Don't want to burn my flat down using extension cables

[eldredevans]

Hi - Can I apologize in advance for this very basic (and possibly stupid question).

Im a medical student and have just moved into a tiny flat with my girlfriend. There is no room for a desk in the flat so the landlord said that I could put one on the landing outside the flat (we're on the top floor so no-one else uses it).

This is great but there is a problem with power: To work I need to plug in my laptop, printer, desk lamp and speakers. There is a power socket on the landing below us (for hoovering) but the landlord said he didnt want me to use it as he has to pay for that socket - it is also too complicated for me to pay separately for the usesage.

I have been trying to work out a way of running an extension cable out of the flat to the desk. Initially I thought I could just run an extension cable from one of the inside sockets and tack the wire onto the skirting board or something. The problem is the front door which wont shut well with the cable through it (duh!). In my naivety I thought I could possibly find a 'thin wire' extension cable but have had no luck on the internet.

Has anyone got any advice of how to do this? As you can see DIY is not my strenght but we are also on a very tight budget so can't really afford to pay for anything too complex.

[However, I was hoping to pay an electrician to install a new socket nearer to the front door as I would have to connect two extensions cable together to get to the desk and dont want to cause a fire (can't use a long one as need a few sockets in between). Any idea about how much this would cost in London?]

Thanks

 

[duvet77]

I would have thought your landlord would be breaking a few health and safety rules by letting you set up a desk in a shared circulation space.

 

[eldredevans]

Your probably right, but he's a nice reasonable guy who knows I need a decent place to work (medical text books aren't small!). Also if you could see the landing it's clear that the desk does not get in anyone's way. There's a little alcove just after our front door and then a dead end. It doesn't block us coming in and out of the flat and there's no reason for anyone else to come up here as there are only two flats in the building and we are on the top floor.

Any idea about the extension cable though?

 

[duvet77]

So, ignoring the legality of it...

are you wanting a permanent extension in place that always has a socket on the landing or are you just bringing out the extension when you need to use the desk?

If it was me, i'd just trail an extension out the front door whenever i'm using the desk and tuck it away when not in use. I assume the front door is open while you use the desk so you don't need to worry about the wire fitting under the door.

If you wired it up so the socket was always outside the door, the cleaner would use your electricity to hoover the stairs and landing!

Are you planning on leaving all that equipment permanently set up on the landing? I hope you trust the landlord and other tenants!

 

[eldredevans]

There's no cleaner but apparently the plugs are there should the tenants ever want to hoover the common parts (it's clear no-one has done this for years so at the moment the landlord does not pay anything).

Ideally I want a permanent extension in place. Partly because I will be using the desk a lot (every morning and evening) and dont want to have to keep taking the extension in and out. Also in the winter we are going to keep the front door closed to keep the heat in (I'll get a little electric heater while I burn the midnight oil ).

How easy is it to do wire fitting under the door?

[Regarding the security: There's only one other tenant downstairs and the landlord lives abroad. My partner thinks she's a bit dodgey so Im going to try and make somekind of simple door to attach to the bookshelf behind the desk. I'll put the printer and speakers in there and bring my laptop in and out when Im not working. The printer and speakers are only worth about £50 together anyway so if they disappear its not much of a disaster. The books will be worth way more than that but won't fetch much down the local market so shouldn't be of much interest to theives]

Thanks

 

[Chri5]

Buy a 4w extension socket and lead, they can be found with 3m, 5m, 7m and even 10m leads.

Buy a plug.

Chop off moulded plug that came with the extension socket.

Drill a discrete 8-10mm hole through the wall between hall desk area and the inside room.

Push wire through.

Terminate new plug on cable and plug in to nearest socket

Then if ever you need to switch off the supply to the desk, simply unplug it.


OK I'd admit that the above isn't perfect, but hey you are a skint student and the wall between the hall and room could be plasterboard or lath (hollow and easy to route through).

