Adding a Plug Socket in the Attic

[bmouthboyo]

Evening all,

I have just moved into a bungalow and my first home

I would like to install my router in the attic as there is no centrally viable location downstairs other than in my heater cupboard (hot air heating).

Am I correct in thinking I can find where the socket ring is joined (junction box) and goes down one of the walls and add a length of 2.5mm twin and earth cable that goes to a switched fused spur that then goes to a single gang socket?

I will only be using this for a router and possibly a low powered micro server.

 

[echoes]

Welcome to the forum!

There's nothing wrong with what you proposed, providing your assumptions are correct. A few questions...
Are your sockets definitely on a ring?
Have you already identified an existing junction box in the attic; there may not be any?
Is the ring circuit protected by an RCD?

A fused spur is not necessary to supply one single or double socket on a spur from a ring, neither is a switch. You could also consider a triple socket with integral 13A fuse. It might be useful!

Is the attic habitable, or just a loft?

 

[bmouthboyo]

Thank you for the reply echo. I must confess home electrics is new to me having mostly worked DIY wise on vehicles such as my campervan.

Is there an easy way to know if my sockets are on a ring?

This is one of the many junction boxes that seem to be above my sockets:

My electrics are on RCD,s I think:

The attic is uninhabited. Sorry is this is vague, learning

 

[sparkwright]

Are you certain the junction box and it's associated wiring is part of the socket circuit?

It could be a lighting circuit, the cables don't necessarily look like socket cables.

Perhaps a picture of inside the jb, WITH ALL POWER COMPLETELY TURNED OFF, may help.

 

[echoes]

At a glance, that looks like lighting cables to the JB. Possible power cable nearby, but impossible to tell of it's a socket cable.

Sockets are on RCBO at the consumer unit, so your sockets should be RCD protected.

You'll need to have a good recce, and try to find out where your socket cables run. Again, with the power off, you could remove a socket and look which way the cables run (up or down).

 

[333rocky333]

Do you have concrete floors, if so then it is likely the power is in the loft.
Another option may be to go via the loft straight to the fuseboard

 

[echoes]

Is there an easy way to know if my sockets are on a ring

It's easy if you know what to look for!
In all likelihood, it is a ring.

Best way is to acquaint yourself with ring circuits and spurs, and then match this knowledge to your actual wiring. I think the electrics wiki here has some useful info. If you have, and can use, a multimeter, that will help.

 

[333rocky333]

You have a 16 amp RCBO and a 32 amp RCBO labelled as sockets, so its likely you have at least 1 32amp ring, however thats not to say some sockets on that circuit may already be a spur off that ring.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

I think the electrics wiki here has some useful info.

Not as up to date as it should be, in all areas, because the new s/w is such a pile of sh**e to work with, and people have to jump through hoops of registering separately to be able to edit it.

Every change that this site has made to the Wiki facility is for the worse - god knows what they were thinking.

• http://wiki.diyfaq.org.uk/index.php/House_Wiring_for_Beginners
  
  
• http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=uk+house+wiring+(basics+OR+101)
  
  
• http://kevinboone.net/electricity.html
  
  
• http://web.archive.org/web/20080213151445/http://www.kevinboone.com/domesticinstallations.html
  
  
• https://www.diynot.com/wiki/Electrics:books
  
  
• https://www.diynot.com/wiki/Electrics:index

If you have, and can use, a multimeter, that will help.

A multimeter, at least, is an essential tool to have if you want to work on your electrics. It is just as important to have that correct tool as it is to have screwdrivers to use on screws instead of the point of a vegetable knife, wirecutters to use instead of nail scissors, wirestrippers to use instead of teeth, and so on.
Neon screwdrivers are questionable from a safety POV as they use your body as a current path, and they are unreliable. and non-contact testers (magic wands) also just toys. To safely check for voltage you must use a 2-pole tester, such as a proper voltage indicator or a multimeter.



This looks ideal for a household starter set - multimeter, voltage indicator and dedicated continuity tester, all in a handy case: https://www.beha-amprobe.com/en/products/electrical-testers/junior-set-and-kits/amprb-eu-03-a



Also see another discussion here: //www.diynot.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=26282 It's several years old, so specific model number advice will be obsolete, and prices will be higher, but the generic advice is still sound.

