Cable routing in kitchen for ring main & cooker

[The Pilgrim]

Hi,

I am new to this forum but I have a few questions which I am hoping I can get the answers from.

If you put a new ring main into an old kitchen (where there is no power at all) can the sockets supplying the appliances under the work top be part of the ring main or do they 'have' to be separate spurs/fused spurs off the ring?

Can cables be routed along the skirting board level (150mm from the floor) and just venture vertically at points where the sockets are to be relocated? I realised they can be routed within 150mm from the ceiling or adjoining walls but it states nothing (that I can read) about routing 150mm from the floor?

The final question I have is about the cooker cable/switch. If you have the cable at the cooker switch is it acceptable for the cable from the cooker switch going to the cooker connection unit to be routed similar to an 'L' configuration? What I am trying to say is if it was run just vertically then the switch would be above the hob therefore this is unaccetable therefore the switch would need to be to the right or left of the hob therefore requiring the cable to be routed in the 'L' pattern.

Sorry to go on but I hope you understand the questions

I look forward to your help.

 

[jj4091]

Do you mean surface mounted or buried in the plaster?

 

[The Pilgrim]

Buried in plaster.

 

[plugwash]

iirc there is supposed to be an accessible means of isolation for appliances. A socket behind an appliance is certainly not an accessible means of isolation, a socket hidden in a cupboard next to the appliance is borderline.

Personally the way I'd reccomend to wire a kitchen is to run the ring horizonally behind the worktop passing through the sockets for above worktop stuff and fused spurs for the runs to sockets behind the appliances.

 

[ColJack]

cables cannot be routed 150mm from the floor.. this is not a safe zone..

it is in fact a very un-safe zone..

say you change the skirting board, or it comes loose or bows out at a point.. ... out comes the hammer and nails or the drill and screws and BANG.. you just nailed / drilled through your cable..

I realise that the same could be said of coving at ceiling level but that stuff is usually just stuck up with some adhesive..

the safe zones extend vertically and horizontally from a point ( ie socket, switch, cooker connection unit etc.. ) so as long as the cable runs vertically down from the switch, and then horizontally to the cooker conection unit then it is in the safe zones and is fine..

while sockets to feed large goods can be fitted under the counter, behind the appliance or in a cupboard adjacent to it, it cannot then be classed as a means of isolation as it is hard to reach or find..
for this reason it is usual practice to put switched fused spurs above the counter feeding a single unswitched socket below the counter..
lable the spurs to identify what they operate..

 

[RF Lighting]

safe zones

 

[Taylortwocities]

cables cannot be routed 150mm from the floor.. ..

They can if they are just clipped to the surface, or run in trunking etc. I think that is what the poster had in mind?

 

[ColJack]

Buried in plaster.

erm i think not.... I'm guessing he want to bury it in the plaster... but i may be wrong...

 

[Taylortwocities]

Whoops.

 

[JohnD]

run horizontally 200mm above worktop height. You will have quite a lot of outlets and the area horizontally between them is a safe zone.

Where you have an undercounter appliance, put a 20A DP switch feeding a 2.5mm spur down to an unswitched 13A socket below (or if you prefer, an FCU above and an (unfused) 15A socket or a flex outlet below)

The area vertically between the switch and the outlet is also a safe zone.

 

[ColJack]

just out of curiosity, why an unfused 15A socket? what s wrong with a good old unswitched 13 single socket?


you then also have the added hassle of changing the moulded plug on any replacement items with the 15A round pins.. do they even still make those?

 

[JohnD]

not my preference but...

the reasoning is, that the ideal number of fuses per appliance is 1. So avoid an FCU plus a 13A plug and socket on the same appliance.

My preference is a 20A DP switch above and an unfused 13A socket below (saves cutting off the plug). But it does mean that in the rare event of a fuse blowing and there is no fault that requires the appliance to be pulled out for repair, you have to pull it out to change the cartridge in the plugtop.

The alternative method of FCU plus unfused plug avoids this

(and yes, the 15A round-pin unfused is still made. Among other things, they are used on theatre lighting. It actually seems to carry about 30Amp without minding as it is such a big, over-engineered thing. the round-pin sockets can get loose with wear, though.

 

[ColJack]

that's why you put the socket in the cupboard adjacent, on the wall behind it and cut a hole in the back of the cupboard to get at it..

 

[JohnD]

not me, guv

 

[securespark]

Buried in plaster.

erm i think not.... I'm guessing he want to bury it in the plaster

Do you know, I can't think for one minute where you've got that crazy idea from...