Adding new sockets from a fused spur

[cowley05]

Hi All,

Im new here and am ok at DIY in general but i dont know what legal/safe/reccommended when it comes to adding new sockets.

I recently added some new sockets in my garage. in the garage there is an existing double socket, this is coming as a spur from one of the house sockets. What I have done is added 3 more sockets off of that and added a 13amp switched fused before the original spurred socket. Is this legal and more importantly for me, is it safe?

please see diagram attached

Cheers for any answers
Ste

 

[EFLImpudence]

Yes, all good; you have done it as per the regulations.

You will, of course, be limited to the 13A of the fuse.

 

[JohnW2]

You will, of course, be limited to the 13A of the fuse.

We always tell/warn people about that and it is, in some senses, theoretically true.

However, the great majority of end-users will not know which sockets are on which fused spur and, even if they did, would probably not usually go around adding up loads to decide what they could (or could not) 'plug in' - as far as they are concerned, they are just sockets into which they plug things and, even for those on the same fused spur, they could plug in at least 20A worth of loads without 'anything happening' or their being aware of any 'problem'.

So, whilst I don't doubt that we will continue saying it to people, to say that sockets on a fuses pure are 'limited to' 13A total load is not really telling the complete story.

Kind Regards, John

 

[EFLImpudence]

That is obviously true but it is not recommended to plug in 20A (or more) of loads at the same time as a matter of course - so, telling people may have some benefit.


Of course, some people only have 16A socket circuits to start with.

 

[JohnW2]

That is obviously true but it is not recommended to plug in 20A (or more) of loads at the same time as a matter of course - so, telling people may have some benefit.

Agreed - but, as I said, in practice, most end-users will not have any idea as to which group(s) of sockets are subjected to that 'recommended restriction', even if they know how much current each of their loads represents (which many/most won't).

Of course, some people only have 16A socket circuits to start with.

Indeed, but I presume that it is then 'not recommended' that one plugs in 25A of loads (roughly the pro-rata equivalent of 20A/13A)?

Kind Regards, John

 

[EFLImpudence]

Maybe not - but Cowley will.

 

[JohnW2]

Maybe not - but Cowley will.

Hopefully, yes, but will Cowley be the only person who plugs things into the (four double) sockets, I wonder?

Kind Regards, John

 

[EFLImpudence]

Maybe not - but he can tell them why the fuse has blown.

 

[JohnW2]

Maybe not - but he can tell them why the fuse has blown.

True but, as you said, it is 'recommended' that one does not connect a load >13A to what is effectively a "13A circuit" - but, by the time a fuse blows, they would presumably already have loaded the circuit to 20A+ (since they were until then unaware of the recommendation).

It was just an observation on my part about the limited usefulness of the advice we always give (and probably will continue to give) - since there's not really anything which can be done about the issue I have mentioned.

Similar is, of course, true of a 20A radial supplying umpteen socket outlets (which is one reason why I'm personally no great fan of 20A radials). Again, there's nothing one can really do about it.

Kind Regards, John

 

[cowley05]

Thanks both for your quick responses!
I do understand what you're saying about the load and am generally the only one in that space plugging stuff in but it's good to note for other family members just incase I guess.

As a side question, is there a limit of sockets or distance I can do this over? I think I read as long as it's not more than 50m extension?

 

[JohnW2]

Thanks both for your quick responses! I do understand what you're saying about the load and am generally the only one in that space plugging stuff in but it's good to note for other family members just incase I guess.

You're welcome. As I'm sure you also understand, although plugging in more that a total of 13A is 'not recommended'[, the worst that would happen would be that the fuse in the FCU would blow, but no harm would come to anything.

As a side question, is there a limit of sockets or distance I can do this over? I think I read as long as it's not more than 50m extension?

There's no limit to the number of sockets. If the cable length got too long, you might run into problems of voltage drop, but that's not likely to be an issue for you in practice (unless your 'garage' is actually an aircraft hanger )..

Kind Regards, John

 

[cowley05]

Thanks, and yes totally understand not to overload more than 13A, always good to be reminded though!

Haha unfortunately no i dont have an aircraft hanger, although now you mention it i do feel i need one...