Blog Sparks Direct
the Heritage Brass Euro Module plates help you customize your devices!
Posted by sparksdirect in ask Mr Sparks, customer service, guest expert, new technologies, switches and sockets, technical data, website update on May 14, 2012
There are many “standard combinations” of wiring devices which people purchase and use. You have the twin socket, the double switch, the triple dimmer, etc. They come “as standard”, and all you can choose is the type of the plate (stepped, flat, raised, etc) and the finish (brass, nickel, stainless steel, black nickel, etc). They are also the most common ones, being installed in new dwellings / offices by default.
To customize and search for the standard combination of wiring devices at Sparks, try our Switches and Sockets Wizard.
But what about the cases when you want your own combination of wiring devices? You want an elite stepped plate in brushed chrome with a BT phone socket and an audio socket, or an HDMI socket. Or maybe you want a dimmer, a switch, and a telephone socket / audio socket! What about these more peculiar yet more customized situations?
The Euro Module Plates from Heritage Brass
The solution is simple – most manufacturers offer you now ONLY THE PLATE – you purchase the finish and the plate you need, and then you can select the modules you want to be on the plate! Recently we updated our website with the Heritage Brass Euro Module plates – you can select the desired finish and plate and then purchase the Euro Modules separately!
It is becoming now increasingly popular that you have in your home / office not only the classical combinations of wiring devices but more customized ones according to the need!
What you will need to take care of is that the plates and the finishes would match everywhere in the room / in the house! If you install the Heritage Brass stepped plate in polished brass, the rest of the plates of the devices in the house have to match this one! You have full power to mix-and-match the Euro modules as needed – just select the plate and the specific modules!
Take a look at the existing Euro Module plates from Heritage Brass, or take a look at the other Modular and Grid Systems – mainly the MK, GET, or other Euro Plates and modules. Please accept our apologies for the lack of pictures, but as soon as we work it out with the manufacturer, we will update this detail also.
Sparks Electrical on Pinterest: Pinning the Coolest Pictures at Sparks!
Posted by sparksdirect in articles at Sparks, ask Mr Sparks, customer service, electrical safety tips, energy saving lights, products pictures, technical data on May 11, 2012
The new fad is definitely Pinterest – facebook is becoming more social and not very productive, while google+ now allows all kinds of fake accounts. Whenever we share something that mentions the word “LED” on google+ we need to start deleting the spam and self-promoting comments from a lot of random Chinese LED “manufacturers”…
On Pinterest it’s fun – you can follow people or only some of their boards according to your interest, you can re-pin cool pictures your friends found and shared, you can like pictures, you can comment on them… And if you use a browser, you can install a small bookmarklet which allows you to “pin the pictures” on your favourite articles, pages, etc.
But enough on that – you can read a lot about Pinterest online, and there are a lot of infographics and explanations, etc everywhere online. Below we are introducing some of our current boards – Sparks and Lights on Pinterest at SparksDirect!
Stylish Light Fittings at Sparks on Pinterest
Compiling the most stylish light fittings at sparksdirect.co.uk – either from the blogs or from our website.
Pinning the Switches and Sockets at Sparks
A large collection of switches, sockets, dimmers, and other wiring devices at Sparks and Lights.
Electrical Safety and Security on Pinterest
Pictures related the electrical safety and electrical security – collected from the internet, very useful.
Cool from our friends on Pinterest
We have many friends / followers on Pinterest, and here’s some of the coolest pictures pinned by them.
Pins of Energy Saving Devices at Sparks
Lights, light bulbs, light fixtures, and tips on saving the energy and energy efficient devices.
Where else can you find us online? Check the, Sparks Electrical on the Social Networks – in pictures!
Three Energy Saving Wall Lights from Astro Lighting for a modern bathroom
Posted by sparksdirect in articles at Sparks, bathroom lights, energy saving lights, guest expert, products pictures, website update on May 10, 2012
The modern bathrooms need not only the modern bathtub, shower, sink, tiling, and interior decoration, but also a solid range of modern light fittings. The bathroom ceiling lights are becoming more obsolete as they are being replaced by the wall light fixtures which allow you to highlight the area of the bathroom you are using.
You can use the bathroom wall lights by highlighting the area around the mirror – and it is here that we can recommend at least three wall lights from Astro Lighting. They are all energy saving, guaranteeing you don’t waste energy but are mindful of the environment. Below you can see how these energy efficient fittings from Astro look like in a modern bathroom.
The Kyoto 0386 Modern Bathroom Wall Light
The Astro Lighting 0386 Kyoto fitting is a small wall uplighter fully IP44 rated, allowing you to use it in zone 3 (outside of the reach of splashing water). Energy saving fitting with a polished chrome base and a white opaque glass shade in a tubular shape.
