Distance between switches?

[diy457]

Is there a minimum or regulation distance between switches on a wall?

I'm having a new kitchen fitted and need a total of 8 fused / spur switches. I came home and found the electrician has created a grid of 9 (including 1 single socket) which are about 90mm apart - looks stupid, like some commercial / warehouse property light switch panel.

Ill ask him Monday to put them all closer but i can't find distance so to plan how i want him to do.

Anyone tell me if i need to keep them a certain distance? Otherwise ill tell him 15mm.

Thanks.

 

[vibrobullit407]

Simple answer. No!

 

[xdave]

You can fit them as close as the face plates will allow, although normally a gap of 15mm or so would look better and be easier to keep clean.

However what was asked of your electrician before he fitted them? Normal practise in a kitchen would be to place to switches near to the appliances they control unless one needed to be moved due to a sink or hob, etc. Unless you are creating a switch panel (when you would probably use densely packed grid switches) it would look very strange having 8 individual switches right next to each other.

 

[sparkwright]

Ill ask him Monday to put them all closer but i can't find distance so to plan how i want him to do.

That'll please him.

 

[vibrobullit407]

That'll please him.

I'll bet!

 

[securespark]

Pictures please!

This arrangement does sound extremely odd.

A grid is more usual and neater by far. Or, as has been said, a switch local to each appliance.

But, unless you are paying extra for him to re do the work, it is important how you asked him to do this work in the first place.

 

[diy457]

Yes, due to kitchen configuration there is no space to put them near each appliance. There is a oven, hob, extractor hood, fridge, washer, dryer and boiler all next to each other so no real under wall cabinet worktop space to put them - so it just seemed easier to put them altogether on a partition wall.

I asked him to put them all TOGETHER within the counter area ie. 60cm from wall. But with a 90mm gap between each its spaced out way over - so he got it wrong.

I just worked out with 15mm gap between each you can get them all within a 385mm x 185mm grid.

Its on a plasterboard partition so he just has to cut out the plasterboard peice (which im paying for, prob 4 quid worth) and screw in a new peice & redo it.

The wont be pleased ... but then if he had any sense of aesthetics he would have done it properly.

 

[diy457]

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

 

[xdave]

The wont be pleased ... but then if he had any sense of aesthetics he would have done it properly.

What he has done looks odd, but no odder than your intended design. Personally I think 8 single switches next to each other would look very strange. Why not use grid switches? You can get plates in virtual any colour and arrangement. Something like this (although two 4s would better if you are having a socket too):



With switches like:

 

[diy457]

We just found grid system browsing the web - very good.

Xdave / anyone - Do you know where i can get it exactly like you have in diagram for Uk appliance usage - 13A? Im half guessing the 13A fuse is in the switch...

I had a look at screwfix but they don't seem to do everything and i didnt see 13A fused..

Anyone help? Because i would buy this grid plate instantly.. saves all the hassle and looks million times better.

 

[JohnD]

Opinions differ.

A bank of individual switches looks a bit cumbersome, In a house, I prefer to have a switch or FCU above each appliance. Perhaps your electrician has only done domestic installations.

That said, a large set of gridswitches makes it quite easy to operate the wrong one. My commercial premises has a box of (I think about) 24 for lighting of the public area, and you do have to look with care if you want to turn on or off any individual circuits. Maybe I should get different coloured switches or something.

diy457, you can get them at any proper electrical supplier. The pics above are from a wholesaler called TLC but there will be at least one in your town, probably on an industrial estate. The 13A or other fuse takes up one grid position, same as the switch. They are often placed directly underneath the associated switch.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

fused / spur switches.

Why fused?

Are the appliances being connected via flex outlet plates or unfused plugs?

Xdave / anyone - Do you know where i can get it exactly like you have in diagram for Uk appliance usage - 13A? Im half guessing the 13A fuse is in the switch...

No - the switches have no fuses - you need separate fuse modules in the grid plate.

Or not - as per first Q.


The other thing you need is a new electrician - anyone who would do what he did without even suggesting a grid is gormless.

Do you want someone gormless doing your electrics? What other daft things might he do?

Or he's so inexperienced and ignorant that he's never seen/heard of them.

Do you want someone inexperienced and ignorant doing your electrics? What else might he not know about?

Don't know where you found him, but put him back and get someone who knows what they are doing.

 

[xdave]

Any electrical wholesaler will stock them, or be able to get them in for your electrician. The ones I've shown are MK Logic Plus ones.

If you need to fit fuses at the switch, rather than functional switching of unswitched sockets at the appliances, then you would need to fit grid fuse holders like these:

You would then need 16 grid slots for the 8x switches and 8x fuses.

Personally I would fuse the appliances at the point you terminate their flex unless you are expecting one to overload... in which case pick a different appliance. I've never had an appliance fuse blow when it hasn't been a fault that required the appliance to be removed anyway.

 

[Adam_151]

Xdave / anyone - Do you know where i can get it exactly like you have in diagram for Uk appliance usage - 13A? Im half guessing the 13A fuse is in the switch...

Those are 20A DP switches, there is no fuse in there, if circuit design requires a fuse, then separate grid fuse carriers are available but these will take up an additional grid way.

Whether a ring final circuit can be looped through the supply terminals of a bank of devices rated at 20A and comply with BS7671 is another matter... although perhaps the bigger issue is the concenrtating of a high load on one spot of a ring... becomes an issue if its closer to one end than the other rather in centre. Realistically a whole bunch of 16A radial circuits would be about the best possible solution

 

[sparkwright]

You're not called Barratt by any chance?

If you were to have nine separate boxes in the wall, they couldn't be so close together as it appears the electrician is using plasterboard boxes, which need some plasterboard all around so the flanges have something to grip to. To get them close together, a wooden noggin must be fitted, and metal boxes used.

If all those switches were butted up to each other I think that would look even worse and more cluttered than how your electrician is proposing.

However, as already suggested, grid switches are the answer.

It MAY be the case that only some of the switches will need a fuse, depending on how the appliances are to be connected at the other ends, and what size cables have been used.

You need to discuss this with your electrician before you buy anything.
It may be the case you can do this arrangement with some regular 'double' size plasterboard boxes, but the deep 48 mm boxes will be best as they will allow more space for all that wiring. He may appreciate a call first so he can buy what he needs before he goes to your place.

You're not expecting the poor man to fit the new plasterboard as well, are you?