Pete Arrow is our ‘Sparky of The Month’.
Pete Arrow, Company Director of Arrow and Son Ltd., speaks to Zano Controls about a high-spec domestic project, the challenges of industry pricing and a time where Zano’s ZBARLED300 came to the rescue.
Name: Pete Arrow
Company: Arrow and Son Ltd.
Location: Guildford, Surrey
Why did you become an electrician?
I always enjoyed building things growing up – particularly playing with Knex and Lego. For my birthday, I once received a robot building kit and the wiring was fantastic. With my dad working in the building industry, he suggested I give electrics a go - I have never looked back!
What do you enjoy most about your job?
Fixing faults and seeing projects turn around, as job satisfaction is always a great feeling. I also really enjoy working with apprentices. I have my own apprentices and work closely with a couple of colleges. It’s always so rewarding seeing their personal development.
What's the most interesting job you've completed to date?
A high-spec domestic project with lots of fancy indoor lighting – also, switches and outside lighting with 36m of LED tape. The design process was more in depth than I have usually dealt with in the past. It was great when we came to commission, and everything worked first time.
Being able to work with someone with an eye for detail and a substantial budget was also really fun. I got to push myself to see what I was capable of creating as an electrician, and I was also able to bring in a few contractors I met on Twitter to help out, which was a great experience.
What are the biggest challenges you face day-to-day?
The biggest challenge for me is between industry pricing and resolving poor work, that has been left for us to fix.
The prices we are competing against are scary. Contractors are pricing complete jobs for less than I can buy materials for - something is clearly being missed.
Alongside this, poor work is something we face daily, often having to fix installations that should never have needed fixing in the first place. This probably amounts for about 50% of our work.
What services have been most in demand this year?
Underfloor heating installations. Both electric systems and wet controls have taken lots of our time this year. Being approved contractors from a few of the manufacturers has certainly paid off – luckily, it’s something we all enjoy doing.
Fun fact about you?
I play guitar and I used to be in a band! We were awful, but I had a great time making noise.
How did you find out about Zano Controls?
I swapped wholesalers and Zano were their dimmer brand of choice.
What's the biggest LED dimming problem you've faced?
Interestingly, it was a problem that Zano was able to solve. We were constructing an oak-framed building with high ceilings. We had about 30 downlights split across zones and the client wanted to dim from multiple locations. Having done my research, it was the Zano ZBARLED300 that best met all the requirements.
We fitted 4 of these and everything worked with no flickering or delays. It was a simple, cost-effective solution that got the job completed.
What's your go-to Zano product?
The ZMO150 is probably the most used, although the ZBARLED300 was an impressive product I wish we could use more.
If you could rewire anyone's house, who would it be?
I enjoy a bit of cooking, so I’d like to work on a chef’s house - probably Gordon Ramsay as he seems the sort of guy who knows what he wants. It’s always helpful when a client has a vision as opposed to trying to draw the information from them with lots of questions. Plus, if he wasn’t happy with anything I’m sure he would let us know!
Think you have what it takes to be our next Sparky of The Month? Be sure to share your installations and projects with us, and it may just be your face appearing in our next Sparky’s Corner! For any project or product enquiries, please call the team on 0345 519 5858 and we will be happy to help.
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