Electric setup 3phase with pics and diagram question

andemz · 18 Apr 2011

Hi all,

I've just had my offer accepted on a very large victorian detached house. My surveyor has been in today to give me a full overhaul of the property, so i took it upon myself to go and have yet again another nose around.

The property is a former nursery and has been other commercial uses previously used by the council but presently redundant.

My question relates to a 3phase supply. Given the size of the house, should this remain as 3phase? Is there a more expensive standing charge for 3phase supplies or do you have to pay something in addition.

There seems to be consumer units in quite a few places and the last electrical check was in 2008.

Any comments on the diagram or pictures are welcomed.

Me thinks this will be an expensive re-wire

andemz
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ban-all-sheds · 18 Apr 2011

How do you know it needs rewiring? Or is it just that you'd rather not have to play hunt-the-CU when something trips?

3-phase is more expensive than 1-phase.

I couldn't see any sign of 3-phase loads in those DBs, so unless your total load is going to exceed what a single phase can support, you could get rid of the 3P supply.

ricicle · 18 Apr 2011

On first impressions it seems ok, but that will fully depend on what is connected to those outgoing circuits !

You might possibly be paying a higher standing charge for the potential load, but you need to decide why this was initially needed and if will you need it.

On an installation of this size it would be worth getting the opinion of a competant person.

westie101 · 18 Apr 2011

OK what I can see

It's a 3 x 60A supply from the design of the cut-out (though you can get 80A fuses to fit).

The meter is dual rate so there may have been/ are storage heaters in the building (unless it was an exotic legacy tariff) this could account for some of the CUs

andemz · 18 Apr 2011

Thanks for the comments. Everything in the house is surface mounted. There are masses of storage heaters as there are no radiators at all, nor fires. There are quite a few hand dryers and there are about 17 rooms.

As part of the modernisation i will want the wires to be sunk in the wall. I'm going have to strip back the walls mainly downstairs so i thought that as a job lot this would be the way to go.

I agree that a competent electrician is the way forward, i just thought some initial advice would be beneficial regarding running costs etc.

ban-all-sheds · 18 Apr 2011

Ask the supplier for details of the tariff you're on.

Ask competitors for better deals.

OwainDIYer · 19 Apr 2011

You will need to stay on 3-phase if you are using electric heating - either instant or storage

Before you rewire consider your heating options, as gas central heating with proper zone controls will be a lot more controllable than storage heaters, and that will take a lot of load off your wiring.

Apart from the big Bill switchfuse at the bottom and the red one for the fire alarm, most of the switchgear looks fairly modern, and councils are usually fairly conscientious about electrical inspections. I can imagine surface wiring is ugly though.

any chance of a rightmove link?

andemz · 19 Apr 2011

We certainly don't intend to keep the storage heaters, we will be looking at gas central heating throughout.

I would give you a rightmove link, but it is not being sold in that way, i have had to approach the council direct about the property and take the lead on most things.

ChrisRogers · 19 Apr 2011

is it just me or have all the breakers been installed upside down?

RF Lighting · 19 Apr 2011

It's just you.

mfarrow · 19 Apr 2011

Merlin Gerin breakers are fed from the top, hence the confusion.

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Electric setup 3phase with pics and diagram question

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