When you leave a quick dab of filler and there's no major issues with repairing..

 

[stem]

Also in the winter we are going to keep the front door closed to keep the heat in (I'll get a little electric heater while I burn the midnight oil)

Be careful! Make sure it is "little" in terms of power consumption. Extension leads are rated at 13A max which is about 3kW, some heaters use 3kW on their own so there would be nothing left for anything else.

 

[eldredevans]

Thanks Chri5 - There is a connecting wall between the kitchen and the wall the desk is again.

Any idea how I find out what the wall is made out of? It's quite thick so would need a long drill (not sure where I'd get that from).

Alternatively, are there any extension cables which are made to run through doors (thin wires!) or can I put it under the carpet easily?

Annoyingly, in both case I will have to connect extension cables together as there aren't many power sockets in the kitchen so I have one running the fridge-freezer then I would need to connect another one to the radio (on another wall) and finally a third to go thorough the whole or under the door. With this potential fire hazard in mind, how much about do electricians charge for putting in a new double socket?

 

[plugwash]

There is nothing wrong with plugging extention leads into other extention leads as long as you make sure they are properly fused (any modern british one should be fused at the plug with a fuse to match the rating of the flex). Of course you need to keep an eye on the total load but a fridge a radio a desk lamp and a laptop won't draw all that much.

The important thing is to make sure any wiring is routed where it will not get damaged. Running through doors or under skirtings is a bad idea.

Most extension leads allow you to remove the cable from both the extension block and the plug. If you use a lower rated cable than the original make sure it is sufficiant for the load and you use a suitable fuse so that the fuse blows before the cable melts if some idiot overloads it.

 

[Steve]

OOI, I've never seen an extension lead with a moulded plug. You can normally remove them for passing through holes etc - suppose it comes in handy when you put them in cabinets for TVs etc.

 

[Pensdown]

There is nothing wrong with plugging extention leads into other extention leads as long as you make sure they are properly fused (any modern british one should be fused at the plug with a fuse to match the rating of the flex). Of course you need to keep an eye on the total load but a fridge a radio a desk lamp and a laptop won't draw all that much.

oooooo....that's a sweeping statement. What about the problem with low current devices that have a high earth leakage, i.e PC's?

If you cascade power blocks and plug too many in you run the risk of a shock if you tough the earth pin when unplugging the master lead.

Maybe not applicable on this post but there is a problem with cascading power blocks...BS6396 2002

 

[plugwash]

oooooo....that's a sweeping statement. What about the problem with low current devices that have a high earth leakage, i.e PC's?

If you have a roomfull of PCs running off one socket then maybe that is a serious concern. In normal domestic situations I very much doubt it is.

 

[stem]

As your OP was entitled "Don't want to burn my flat down by using extension cables" you should consider the following:

Alternatively, are there any extension cables which are made to run through doors (thin wires!)

Extension leads are rated at 13 Amps. Therefore the cable needs to be big enough to safely carry 13A, otherwise it would overheat and possibly catch fire. Cables should not be trapped in doors as they will be damaged.

or can I put it under the carpet easily?

Cables should NEVER be run under carpet. They are insulated by the carpet and can overheat. Being unseen, they can get damaged by furniture, by being walked on, or impaled on gripper rods and they're surrounded by materials which make excellent tinder.

 

[mattylad]

Never mind the extension, your wanting to have a desk in this shared space AND leave your PC, printer etc on it AND expect them to still be there the next morning?

Now there is someone who trusts his fellow man.

I wouldn''t.

I'd use the kitchen counter top, a bit of wood over the sofa, the bath or anything else rather than leave my PC outside.

 

[sm1thson]

Never mind the extension, your wanting to have a desk in this shared space AND leave your PC, printer etc on it AND expect them to still be there the next morning?

Now there is someone who trusts his fellow man.

I wouldn''t.

he never said he would leave the computer out there, and the fact that its a laptop insinuates he is even more likely to take it with him not leave it.