domestic electrics in a garage

[doyle]

hi guys,

im just looking for a bit of advise, ive recently refurbed my garage new roof new windows now its being rendered to weatherproof it a bit more.

the burning question is we have via extension lead electric in our garage and what im about to say could proberbly be dangerous and ludicrous at the least.

if an extension lead is used to supply power can the cable be chopped and a rose fitted to supply a ceiling flouresent light and a freezer, the extension lead is four point and currently supplies a freezer a small lamp and power tools when needed although not all are in use at anyone time with exception to the freezer, the lead is basically plugged into a internal socket.

the daily supply is to feed the freezer without lighting during the day and maybe run the odd power tool over short time and infrequently.

night time use would be to supply freezer and supply light for a longer period on an hour or so no power tools to be used or anything else.

i have considered a dedicated supply direct from fuse box however this im afraid is more difficult than said, our electric meter is below stairs in an internal cupboard which is closed of from the gable end so no route available for new cable.

hallway is laminted floor and wifee doesnt want it ripping up

routing via internaly underfloor will mean emptyin two rooms and lifting flooring.

extenal below drive means ripping up concrete drive if i can but i cant as yet find a route to feed cable.

your proffesional opinion and advise is welcomed as to what existing electrics i can pick up on to run applainces in the domestic if at all possible
regards
terry

 

[RF Lighting]

No it's simply not acceptable to leave this setup like it is, and I think by the fact you're asking on here you realise this too.

There may well be an easy route from your fusebox which you aren't aware of, or maybe a nearby circuit could be extended into the garage.

Why not invite a local ectrician around to take a look for you and see what he thinks would be the best option for you?

 

[PrenticeBoyofDerry]

As above, not really acceptable. Potential hazards of extension lead running outside on a permanent basis are extremely great. The extension will only be rated for 13A max, so although your freezer and a light will be happy on it, introducing power tools to the load could give you fusing issues.
There is most probably a route that can be taken directly from the fuse box, does this fuse box have RCD protection, if not another reason for not having an extension lead feed to garage.
How far is garage from property/fuse box, any secure walls to fix to, what about supporting cable at height?

 

[doyle]

cheers guys,

cable is secured to wall using clips and runs through some ducting at aprox 7 ft high. garage is only 6-8 feet from rear of property, hence asking can a existing supply be tapped into ie downstairs ring mains or anything feeding maybe one or two seprate rcd fuses lights and sockets.

i have seen seperate rcd's so if a cable is run would one circuit be ok to feed both lights and sockets or would they need to be independent circuit from fuse to outlet.

i can of course talk to a sparky however it is usefull to have some knowlege of what is best when an electrician is appointed.
what im trying to avoid is the worst case scenario sparky turning up and saying drive up do this that and the other thats 2k please for something that could be avoided or work minimalised but safe. ie not diyin it.

 

[doyle]

forgotton what edition the electrics conformed to i think it was 15 or 16th rewired ten years ago on rcd consumer unit

 

[doyle]

sorry about all self replies, but just had a thought.

all our down stair scokets are ring mains, i beleive you can take a spur of a ring main but not a spur of a spur or something like that not sure.

if a suitably experienced person does the work is it possible that he/she could tap into the ring main and connect a spur for several sockets.

were opting for plug in lighting instead of direct mains.
second part would be overhead or below ground cable run, if overhead i presume cable would have to be protected ducting ect, would twin and earth surfice for this.

below ground again presumption tells me armoured cable for this but what size armoured cable ar we talking about

 

[dhutch]

Depending on what else is on the ring, and what you want to run in the garage, it may be an option to take a suitably protected spur off the existing ring along a suitable specified cable to the garage.

However, as said, the thing to do now is to get someone in to look at it.

If you have only one ring down stairs, with the kitchen on it, the upstairs ring might be an option, but again, without knowing the details or being a suitable qualified electrician its hard to say. Im also not aware of the exact requirments of running cables aerially.


Daniel