Covered mains outlet

[AdamW]

I am considering moving some walls about in my kitchen, part of which will end up with my fridge being 3 feet nearer my sofa.

In order to power the fridge I will be extending the ring to a new outlet. I can either put the outlet behind the fridge, which will mean to defrost I will have to pull the fridge out (not good as it is a big one) or I can put it in a cupboard next to the fridge (accessible after pulling a few things out).

I am thinking the second option is best, however I am concerned about the outlet being switched off by accident when I shove my ironing board into it, for example. So, I will be building some kind of wooden box that will be hinged to cover the outlet and protect against accidental switching off. But then I thought "Perhaps there are outlets with a cover on already!". All I can find is exterior ones, which isn't ideal. Is anyone aware of FCUs or sockets with a cover to prevent accidental switching?

 

[ban-all-sheds]

The socket shouldn't be in a cupboard, as it makes it not visible or accessible enough, but it isn't a hanging offence.

We used to have (probably still do, somewhere) covers like wot you want which we bought as child safety devices (probably from Boots or Mothercare) - consisted of a rectangular plate which went between the socket faceplate and the wall, and with a cover hinged along the top edge that would close down over the socket, with a plug in it, and clipped shut with a catch too stiff for a child to operate.

Or you could just use an unswitched socket.

But what I can't get my head round is that your fridge doesn't have an on/off switch...

 

[AdamW]

Thanks, will be down to Mothercare later... Women accuse me of being childish, this will only confirm it

Most fridge/freezers don't have switches on, as far as I know. And mine isn't some cheapo Beko one or anything. Some of the swankier ones have defrost modes and such.

In fact, I think mine might be auto-defrosting but even these need to be defrosted from time to time. Only had to do it once in the 2 years I have had it, but still!

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Blimey.

Mine's a bog-standard Electrolux, and it has separate main switches for the fridge and freezer sections. Mind you, it is over 20 years old, so there may have been "advances" in that time.

Although what kind of f**kwit engineer would design a product without a switch beats me. Auto-defrost or not, I'd love to have it explained to me why being forced to switch off the fridge as well as the freezer should you need to do a manual defrost is considered a desirable feature, and one that is to be implemented in preference to individual controls.

Probably buying a new one this year though, assuming I can find one without those ludicrous waste-of-space chilled drink dispensers and/or icemakers, so the switch thing is something to look out for....

 

[AdamW]

You are right there. I would think it is better to be able to put your freezer stuff in your fridge whilst the freezer is defrosting, for example.

It is a bit daft. I thought that when I had to defrost mine as it involved clambering on work surfaces and reaching behind the fridge with a pole to hit the switch! Checked the manual, that is what it said to do.

It is probably to stop people accidentally turning it off, possibly kids playing with it.

 

[aidy_is]

No switch on mine either... Put socket for it behind drawers, therefore no chance of it being accidentally switched, but easily accessible. @

 

[ban-all-sheds]

It is probably to stop people accidentally turning it off, possibly kids playing with it.

If that was the thinking, it is seriously flawed.

1) I've never accidentally turned my fridge or freezer off by opening the door, actuating the rocker switch marked ON/OFF and failing to notice the light going out.

2) I don't know anybody who has.

3) If you have children of that age, you want to stop them gaining access to the F/F completely, not just to the switch, and therefore you buy a door catch which accomplishes both.

4) What percentage of the F/F owning population have children in the age bracket where this is a real problem?

It seems more likely to be the result of braindead "design" done by some idiot who needs a map to find his way to work each day, of which there is a huge amount these days. The majority of consumer products have got a blindingly obvious design flaw in them, and I can count on the fingers of one hand the total number of products I have ever encountered in which I've seen any feature where I've actually been impressed with the design engineering (as distinct from aesthetics or build quality).

 

[plugwash]

the normal way of wiring up fridges and freezers nowadays it to put a FCU on the ring above worktop height

and from this run to a socket behind the appliance

 

[ChrisRogers]

why don't you just use a non switched socket?!

 

[ban-all-sheds]

why don't you just use a non switched socket?!

That's already been suggested....

 

[AdamW]

the normal way of wiring up fridges and freezers nowadays it to put a FCU on the ring above worktop height

and from this run to a socket behind the appliance

Is this allowable? I mean, a switch controlling a socket elsewhere. If it is, then that is possibly a solution for me. What are the rules on doin this? I assume it has to be within distance X of the socket.

If I can do that, that sounds good.

 

[AdamW]

why don't you just use a non switched socket?!

Simply for those occasions once every year or two when you have to defrost the freezer. Being a large-size fridge/freezer makes it a big bu**er to move.

 

[AdamW]

The majority of consumer products have got a blindingly obvious design flaw in them

Like 99% of TVs on the market only having one RGB compatible SCART socket, when a large proportion of the new TV buying market have a DVD player AND some form of digital TV box and thus require two to gain maximum benefit.

I have to use a manual switchbox with a Sony Wega. Wonderful TV, excellent picture quality (provided you use the RGB inputs) but annoying if you want to pause a DVD and check what's on without getting up.

Then there is the fact that 99% of PC keyboards are not actually wide enough for a man to use. Honestly, any paper pushers here should check their health and safety manual on "how to sit at a desk" tomorrow. Try to hold your arms shoulder distance apart and type without straining your wrists. Not possible. So instead we all have to pull our arms in or risk RSI. Unless you have one of those nifty bendy keyboards.

 

[plugwash]

yup it's fine to use a fcu above worktop to control a socket below not sure about distance issues but directly above the appliance (generally with a worktop in between) is normal

this is a switched fcu (fused connection unit) in case you are wondering what i'm talking about

you wire the supply terminals into the ring or on a spur just like a normal socket

you wire the load terminals to the socket using 2.5mm twin and earth

 

[AdamW]

I have only used flex outlet FCUs before, didn't realise you could use the non-outlet FCUs to control accessories elsewhere, thought it might be against regs (not necessarily intuitive what switch to press to isolate an appliance).