Mashiko 0550 above / besides mirror wall light
Energy saving strip light with a full IP44 rating, the Astro Lighting Mashiko 0550 is 36cm long and 8cm wide, ideal for being located above or beside the bathroom mirror for offering exactly the light you need to take care of your personal hygiene.
Astro Romano 0667 Bathroom Wall Striplight
The Astro Lighting 0667 wall strip light is an energy saving fitting available in 600mm, 900mm, and 1200mm lengths, ideally mounted besides the mirror or above the mirror in the bathroom. Fully IP44 rated and with a polished chrome finish, this fitting is energy saving!
Read our previous article introducing Three Excellent Bathroom Mirror Lights from Astro Lighting.
Top 7 Tips for Ordering Stuff Online – Online Shoping Done Securely
Posted by admin in articles at Sparks, ask Mr Sparks, customer service, guest expert, in-house announcements, security systems on May 9, 2012
There are many top lists for making sure that the website you’re ordering from is safe to purchase from, and they are all right! Below we have compiled a small list with our top 7 tips, which is not exhaustive neither is it minimal. Before you order online anything, you need to do some research and some simple checks – to make sure the online shopping is secure and safe!
Top 7 tips for ordering stuff online
- Contact Details – no matter how nice the website is and how low the prices may be, don’t even think of purchasing anything from a website that has no solid contact details in the Contact Us area. Don’t get fooled by a PO Box, an email address for contact, or even a Contact Form!
- No Second-Hand products – even though you may care for the price, it is not recommended to purchase items that are second-hand, used, or that have a picture showing either of these. Purchasing something that is new (and it is clearly stated so) will insure you did your part in getting a high quality product.
- Secure Payment – When ordering online make sure that the website has that padlock of “Secure Payments” at the bottom of the screen when you are filling in the payment details. The payment area needs to be “secure” and the URL address starting with “https://”. Don’t pay via Western Union or any other “nobody-heard-of” payment websites.
- Price Check – If you’re looking for something that you need urgently and you can afford it, you can simply “buy from the first website in the google search results”. Otherwise, it is recommended that you research the prices of the model number / range you’re looking for. At SparksDirect we offer you the most competitive prices for many ranges – check and see for yourself!
- Customer Reviews – Many website have customer reviews integrated on the site itself, while others use a third party customer reviews website. In any case, before you purchase from an online store that you never purchased from, it is good to research what others say about that store. Other users’ opinion matters!
- Terms and Conditions – though you may think you know how things operate online and what the general Terms and Conditions look like, it is very good to check the TOS, the Returns Policy, and the Privacy Statement of an online store before you purchase from them!
- Keep Records of Your Orders – do not just order online and that’s it! Make a note of the online orders you place and their promise of delivery, so as to track them and make sure they arrive on time. It is good to be organized in this respect, so that your finances would be in order and you would not lose money or time.
For this article we were inspired from our own experience and from the Shoppers Guide via ESC. Picture source: search for Safe Online Shopping.
New modern LED garden lights – curved LED wall or ground light fittings
Posted by sparksdirect in all-time best-seller, articles at Sparks, energy saving lights, guest expert, lighting systems, new light fittings, products pictures, technical data, website update on May 4, 2012
If you follow us via the NewLights blog you will have noticed that we are introducing several of our new LED outdoor lights ranges. Some of the more modern LED fittings for exterior use include the “curved LED ground lights“. Coming in a silver grey or a dark grey, they are either small or tall, and their head is a bit curved / arched.
The small size LED garden lights with a curved shape come with a wall bracket – just in case you want to mount it on the wall and not on the ground. The full IP55 rating allows you to safely install these fittings in areas where it rains, where there’s dust and particles, and anywhere in the garden.
One of the main incentives when it comes to the outdoor lighting – the garden lights, the wall lights, the garage lights, etc – is the energy consumption. The outdoor light fixtures should not consume too much energy, so the LED fittings are a logical and most welcomed solution for both domestic and more commercial use.
The curved head of these lamps gives the impression the light is being shed only downwards, but the whole area around these fittings is being lit up. The new LED garden lights use 32 cool white LEDs with a 4000K, in total a 3W LEd lamp. The material they are made of is diecast aluminium – solid, robust, and weatherproof!
Before you buy them, take a look at this picture article introducing the new curved LED garden lights, or check out the smaller curved LED light in silver grey and the Longer LED garden light in silver grey. On our website they can be easily found via,
- Longer LED curved garden lights in silver grey or in dark grey;
- Curved LED ground / wall shorter lights in silver grey or dark grey.