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That particular connector is totally unsuitable for use a mains inlet because it has pins on the cable connector, and holes on the chassis connector. For an inlet you need the pins to be on the chassis connector and the holes to be on the same cable connector. Beyond that there are several...

They are substantially higher profile than a regular flush double socket, but still substantially lower profile than a surface socket. Most of them also "look cheap", the plastic is different from regular sockets (more similar to the plastic used for extension sockets) and the arrangement of...

There is also the question of what do you base your break-even calculations on. 1. Do you use todays electricity prices straight, or do you make some assumptions about how electricity prices will rise in the future? 2. Do you account for "cost of funds"? if so at what rate. 3. How do you...

Depends what your goal is. Are you trying to minimise time to break even? Are you trying to spend money now to hedge against rising electricity prices in the future? Are you trying to prepare for a world in which the grid is no longer reliable?

With a DP/SP+N RCD or RCBO it's not so bad, because the device tripping will interrupt the path to earth, even if there is generation on the output, but with a SP RCBO you will have to wait for the inverter to shut down before the fault path is interrupted.

The devil as-always is in the detail. The UK already has english language requirements for many Visas, as well as for settlement and citizenship, so what does this announcement mean? does it mean that the list of accepted tests will be changed? does it mean that people who have already...

It's not exactly a "widow maker" in the conventional sense, because grid-tie solar inverters are designed to shut down on loss of grid. but it obviously raises questions of how rapid and reliable that shutdown is. Mind you, similar questions could be asked about large motor loads which may take...

It looks like all the switches are already being used as two way. You could swap one of the modules for an intermediate, but if you are going to swap modules, I think putting in a double-wide two-way module makes far sense. Part number is MD024xx where xx is the finish you want. I'm not going...

Yeah, they are fine as long as they are in a suitable enclosure and are accessible for inspection. If they are not accessible for inspection, the enclosure and terminals must be approved in combination as a "maintinance free junction box".

For domestic cooking equipment the diversitiy guidelines say first 10 amps + 30% of the remainder + 5A if there is a socket. We can work that backwards to work out the maximum cooking load for a given circuit. With socket: ((i-10-5)/0.3 + 10) * 230 Without socket: ((i-10)/0.3 + 10) * 230 32A...

Looking back at your first picture, I see a logo in the middle of the switch modules, I think it says scholmore in curved text, but I can't be 100% sure.

That looks like Scholmore Click stuff, if so it's possible to replace one of the switches with a blank, or possiblly to transfer all the switches to a 3-module plate (though personally I think the 3 module plates for double boxes look a bit weird). IF you can tell us the part number of the...

Maybe some would have done it when earths first came in, old habbits die hard and all that, but earths have been required for decades now. The presense of brown/blue cable tells us that it was done in 2004 or later. It depends what's fed from the circuit past the point of the "breaks". If...

I used to know someone who owned a vintage military truck which was apparently very tolerant of what fuel you ran in it. Apparently he used to get fuel for free by asking garages for their waste fuel.

The problem is spring clamp connectors covered in heatshrink tubing are NOT on the list of acceptable methods for inaccesible joints in BS7671.

The cynic in me would suspect that it's high enough to be profitable for a dodgy electrican, but low enough that fighting it is likely to cost more than it saves.

This is not true, an "unsatisfactory" EICR can absoloutely be issued. On the other hand, this guy may have done you a favour by not issuing an EICR, because once an unsatisfactory report is issued then it starts a clock under the law. Sounds like BS to me. BS7671 requires consumer units to be...

IIRC the Americans do single phase charging at 60A, but I just can't see that becoming a thing here, our electrical supplies just aren't big enough to support it. Some vehicles do 3 phase charging, but you'd need to get the supply to your house upgraded to three phase for that, probably not...

The requirement in BS7671 applies to "points and acessories", the definition of accessory explicitly excludes current using equipment. So we come down to the definition of "point". IIRC a point is defined as something like "a termination of the fixed-wiring intended for connecting equipment" or...

Not really, just a matter of making things smaller/thinner. In the UK caravan parks, caravans, marinas and maybe some industrial scenarios spring to mind. And remember, din-rail mount devices are used across much of the world (basically everywhere except america), even if the UK market for...