radial circuit question

HawkEye244 · 19 Sep 2020

Just want to run this past everyone to make sure the design is adequate and there are no safety concerns. An electric cooker is not actually being used at all, it's a gas cooker, but I felt it's probably a good idea to keep the cooker socket in case the gas cooker ever becomes obsolete.
Hallway cupboard LED light will plug into the single socket next to the 45a. The gas cooker plugs into the 2 gang switch. Thanks for any advice

wundaboy · 19 Sep 2020

As it's a 32 amp circuit and could be used to connect an electric cooker in the future, I'd be happier with the cable to the double socket being 6mm2 rather than 2.5.

I'm assuming the double socket is controlled by the 45 amp switch?

HawkEye244 · 19 Sep 2020

wundaboy said:
As it's a 32 amp circuit and could be used to connect an electric cooker in the future, the cable to the double socket should be 6mm2 rather than 2.5.

I'm assuming the double socket is controlled by the 45 amp switch?

Thanks for the tip.
This is the socket I had in mind:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Newlec-D...880887&hash=item2335579df7:g:VH8AAOSwr~lYtBFE
Georgian brass - a bit pricey but happy to pay
Yes, controlled by the switch

EFLImpudence · 19 Sep 2020

4mm² is adequate for a 32A circuit.

2.5mm² is adequate for one double socket.

wundaboy · 19 Sep 2020

Should be fine. Just make sure you have a deep enough box behind it to accommodate the heavier wiring, i.e. 47mm.

HawkEye244 · 19 Sep 2020

AndyPRK · 19 Sep 2020

If you have a cooker outlet below the cupboards you could change that to a single socket and plug in there if better ?

ericmark · 19 Sep 2020

Nothing wrong with either, both are OK.

conny · 19 Sep 2020

Are you planning on feeding from the cooker side of the cooker switch, which means the new double socket will only work if the cooker switch is turned on?

You can feed from the socket side to the double socket without the need to turn the 'cooker' switch on. 2.5mm is fine to the new double socket as anything you plug in will have a maximum 13A fuse in the plug.

JohnW2 · 19 Sep 2020

wundaboy said:
As it's a 32 amp circuit and could be used to connect an electric cooker in the future, I'd be happier with the cable to the double socket being 6mm2 rather than 2.5.

How exactly could anything(s) plugged into a double socket require more than 2.5mm² cable? 6mm² (which is probably already even more than necessary for any credible cooker) to feed the double socket would be very OTT.

Kind Regards, John

winston1 · 19 Sep 2020

Even a 32 amp circuit does not need 6mm cable, 4mm is OK.

wundaboy · 20 Sep 2020

I suggested it primarily for future proofing purposes. For all we know the new cable is being plastered in, in which case it would be a right faff later to replace 2.5 with 6 when needed. Belt and braces.

JohnW2 · 20 Sep 2020

wundaboy said:
I suggested it primarily for future proofing purposes. For all we know the new cable is being plastered in, in which case it would be a right faff later to replace 2.5 with 6 when needed. Belt and braces.

One can certainly attempt to guess what someone (maybe even oneself) may want to do in the fairly distant future, and be kind to them by 'future proofing'. However, I would suspect that the probability of anyone ever wanting to install an electric cooker close to the location of the new double socket would be extremely small!

Whatever, as has been said, no domestic cooker would need more than 4mm² cable so, if one really didn't want to use 2.5mm², then maybe 4mm² would be a compromise - and that would also have the advantage of enabling one to add further sockets onto the one new one if one ever wanted to ('future proofing'?), something that would not be possible if the first one was fed with 2.5mm².

If one is into 'future proofing', what I've just said would also be a reason to always use 4mm² cable for a socket spurred (unfused) off a ring final circuit, but I imagine that very very few people would do that.

Kind Regards, John

plugwash · 20 Sep 2020

I don't know about the OPs kitchen or why he wants a double socket for the gas cooker, but IMO it is sensible to design a kitchen so that in the future a gas cooker can be replaced with an electric one. Installations last much longer than appliances and preferences for cooking equipment, both at an individual level and a policy level (there has apparently been talk among government advisors of banning gas cookers) can change.

Plastering a 2.5mm cable into the wall from the output of a cooker switch into the wall behind tiles rather than sticking with the same size cable as the rest of the cooker circuit seems like a penny wise and pound foolish thing to do to me.

Similarly unless I had a real need for the socket to be a double I would fit a single socket on a 47mm box, so that changing it for a cooker outlet was a straight swap.

JohnW2 · 20 Sep 2020

plugwash said:
I don't know about the OPs kitchen or why he wants a double socket for the gas cooker, but IMO it is sensible to design a kitchen so that in the future a gas cooker can be replaced with an electric one.

I agree, in as far as 'design' can achieve that.

plugwash said:
Plastering a 2.5mm cable into the wall from the output of a cooker switch into the wall behind tiles rather than sticking with the same size cable as the rest of the cooker circuit seems like a penny wise and pound foolish thing to do to me.

One could certainly argue that IF one believed that the location of the new socket would be appropriate for an outlet plate for a possible future electric cooker and IF there were not already an outlet plate installed. However, it seems very likely, since the cooker control switch exists, that the load side of it is probably already connected to a below-counter outlet plate which would serve that purpose, doesn't it? If not, what will the load side of that CCU be connected to?

Whatever, as I and others have said, 4mm² cable would be adequate, even for a future electric cooker - and, as I also said, that would also enable further sockets to be added if ever required.

Kind Regards, John

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radial circuit question

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