do i need a re-wire? old TRS cabling ...

[jujhimup]

I would do so yes, you need to tell him where you want sockets. He will use whatever style you want.

more specifically, will he need to know where appliances go? (ie cooker) and that kind of thing.

 

[JohnD]

You will have to tell him (unless you want him to guess).

In a kitchen, I recommend a row of outlets 200mm above worktop height, cable run horizontally between them. An outlet every 600mm is not too many. At each position where you intend, or may one day decide, to put an under-counter appliance, put a 20A DP switch above feeding an unswitched 13A socket below. At each position where you may want an appliance above (like a cooker hood or an extractor fan) put an FCU feeding a flex outlet near the ceiling.

This method is very economical in time and materials.

You can run the circuit all the way round the walls (except at doorways).

 

[bernardgreen]

Best to draw a plan of each floor the house and mark up each room where you need sockets, lights switches etc. In the kitchen mark up where the cooker and appliances are ( or will be ).

Add more sockets than you think you will need and remember that the new radiators will cover some of the walls.

Have separate feeds for the fridge and freezer so they will not go off if the RCD is tripped.

Consider an emergency lamp over the stairs / by front door / in the kitchen etc. All the electrician has to do for these is provide the lighting feed to the location.

Lots of planning is worth the peace of mind afterwards.

 

[jujhimup]

In a kitchen, I recommend a row of outlets 200mm above worktop height, cable run horizontally between them. An outlet every 600mm is not too many. At each position where you intend, or may one day decide, to put an under-counter appliance, put a 20A DP switch above feeding an unswitched 13A socket below. At each position where you may want an appliance above (like a cooker hood or an extractor fan) put an FCU feeding a flex outlet near the ceiling.

This method is very economical in time and materials.

You can run the circuit all the way round the walls (except at doorways).

John,

thanks for the great info

if i can ask - how can i put what you wrote above to the electrician, in more simple terms, to ensure that he does it this way?

sorry for the many questions .... realy appreciate your help.

jujhimup

 

[JohnD]

I'm sure he'll understand!

You can print it out and show him if you like.

Maybe he's already read it (or written it, who can say?)

 

[plugwash]

we have gone ahead and decided to get a full rewire done, at the same time as the central heating goes in.

with regards to planning - what do we need to know/tell the electrician?
do we need to tell him what kind of sockets, switches, light fittings, cooker, hob, fan, shower ... etc etc that we want to use? as we would be redecorating all the house after these works anyway - so would it help to know exactly what fixtures/fittings we plan to use? or doesnt it matter too much?

The more you tell them the more likely the result is to match what you want and the more comparable your quotes from different electricians are likely to be with each other.

You will want to plan the layout of your kitchen and the location of any other heavy loads. I would get a cooker circuit put in even if you plan to have a gas cooker for now. Same applies to thinks like shower circuits, it may be worth having them put in now even if you don't plan to use them immediately.

If you plan to fit fancy light fittings ask for the lighting wiring to be done loop at switch rather than loop at light as many fancy fittings are not designed to take multiple cables.

decide where you want sockets and lighting points including wall lighting. I gave some advice on sockets earlier

think about how you want the socket and lighting circuits arranged. The norm is upstairs/downstairs/kitchen 32A ring mains for sockets and upstairs/downstairs for lights. There is a lot to be said for a dedicated non-rcd circuit for the freezer especially if you go on holiday with stuff still in it.

think also about what kind of consumer unit you want. Split load boards are the cheap and imo nasty option. RCBOs split out the RCD protection per circuit reducing both the change of unwanted tripping and the disruption caused when one does trip but are quite a bit more expensive (probablly a couple of hundred on the cost of the job depending on how many circuits you have).

 

[JohnD]

... I went for the RCBO option as it seems straightforward and....well, I like em. They're sexy!

maybe I'll let you look at my stash of RCBO pictures

 

[Albert]

I am sure you have a PC in the house, don't put one double socket there you will need many more; PC, monitor, speakers, printer, modem, scanner etc.

I agree that the RCBO option is the most practical, although more expensive, 99% of the installations I involved in I use in this option if it would be totally my decision It would be 100% (Not all circuits need to be on RCBO).

 

[ColJack]

a particular style of sockets and switches will affect the quoted price as it's usually done with basic white plastic in mind..

things like dimmers and suh also affect the price..

while it's usefull to get plumbers and electricians in at the same time to minimise disruption, it's not adviseable to utilise the same "holes" in the floorboards as the plumber will be drilling holes or notching the joists, as will the sparky.

the cables should also not be run over or very close to the hot pipes as it degrades the insulation faster and also adds to the derating factors for cable sizes.. ( ambient temp ).


it's very possible that an "unocupied" house would reduce the quote from both trades by a couple of hundred pounds each..
if you have a friend or relative that doesn't mind house sitting during the day when the trades are there then you can go on holiday for a week.. or try a b'n'b..

 

[dingbat]

Once the floor is up, electric cable runs will be quicker than the arterial CH, HW and CW feeds. So although both teams will work in common areas, there shouldn't be too many issues of engineer traffic congestion.

Despite their having to work side by side on larger projects there are fewer worse combinations than plumbers versus sparks. I can pretty much guarantee that they will be in each other's way the whole time they are there. It will also make a huge difference if you have self-employed tradesmen in than on-the-books guys, as far as cooperation is concerned.

I would seriously recommend that whilst it is a good idea for the two trades to have some dialogue, you get the electrics done first. As has been mentioned, the work will be go so much more smoothly in an unoccupied house.

 

[ricicle]

I would seriously recommend you get the electrics done first.

So the plumber can scorch the cables with his blowlamp

 

[ColJack]

I am sure you have a PC in the house, don't put one double socket there you will need many more; PC, monitor, speakers, printer, modem, scanner etc.

one double socket is plenty for a PC as it's best to use a surge surpressed 4 or 6 way extension lead to feed it..

this usually has the added advantage of several thousands of pounds worth of insurance attatched to it..

 

[LIVEWIRE 100]

DONT FORGET MAKE SURE YOU USE A PART P REGISTERED ELECTRICIAN/COMPANY .

 

[plugwash]

I am sure you have a PC in the house, don't put one double socket there you will need many more; PC, monitor, speakers, printer, modem, scanner etc.

I honestly wouldn't bother.If you put in enough sockets to plug everything directly into the wall and later decide to move the PC setup the row of sockets left behind isn't going to look nice. PC equipment doesn't draw much power so imo there is nothing wrong with using a couple of power strips that can be easilly moved if you move the PC rig. Also its a good idea to have surge protection for PC setups and generally the easist way to get that is a suitable power strip (you can get surge protected fixed sockets but i don't think they are cheap.

 

[Albert]

I honestly wouldn't bother.If you put in enough sockets to plug everything directly into the wall and later decide to move the PC setup the row of sockets left behind isn't going to look nice. PC equipment doesn't draw much power so imo there is nothing wrong with using a couple of power strips that can be easilly moved if you move the PC rig. Also its a good idea to have surge protection for PC setups and generally the easist way to get that is a suitable power strip (you can get surge protected fixed sockets but i don't think they are cheap.

I don't think that PCs move very often, in any case this is what called design... The same way we can put in power strips for the kitchen appliences, the lounge where you will have your TV, video player, DVD Hi-Fi etc. I agree that the power strip at the end of the day is cheaper but is this a good design... IMO this is not.