Adding electricity to the loft

[rolyatescort]

Hi Guys, may i thank you in advance for any help you may be able to offer. I am planning to put a power supply in my loft, this will consist of two double plug sockets and one light fitting. I have done all rewiring in my house and like to think that i work safely but i am not an electrician. After reading the DIY section of this site i was ready to take a feed from a junction box in the upstairs lighting. After reading some threads i now see that it is not ok to run plug sockets in this way. (The sockets will be powering a scalextric set, a tv and a small fan heater) It will be extremely difficult to take a feed from any plug socket in the house so i wondered if there is a way round this? Can i feed from the shower supply(which is on a seperate fuse)? Any advice or even diagrams would be much appreciated, cheers

 

[breezer]

sorry but one large dose of dificulty coming up.


you MUST connect to the socket cable, which socket is your choice, unless you can run a cable from the loft to the consumers unit?

but leave the shower alone

 

[paulh53]

Please stop what you are doing right now,
And call in a "Qualified Electrician" to inspect the wiring that you have already done

 

[paulh53]

sorry but one large dose of dificulty coming up.


you MUST connect to the socket cable, which socket is your choice, unless you can run a cable from the loft to the consumers unit?

but leave the shower alone

Breezer
"rolyatescort" is installing two sockets in his loft, So he/she will have to run two feeds from the socket circuit, As you are only allowed one twin socket on a"spur", Or extend the ring circuit to the loft

 

[breezer]

i miss read the 2nd line two double plug sockets
yes i agree, better to extend the ring

 

[nigelsz]

No you cant take a spur off the shower circuit and no you cant take a spur of the lighting circuit to power sockets . Just accept it .as you seem to have anyway .
Is there any way you can spur off the ring main or extend your ring main to include the loft ?? I am assuming you have a 2 storey house with the consumer unit and leccy board on the ground floor ?. I think i am correct in saying that you can spur off a ring main via a junction box (but it , the box, must be easily accessable for repair and testing etc.) but in any event its prob better to extend ring main rather than spur.
Have you a spare bay in the consumer unit ? and, is it possible to run more cable from same to loft without cosmeticlly challenging the local environment ??? If so this is undoubtedly the best option to install a new and seperate ring main circuit for future upgradability purposes
You need to give more info bout location of meter board to loft etc.
I am not an electrician but there are a few guys here who are well qualified and will undoubtedly give you sound advice .
Hope I havent treaded on anybodys toes here as an unqualified diy person
Do not sue me for this suggestion its is only a suggestion and not advice I take no responsibility for any action you may undertake as a result of reading this message .
I am already beginning to regret answering this message......................lol
good luck

 

[oilman]

Fit one double socket, and use a 3 or 4 way extention lead to run the scalextrix and TV. That way you need only one cable.

 

[breezer]

I am already beginning to regret answering this message......................lol
good luck

it has taken you so long to type that that we have already anwered it.

why not ask for your post to dissapear, or click the edit button and delete all that you have written and put in a smiley

 

[paulh53]

nigelsz

Take no notice of "Silly" replies

 

[breezer]

Paul53 , you said it

 

[securespark]

You can run a spur as people have said, and you can run more than one socket outlet from that spur, providing that the spur off the ring is protected by a 13A fuse so that the total load will not exceed the same. See my posting in "Radial MCB size???"

But, of course, you will not be able to draw more than 3120W in that case.

Far better as breezer has said to run two 2.5's and extend the ring into the loft. As you have to run one cable anyway, you may as well run two and the jobs a good one. This also allows for any future expansion in the loft.

 

[rolyatescort]

Hi Guys, thank you for all the replies you have given so far. Firstly to answer paul53's concerns all the rewiring consisted of replacing the older wires for new like for like and swapping single outlets to doubles so nowhere to go wrong really but it was all overseen and checked by a qualified spark. The consumer unit is an old style 4 fuse unit all of which are being used, it will be replaced in the future but not yet, the shower has its own CU. The consumer unit is downstairs and it is a 2 storey building. With a lot of work but hopefullylittle cosmetic change it could be possible to reach the consumer unit, any further advice gratefully received.

 

[flashbang]

I put power in my loft by running a spur from a socket on the first floor, and running the cable up through the airing cupboard. This was a nice convenient floor to ceiling cupboard, so the cable is totally out of site.
If you're lucky, you'll have a floor to ceiling built in cupboard. If you're very lucky, this will be close to a wall socket.
If you're unlucky, you won't............
Good luck.

 

[securespark]

How about this one I used for a three storey detatched? I had to get 10mm2 twin and earth up from cellar to loft and across to bathroom. It is awkward, I know, but i managed to drop a thin, and flexible but strong nylon rope down the cavity (with a large nut or two to help it down) and tied the cable onto that.

Can do??

 

[ban-all-sheds]

flashbang - if that airing cupboard is in one of the bathroom zones then you are not allowed to run cables through it to get to other areas.

securespark - I've repeatedly seen advice here not to run cables through cavities. Not sure if it's an actual regulation, or just good practice.