Armoured cable from house to garage?

Hpd

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Hi all,

I would like to get power to a garage that is 11m from my house. Could anyone advise on what’s needed in terms of cable, glands, garage consumer unit etc? I’ve attached a picture of the consumer unit which might help and also the area that the armoured cable would go into the house. What’s the neatest way to do that? Thanks!
 

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You need to know the expected electrical load in your garage before choosing a cable, and what circuits you intend to have installed before choosing a consumer unit. What are you intending to run from there? A few DIY power tools is a very different proposition to an electric car charger, for example. Your existing consumer unit is dangerous - that spare way should be blanked off to prevent errant fingers or metal objects being poked in there. It could be used to power the garage though, depending on total loading.
 
There are many many threads on here about garage/outbuilding power. Search the forum for 'garage, power'.
 
What is the planned route for the cable to take? do you plan to bury it?
Is the garage inside the boundary of your property?
 
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You need to know the expected electrical load in your garage before choosing a cable, and what circuits you intend to have installed before choosing a consumer unit. What are you intending to run from there? A few DIY power tools is a very different proposition to an electric car charger, for example. Your existing consumer unit is dangerous - that spare way should be blanked off to prevent errant fingers or metal objects being poked in there. It could be used to power the garage though, depending on total loading.
Oh yeah good point! I just intend to have a couple of sockets and some lighting. It really will be to charge tools and at most I’d have a fridge/freezer too. Would 10mm cable be ample for that?
 
What is the planned route for the cable to take? do you plan to bury it?
Is the garage inside the boundary of your property?
Yeah the garage is in the boundary and I plan to grind up a concrete path and bury the cable. So looking for advice on the neatest (and correct) way to terminate the armoured cable at each end
 
SWA Glands, though they aren't easy to make off if you haven't much experience. One end needs to be earthed but best practice is to Earth both Glands at either end with a Banjo & Strap.

TLB20.JPG




Normally for the load you're talking about 2.5mm or 4mm would suffice for your intended usage on appropriate MCB which there is a Spare Way for with RCD inside the garage locally. You may want to consider something larger for future proofing??

Best buy them from an Electrical wholesaler.

How will you determine the ZS/Earth Fault loop Impedance at the end of the circuit will be?

There could be lots of other issues to consider though.
 
Please bear in mind that what you are contemplating is a new circuit. This is notifiable work, so you are going to need a registered electrician. Find one and agree his much of the work you could do. [Hint: Electricians don’t like digging trenches].
Terminating glands on SWA is tricky if you haven’t done it before . Another job for your electrician. But here’s a handy guide:
 
I use an CK Armour slice, though when i was working on 4G electrical power enabling i was Terminating four a Day. The Yellow knob has a tendency to work loose after regular use, luckily my Father in-law machined a pin to prevent it coming loose.

ck-tools-armourslice-13.jpg
 
Need to talk to your electrician about how deep he wants the trench as well. While you're digging the path out, might as well throw a duct in for comms, alarm, anything else you might fancy in your man cave :)
 
I agree about putting a duct in rather than just concreting over the cable, you could always replace it if anything happened to it. You can buy corrugated ducting or simply fit 2 inch plastic drain pipe with couplings quite cheaply. When the cable is installed, drag in a fish wire along side it so you could always drag something else through in the future, as oldbutnotdead suggests.
 

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