Adding to existing spurs - what are my options?

[Griffboy]

I have two sockets in my living room (which I am about to get re-plastered in a couple of weeks).

I thought it would be a nice idea to have a couple more double sockets located in other parts of the room; one on the side of the chimney breast, and another on the far wall.

Anyway, following the advice on this site, I looked at the cabling into the existing sockets and I have found that there is only one cable going into each, suggesting that both sockets are already spurs.

I know I can't run another spur off the back of them (although I'd love to), but what other options do I have? What is an electrician likely to tell me I will need.

The living room is on the same floor as my consumer unit, which is about 10 meters away in the kitchen.

 

[JohnD]

can you take up the floor or crawl underneath it?

If not have a look behind some other sockets and work out where they are spurred from.

 

[Lectrician]

Assuming your cct is protected by a 30/32 protective device? If it is a 15/16/20 then you could spur....

 

[JohnD]

In some older houses you occasionally find the downstairs sockets are spurred off the upstairs ones (or vice versa). Weird.

But the direction of the incoming cable will give you a clue.

 

[davy_owen_88]

You could fit a FCU in place of the 2 original double sockets and then you can run as many sockets as you wish.

 

[equitum]

You could replace one of the existing spurs with a fused connection unit, (13A) and then take as many spurs from this as you like - limited only by the 13A load limit. This would be fine for most appliances likely to be used in the lounge, eg. TV, Video, Lamp etc.

 

[JohnD]

Go on! Have a look under the floor! maybe you can do a proper job and just re-run the ring with more sockets!

 

[bernardgreen]

In some older houses you occasionally find the downstairs sockets are spurred off the upstairs ones (or vice versa). Weird.

Even wierder was the converion of this to a ring by linking two spurs down stairs and removing the matrching section of the original ring between the upstairs sockets from where the spurs were taken. The new ring went up and down walls like a yo-yo.

 

[securespark]

In some older houses you occasionally find the downstairs sockets are spurred off the upstairs ones (or vice versa). Weird.

But the direction of the incoming cable will give you a clue.

In 60's this was common: A ring downstairs for the majority of the sockets, with the odd spur up for bedrooms.

 

[plugwash]

yeah when you are only installing a couple of sockets per main room and one per bedroom it is a very economical way to wire.

the trouble is its a bitch to expand the socket availibility on the floor which is all spurs without either doing the yo-yo thing or having multi socket spurs (which are disallowed if unfused and a bit of a pain due to low capacity and fuses in locations not too related to the socket if fused).

 

[Griffboy]

You could replace one of the existing spurs with a fused connection unit, (13A) and then take as many spurs from this as you like - limited only by the 13A load limit. This would be fine for most appliances likely to be used in the lounge, eg. TV, Video, Lamp etc.

So do you mean that I should fit the FCU...

like this;

|
|
[FCU]
|
|
[SOCKET #1]
|
|
[SOCKET #2]


... or like this ...

|
|
[FCU]
|
|___________
| |
[SOCKET #1] [SOCKET #2]


[SOCKET #2]

 

[equitum]

In response in how to wire from a fused connnection unit you can either daisy chain from the fcu to a socket and then from that socket to the the next as in your first diagram, or go in a "star" formation from the fcu and/or from one or more sockets/junction boxes. As its effectively a radial circuit from the fcu then you can do either, although you will be limited in practicality by the number of cables you can terminate in an accessory.

If I were doing the job I would ensure that the ring circuit actually still exists by testing from the consumer unit for continuity/equal resistances and at each outlet on the ring (and also testing the spurs) as over the years people (diy) can do very strange things to ring final circuits such as bridging, spurs from spurs etc as has already been alluded to.

 

[JohnD]

Look under the floor, I tell you!

 

[equitum]

Look under the floor, I tell you!

With respect, JohnD why bother ? Why disrupt the flooring when having plasterers in anyway ?

An FCU will afford a load of 4KW, highly unlikely in the domestic lounge situation ?

Furthermore, the query is from a gentleman who is, again with respect, not overly confident in what to do, so there is a risk that a mistake could be made from a visual interpretation of the circuit from beneath floorboards, which at best is a guess without test equipment and at worst could lead to assumptions being made. Without taking up most of the floor boards its damn near impossible to be sure, from my experience what the arrangements are.

 

[RF Lighting]

An FCU will afford a load of 4KW, highly unlikely in the domestic lounge situation ?

An FCU will allow a maximum load of 3kW. Unlikely? All it takes is an electric fire or fan heater and the FCU will be fully loaded leaving no capacity for anything else.