Consumer board fuse allocation

[akist]

Hi guys,

On my current house (40 years old) the kitchen and laundry lights circuit is separate from other light circuits and has its own fuse on the consumer board. The rest of the house has another 2 areas/zones for lights with another 2 fuses.

Is there a reason why kitchen is separate and shall I do the same on the annexe we are building?

 

[JohnD]

Is that the way the house was built?

How are the other two zones divided?

Ground floor/first floor?

East Wing/West Wing?

 

[akist]

Hi,

No house was build altogether, and it seems the other three zones are random rooms, halls and baths put together. Just the kitchen seems to be separate.

 

[EFLImpudence]

Is there a reason why kitchen is separate and shall I do the same on the annexe we are building?

No specific reason; it doesn't matter. It's up to you.

 

[JohnD]

quite often, people have separate upstairs/downstairs circuits, it's easy to understand and quite logical.

Sometimes a room or extension that is wired at a different time is given a different circuit.

There seems to be no sense in the way yours is done, and IMO it reduces safety because people are liable to isolate a circuit and test it once, then carelessly assume that the outlet in the adjacent room is also dead (yes, I know this is wrong).

 

[AndyPRK]

I guess the kitchen util is on its own socket circuit. If you have a dual rcd consumer unit it could of been done to keep the lights on in that room if sockets tripped the rcd.

 

[akist]

I have no RCDs, and yes the kitchen sockets are on a separate fuse as well. I know they sometimes tend to put the lights on a separate RCD or even on no RCD so you do not trip and fall in the dark; or is it an old wife's tale?

 

[Simon35]

Hi guys,

On my current house (40 years old) the kitchen and laundry lights circuit is separate from other light circuits and has its own fuse on the consumer board. The rest of the house has another 2 areas/zones for lights with another 2 fuses.

Is there a reason why kitchen is separate and shall I do the same on the annexe we are building?

Presumably when you build this annexe you will be getting building regs approval so will require RCD protection on new circuits.

If it is a fuse board, now's the time to swap it out.

 

[stem]

40 years ago, lightbulbs consumed far more power than they do now. A 5A circuit could provide power for approximately 1 kW worth of lighting. If your house is of any size, then it would not be unusual to have two or more lighting circuits, to provide the required capacity. My house isn't massive but it has 4 lighting circuits.

 

[JohnD]

40 years ago, lightbulbs consumed far more power than they do now. A 5A circuit could provide power for approximately 1 kW worth of lighting.

About a dozen 100W light bulbs. Not unusual. So having an upstairs and a downstairs circuit kept well below the likely load.*

But today a 6A lighting circuit can supply about ten times as many LEDs each giving about as much light as an old 100W

The current used, and the running cost, of lighting is now so trivial* that for most purposes it can be disregarded.


*except for people who like downlights and spotlights

 

[phatboy]

I'm sure I read an old rule about a maximum of 10 light fittings per circuit? So maybe thats why....

 

[JohnW2]

I'm sure I read an old rule about a maximum of 10 light fittings per circuit? So maybe thats why....

Well, I seem to recall that the OSG says (probably still says!!) that each light/fitting should be regarded as a 100 watt load (or something like that), so that would make 10 fittings about right for a 5A/6A circuit.

Kind Regards, John

 

[akist]

I would not think twice in using a 100W incandescent light bulb and I think it is reasonable to want to allow for at least 100W in each light fitting. My home light fittings in bedrooms and hallways all take 3 light bulbs, currently with 3 * 60W = 180W each, but could equally be 3 * 100W = 300W each.

 

[JohnW2]

I would not think twice in using a 100W incandescent light bulb and I think it is reasonable to want to allow for at least 100W in each light fitting. My home light fittings in bedrooms and hallways all take 3 light bulbs, currently with 3 * 60W = 180W each, but could equally be 3 * 100W = 300W each.

That's how it used to be for all of us, but not only are the incandescents increasing difficult to find, but the running costs alone have changed most people's approach!

Just one of those 3 * 100W fittings used for, say, an average of 4 hours per day would cost around £70 per year to run. With LEDs it probably would be around one tenth of that.

Kind Regards, John

 

[AndyPRK]

It is really that much. Blimy.

I did notice a reducion in kwh (over the year) at my parents are fitting a few LEDs.