Hi all,
I am refurbishing my house bit by bit and the next big job is fitting a new kitchen. The whole house needs a rewire and this will be done as I refurbish each area. The house is fairly big so cable runs can be quite long. A couple of years ago I had an electrician install a metal CU and at the moment the only thing this feeds is a compressor in the garage. My intention is to add new circuits to this over time. I could use it now to power up the kitchen but it would be easier (I think) to install a second CU in the boiler cupboard in the kitchen. I could then use 1 CU for one side of the house and 1 CU for the other.
In the kitchen I need 6-8 double sockets (kettle, toaster, microwave, mixer, hoover etc), a separate circuit for the main appliances (fridge, freezer, washing machine, hob), a circuit for the double oven, a circuit for a couple of lights and a circuit to power the boiler controls.
I would like to pull the cables through myself but have some questions please:-
I have uploaded a couple of pictures of the CU I had fitted a couple of years ago if that will help. The mess above it will all be decommissioned over time.
Thanks
Dave
I am refurbishing my house bit by bit and the next big job is fitting a new kitchen. The whole house needs a rewire and this will be done as I refurbish each area. The house is fairly big so cable runs can be quite long. A couple of years ago I had an electrician install a metal CU and at the moment the only thing this feeds is a compressor in the garage. My intention is to add new circuits to this over time. I could use it now to power up the kitchen but it would be easier (I think) to install a second CU in the boiler cupboard in the kitchen. I could then use 1 CU for one side of the house and 1 CU for the other.
In the kitchen I need 6-8 double sockets (kettle, toaster, microwave, mixer, hoover etc), a separate circuit for the main appliances (fridge, freezer, washing machine, hob), a circuit for the double oven, a circuit for a couple of lights and a circuit to power the boiler controls.
I would like to pull the cables through myself but have some questions please:-
- Is my plan to have 5 circuits to the kitchen overkill - is there a better way bearing in mind at the moment it is only the kitchen that will be rewired and it may stay that way for a while. Is a ring mandatory or can I use a radial nowadays?
- I assume I would also need to pull a good earth through for coross binding in the kitchen?
- Can I add a second CU to power this side of the house and if so what cabling would I need to pull through to wire it up? Does the cable come from the first CU or through a separate isolator like my existing one does?
- When it comes to wiring up the lights can you still wire these at a JB or do I now need to pull down two cables per light switch?
- Is there an issue with having 2 CU's both which have an RCD circuit on them?
- Is there anything I am missing?
I have uploaded a couple of pictures of the CU I had fitted a couple of years ago if that will help. The mess above it will all be decommissioned over time.
Thanks
Dave