New Bathroom Fan Heater Help!

[thomasp]

Hi all, hope someone can help with this particular question.

Here's the situation - my 2kw bathroom fan heater recently stopped working so I purchased a new 2kw fan heater and installed it no problem.

The thing is after installation I noticed that the instructions (in very small type I might add) ask for the supply to the heater to be connected to a double pole switch.

Now, as it stands at the moment, I installed the heater just like the previous one i.e. the supply comes straight out of a blank 13 amp outlet to the heater.

Is the switch strictly necessary, in other words, is the heater dangerous as it's currently installed?

Thanks in advance. Thomas.

 

[Lectrician]

What type of switch does it come from?
Where is this switch?
Is it a fused switch?
What circuit is it fed from?
What distance is it from the bath/shower, and how high?
Are you aware there should be supplementary equipotential bonding provided in a bathroom to comply to BS7671? (many older properties do not have this)




And finally.....bathroom.....Part P......we wont mention that.

 

[rhino36]

Double pole switches isolate the supply to the phase and neutral of the appliance. As it stands you have a permanent feed to your heater even when it is switched off, if as you described the feed comes from a blank 13A outlet. The intention is to remove the supply from an area where it may come in contact with water increasing the risk of electric shock.

 

[thomasp]

Double pole switches isolate the supply to the phase and neutral of the appliance. As it stands you have a permanent feed to your heater even when it is switched off, if as you described the feed comes from a blank 13A outlet. The intention is to remove the supply from an area where it may come in contact with water increasing the risk of electric shock.

Okay, that is exactly the situation, the heater has a permanent feed even when switched off.

Now, is that *in itself* a dangerous thing? Could that cause an electrical fire by itself?

The heater fulfills all the installation instructions as regards height from floor, shower, door etc and is in no danger of direct contact with water or abnormal condensation.

@ lectrician: thanks for the reply - I have no knowledge of BS7671 whatsoever, just a diy-er I'm afraid.

I've attached a link to a couple of photos:

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2005-2/951254/DSC00584.JPG

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2005-2/951254/DSC00585.JPG

A bit dark but show the general layout - the holes and messy paint job should be ignored, they're where the previous heater was.

Hope this helps, and thanks for the replies so far.

 

[Steve]

replace that FCU plate with one with a DP switch.

not sure if this is allowed in a bathroom - think it depends on zones. switch may have to be outside the room. someone else clarify?

 

[Lectrician]

Very common setup - I would be inclined to provide a DP switch in an adjacent romm at high level.

 

[Steve]

Very common setup - I would be inclined to provide a DP switch in an adjacent romm at high level.

if there isn't one you haven't discovered yet? perhaps hiding in a cupboard or near a socket in the next bedroom?

 

[thomasp]

Very common setup - I would be inclined to provide a DP switch in an adjacent romm at high level.

if there isn't one you haven't discovered yet? perhaps hiding in a cupboard or near a socket in the next bedroom?

Nope! I'd already thought of that but can't see anything. It wouldn't be in the loft would it?

Also, could someone answer the question as to whether this setup is dangerous in itself? Assuming no risk of contact with water is the DP switch 100% necessary?

Thanks for the replies.

 

[rhino36]

Bathrooms are covered by the governments Part P document, i`m afraid that it`s not a case of wether it is safe or not it`s doing the job the way you are told too. As electricians we have to follow the BS7671 Regs and Part P and supply certificates to verify our work complies. If you do not follow the manufacturers guidelines and god forbid you had a fire caused by that appliance, wave bye bye to your hone insurance.

 

[Steve]

Bathrooms are covered by the governments Part P document, i`m afraid that it`s not a case of wether it is safe or not it`s doing the job the way you are told too. As electricians we have to follow the BS7671 Regs and Part P and supply certificates to verify our work complies. If you do not follow the manufacturers guidelines and god forbid you had a fire caused by that appliance, wave bye bye to your hone insurance.

full of the joys of life aren't we

thomasp, it shouldn't be in the loft. The reason for the switch is to locally safely isolate the appliance for servicing or in an emergency - same as shower pull cords and fan isolators.

 

[Lectrician]

A double pole switch is required by BS7671 to provide isolation. It must have a 3mm seperation gap (all ones made to the current BS will). It also needs to be insight of the heater, or capable of being locked off. The fused spur you currently have offers single pole isolation, although some fancy versions of a non-switched fused spur do offer double pole isolation - very clever.

If the switch is used with the current fused spur, it would not need a fuse - so a standard 20amp DP switch would be fine, to replace the current pne you have (assuming bathroom zoning permits), a swtiched fused spur would be used.




To answer the question, no, from a point of view of DIRECT safety, the electricity is going to jump out and get you......but you should still comply to BS7671, and the dreaded part-p.

 

[thomasp]

Thanks for all that - sorry if I sounded like I wanted to ride roughshod all over the compliances, I just wanted to understand the need for a switch.

It's clear I need a switch so I'll deal with that over the weekend.

In the meantime, can I be safe in the knowledge that with the current setup (and assuming it's switched off of course), the heater won't burst into flames overnight?

 

[Spark123]

I don't think the ommision of a DP switch will cause it to burst into flames overnight, the switch is mainly required for maintenance purposes.
You can replace the fused spur unit with a DP switched fused spur unit providing they are suitable for the zone, for a normal fsu this is zone 3 or outside zones, see http://www.niceic.org.uk/downloads/NL139supp.pdf

 

[thomasp]

I shall leave it that - thanks immensely for all the help and advice, it's very much appreciated.

 

[Spark123]

But don't forget to change it at the weekend...