Bathroom Sockets and Fan Heater Installation

Hi! I've just replaced an existing shaver socket in my bathroom (not installed by me) with a continental bathroom socket (my girlfriend is Austrian and has a few bathroom appliances with continental plugs).

I'm slightly uncomfortable with this as the continental bathroom socket doesn't seem to have a transformer (which I have read is a safety feature of UK bathroom shaver sockets).

Should I be worried? [by the way, some of my girlfriend's appliances are still under warranty so I don't really want to rewire their plugs...].


Another question:

I want to install a fan heater in the bathroom. Which circuit should I put it on? I could wire it in to the shaver socket but that is on the lighting ring and so would probably trip the 5A circuit breaker on the lighting ring.

It would probably be easiest though (if possible), as I wouldn't have to re-wire at all... ...but I've a sneaking suspicion that this might be dangerous (even if it didn't trip the breaker) as I've heard lighting wiring is usually thinner and therefore the load (1 - 2kW) might heat it up!

Any thoughts?

I would think that in the UK you should use products that comply with the British standard.
You are not allowed to put any power sockets in the bathroom.
You can put a shaver socket but it has to be in a place that it will not be subject to spray.
Read about bathroom zones

FriedSpam said:

Hi! I've just replaced an existing shaver socket in my bathroom (not installed by me) with a continental bathroom socket (my girlfriend is Austrian and has a few bathroom appliances with continental plugs).

I'm slightly uncomfortable with this as the continental bathroom socket doesn't seem to have a transformer (which I have read is a safety feature of UK bathroom shaver sockets).

Click to expand...

Indeed it is - no sockets other than shaver ones with isolation transformers are allowed anywhere in a bathroom, and even those are only allowed in Zones 2 and upwards.

Should I be worried?

Click to expand...

An interesting question.

Clearly it doesn't worry the Austrians. Or, as we know, many other countries. It does worry the IEE.

Important Q 1 - does the circuit have RCD protection? If not, then I would be worried. If yes, then not so much. If you said yes, and it's 10mA then you'd have a strong safety case.

Important Q 2 - which circuit was the shaver socket on? It's quite common for them to be on a lighting one, in which case putting a socket on there is a bit dodgy.

Should I be worried (2)?

Click to expand...

Well, it's only a minor offence, and the chances of it being detected are pretty low, but you may have broken the law - you may not have complied with the Building Regulation requirement: "Reasonable provision shall be made in the design, installation, inspection and testing of electrical installations in order to protect persons from fire or injury." Contravening the wiring regulations is not, per se, an offence.

Another question:

I want to install a fan heater in the bathroom. Which circuit should I put it on? I could wire it in to the shaver socket but that is on the lighting ring and so would probably trip the 5A circuit breaker on the lighting ring.

It would probably be easiest though (if possible), as I wouldn't have to re-wire at all... ...but I've a sneaking suspicion that this might be dangerous (even if it didn't trip the breaker) as I've heard lighting wiring is usually thinner and therefore the load (1 - 2kW) might heat it up!

Any thoughts?

Click to expand...

Has this answered Important Question 2? I'm confused - thought you'd removed the shaver socket?

Anyway - there is no way you can run a fan heater off the lighting circuit.

You'll need to find a suitable socket circuit to spur from, with an FCU either outside the bathroom or in Zone 3 or outside the Zones. Note that if the FCU or the heater end up in a Zone then the work becomes notifiable.