I have just begun to explore, and map out the electrics in a house we have bought. These are the circuits attached to the CU:
1. 15A - unused
2. 15A - attached to only 1 socket next to CU
3. 30A - cooker
4. 45A-downstairs power shower
5. 15A - ALL LIGHTS – whole house including 1 in loft and in Ground
floor utility room & lean-to. (total 14 lights). Also exhaust fans in DS
& US bathrooms, and scale inhibitor in DS bathroom.
6. 30A - ALL PLUG SOCKETS. Including supply to summer house, lean-
to, and loft power socket. + BOILER. Covering an area of about 100m2
Firstly, I am concerned about the number of lights on the 1 lighting circuit. Although I am also a little confused as, from all I have seen, lighting circuits are usually only 4/5A, whereas ours is 15A. Does this mean I don’t have to worry about only having 12 x 100W lights on the circuit? If I use energy-saver bulbs (which are only 20W each) does this solve the problem?
Secondly, the 30A circuit supplying all sockets + the boiler is very close to it’s maximum area allowance (and would exceed it with 1 simple spur socket I would like to add upstairs). I plan to have an electrician get rid of all of the old and poorly installed summer house wiring, as well as the downstairs power shower (this 2nd bathroom is to be converted to utility room). I then thought he could use the existing 45A circuit (formerly for the power shower) to supply power to the summer house and garden. Does that sound feasible?
1. 15A - unused
2. 15A - attached to only 1 socket next to CU
3. 30A - cooker
4. 45A-downstairs power shower
5. 15A - ALL LIGHTS – whole house including 1 in loft and in Ground
floor utility room & lean-to. (total 14 lights). Also exhaust fans in DS
& US bathrooms, and scale inhibitor in DS bathroom.
6. 30A - ALL PLUG SOCKETS. Including supply to summer house, lean-
to, and loft power socket. + BOILER. Covering an area of about 100m2
Firstly, I am concerned about the number of lights on the 1 lighting circuit. Although I am also a little confused as, from all I have seen, lighting circuits are usually only 4/5A, whereas ours is 15A. Does this mean I don’t have to worry about only having 12 x 100W lights on the circuit? If I use energy-saver bulbs (which are only 20W each) does this solve the problem?
Secondly, the 30A circuit supplying all sockets + the boiler is very close to it’s maximum area allowance (and would exceed it with 1 simple spur socket I would like to add upstairs). I plan to have an electrician get rid of all of the old and poorly installed summer house wiring, as well as the downstairs power shower (this 2nd bathroom is to be converted to utility room). I then thought he could use the existing 45A circuit (formerly for the power shower) to supply power to the summer house and garden. Does that sound feasible?