 

[winston1]

You have a 16 amp RCBO and a 32 amp RCBO labelled as sockets, so its likely you have at least 1 32amp ring, however thats not to say some sockets on that circuit may already be a spur off that ring.

No he doesn't. The 16 amp RCBO is labelled "GARAGE sockets."

Rather worryingly there seems to be no RCD protection for the shower.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

You have a 16 amp RCBO and a 32 amp RCBO labelled as sockets, so its likely you have at least 1 32amp ring, however thats not to say some sockets on that circuit may already be a spur off that ring.

No he doesn't. The 16 amp RCBO is labelled "GARAGE sockets."

***************

 

[bmouthboyo]

No he doesn't. The 16 amp RCBO is labelled "GARAGE sockets."

Rather worryingly there seems to be no RCD protection for the shower.

Sorry I am a bit unsure what you mean here, could you help explain as I am new to this and happy to learn as much as I can.

Questions:

1. How can you identify a RCD vs a RCBO? Is it the smaller black switches at the top?
2. I am assuming the others are simply MCB's? And basically just act like fuses? Can they simply be swapped out in the case of the shower one for instance?
3. Why would someone bother wiring the doorbell up all the way to the consumer unit?
4. Is my consumer unit worth replacing with something more modern or is nothing to be gained?
5. It seems strange that my shower has a 40A but my immersion heater only 16A?

Why is it significant that I have Does it look like I have "16 amp RCBO is labelled "GARAGE sockets."? I assume this helps me identify that I have one sole 32 Amp RCBO for my main house socket ring? Out of interest how can you tell if it is being used on a ring or radial by the MCB amperage?

Thanks for all your help, this is a great forum to learn from. I am not out to bodge anything or risk safety so please do not worry if my questions seem a little unresearched, I just ask a lot to ensure I understand things correctly.

 

[winston1]

Garage sockets are in a garage, not in a house or cabling in a loft.

 

[winston1]

Sorry I am a bit unsure what you mean here, could you help explain as I am new to this and happy to learn as much as I can.

Questions:

1. How can you identify a RCD vs a RCBO? Is it the smaller black switches at the top?
2. I am assuming the others are simply MCB's? And basically just act like fuses? Can they simply be swapped out in the case of the shower one for instance?
3. Why would someone bother wiring the doorbell up all the way to the consumer unit?
4. Is my consumer unit worth replacing with something more modern or is nothing to be gained?
5. It seems strange that my shower has a 40A but my immersion heater only 16A?

Why is it significant that I have Does it look like I have "16 amp RCBO is labelled "GARAGE sockets."? I assume this helps me identify that I have one sole 32 Amp RCBO for my main house socket ring? Out of interest how can you tell if it is being used on a ring or radial by the MCB amperage?

Thanks for all your help, this is a great forum to learn from. I am not out to bodge anything or risk safety so please do not worry if my questions seem a little unresearched, I just ask a lot to ensure I understand things correctly.

1. In general an RCD would be much bigger, at least 2 units wide.
2. Indeed the others are MCBs. The shower one could be swopped out for a RCBO or an external RCD could be fitted in the cable to the shower.
3. Stupidity. No reason not to wire it to the lighting circuit.
4. The CU is OK.
5. Quite normal. A shower takes a lot more power than an immersion heater.

Rings are normally wired on a 32 amp circuit. Radials are normally on a 16 or 20 amp circuit. But it is possible to wire a radial on a 32 amp circuit by using a larger cable, not common though.

 

[bmouthboyo]

1. In general an RCD would be much bigger, at least 2 units wide.
2. Indeed the others are MCBs. The shower one could be swopped out for a RCBO or an external RCD could be fitted in the cable to the shower.
3. Stupidity. No reason not to wire it to the lighting circuit.
4. The CU is OK.
5. Quite normal. A shower takes a lot more power than an immersion heater.

Rings are normally wired on a 32 amp circuit. Radials are normally on a 16 or 20 amp circuit. But it is possible to wire a radial on a 32 amp circuit by using a larger cable, not common though.

Thanks for that, so to clarify I have 2 RCBO's (Sockets and Garage Sockets), identified as they have the black switches towards the top? Seems strange that despite being a mix or a RCD and a MCB it uses only 1 slot yet a singular RCD takes up 2? Have I misunderstood something here?