schneider compared to cheaper brands makes it quite a significant increase. I know you get what you pay for but I’m just wondering if anyone has had any experience with a certain brand of socket they like to us which we could get in black nickel finish and won’t break the bank?

We also looked at M2 brand, which was about double the price of LAP but upon researching further, I think this is CEF’s own brand also?

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks guys.

Off topic regarding switches & sockets, but yesterday I was shown a box of LAP led downlights that my customer would like fitted.
Each light has two separate fold up covers that go over the cable entries, loop in & loop out, and have integrated cable grips. So far so good.
However inside they only have L&N push in terminals, no terminals and indeed no space for CPCs....
Cheap is never usually better.
Whoever has to connect all the LAP sockets won't be impressed by them.

 

[Bruspark]

As a wise sage once said : The good stuff sells well at a high price but the bad stuff only sells well at a low price

 

[Barx]

Crabtree make a very good black nickel sockets and switches in all combinations, usb etc. Look on-line and you can get them at very competitive prices

Had a customer supply their own recently and they were Crabtree. Must admit, I rather liked them both as the installer and the finsh they gave.

 

[Sharpend]

As a wise sage once said : The good stuff sells well at a high price but the bad stuff only sells well at a low price

Is that from the Tao Te Ching ?