Power from garage lighting

[plugwash]

I think one really needs more information about the situation on the ground before making any judgements as to what is or is-not appropriate.

If the lights in the garage block are fed from someone else's supply or from a communal/"landlords" supply then I could see them not taking kindly to use of said supply for things other than lighting. There is also the question of what else is on the circuit in question. A 200W or so load won't overload a lighting circuit on it's own but it's not negligible either.

 

[SUNRAY]

I think one really needs more information about the situation on the ground before making any judgements as to what is or is-not appropriate.

If the lights in the garage block are fed from someone else's supply or from a communal/"landlords" supply then I could see them not taking kindly to use of said supply for things other than lighting. There is also the question of what else is on the circuit in question. A 200W or so load won't overload a lighting circuit on it's own but it's not negligible either.

Indeed but if you're the tenth 'additional 200w load' on a 6A supply... camels back and straw springs to mind.

 

[oldbutnotdead]

@winston1 does make a good point about RCD protection being required for the cabling supplying this new proposed socket- early RCD installs often had lighting on the non-rcd half of the cu (v handy for nighttime resets but a possible nuisance for this setup).

 

[JohnD]

proposed socket

did the OP propose a socket?

 

[oldbutnotdead]

did the OP propose a socket?

Fair point- no he didn't. Question- does the current requirement for RCD protection for all new sockets also apply to FCUs (or unfused for that matter?). I assumed it would but I may be wrong .....

 

[JohnD]

I do not use a mobility scooter, but the ones I have seen have a separate charging unit which has a flex to the mains, and another flex to the vehicle. Both flexes are of adequate length. For all I know it might have had a 1A fuse. In the case I was familiar with, the entire "invalid room" was RCD protected (and never tripped except when I tested it) and when there was a burst pipe).

Modern installations have all circuits in a domestic property and its curtilage RCD protected, not just the sockets.

 

[plugwash]

Fair point- no he didn't. Question- does the current requirement for RCD protection for all new sockets also apply to FCUs (or unfused for that matter?). I assumed it would but I may be wrong .....

IIRC the RCD protection requirement for socket outlets is specific to socket outlets. There are also seperate RCD protectoin requirements for domestic lighting and for concealed cables. I'm pretty sure there is no RCD requirement per-se for hard-wired equipment.

There is the question though of what exactly constitutes a socket outlet. In particular would a detatchable power cord wired into a FCU count as a "socket outlet"?

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Still squirming! If there is no RCD protection already then the simple answer is for the OP to install an RCD socket.

 

[sparkwright]

I'd be the first to admit it would be more desirable to add 13amp sockets from a dedicated circuit rather than the lighting in a garage.

But if your garage only has a lighting circuit, and no consumer unit in there capable of supplying anything bigger, then we have to use common sense and see if we can use what we already have.

So, assuming the lighting circuit has an earth wire, then adding a 13amp socket to the lighting could be the only 'sensible' way to do this - and that's fine by me.

An RCD will be required if there isn't one, and you 'may' be able to fit a 10amp fuse or MCB if there is only a 5amp fuse or 6amp MCB. Of course, if the garage supply is 'communal', this may not be an option.