Electrical

[danlongden]

Good day
I am in the process of obtaining quotes for complete rewire of my house. I have contacted 4 NICEIC electricians from Yellow Pages and each has given advice on organisation of ring mains, use of spurs, and type and nature of consumer units. I am also confused that prices vary considerably. Can anybody give me a standard aproach to the wiring organisation for a 3 bedroom detached house with attached garage so that I might judge the most appropriate qoute?

 

[Qedelec]

See rule 9.

 

[dingbat]

There isn't really a standard, but in a property of that type I would expect to see the following circuits on a split load consumer unit:

RCD Protected Circuits:
Shower
Ground floor sockets (ring)
First floor sockets (ring)
Kitchen sockets (ring)
(Unless there was a specific request for a separate circuit, I would include sockets in the attached garage on the nearest ground floor ring)

Non-RCD Circuits:
Cooker
Immersion heater (if fitted)
Lights Up
Lights Down
Central heating
Alarm

I would not expect to have to use any spurs on a new installation.

Variations in price will come about from the following:
The size of the company (one-man band usually cheaper than twenty-van outfit)
Quality and number of accessories specified
Whether or not making-good is included (often not)
How keen a particular contractor is to have your business - and that could work both ways. Many will over-quote if they don't really want the job and there could be several reasons for this, such as:
Busy already, don't want to work in an occupied house, did not strike up a good rapport with you, etc...

At the end of the day a cheap quote is not cheap if you don't get what you want and an expensive quote is no guarantee of a good job! In your shoes I'd go for the guy who asked the most questions and explained in lay terms why he'd suggest you do it his way - in other words, somebody you feel confident about.

If you're not happy with any of them then do some homework, decide exactly what spec you want and then get some more quotes.

 

[JohnD]

Puzzle out what differences in scope of work/quality of materials there are (go for a good named brand in accessories)

And especially, decide how many sockets etc you want (get plenty!), and where; if you want dimmers or brass-fronted switches etc which are more expensive. You could draw a floor plan to avoid misundestandings and later disappointment.

Then, when you've decided what you require, ask the different contractors to re-quote for the same thing. Otherwise you are not comparing prices fairly.

If any of them are willing to let you visit a recent domestic customer, so you can get an idea of what their work ends up like, and how satisfied the customer is, that's a big advantage.

Remember that you will probably want quite a lot of redecoration afterwards, an electrician might leave the plaster fairly tidy, but that's all.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

In terms of what circuits to have, the items on the list below may not all apply to you, but they are worth looking at to get you thinking:

1. Upstairs sockets
2. Downstairs sockets
3. Kitchen sockets
4. Circuit for appliances
5. Cooker circuit
6. Non-RCD circuit for F/F
7. Non-RCD circuit for CH boiler
8. Dedicated circuit for hifi
9. Dedicated circuit for IT equipment
10. Upstairs lights
11. Downstairs lights
12. Immersion heater
13. Shower
14. Alarm
15. Supply for outside lights
16. Supply for garden electrics
17. Supply for shed/garage

Plus any peculiarities brought about by your house layout & construction - e.g. in mine because of solid floors and where the rest of the sockets are, I have a radial just for one socket in the hall, the doorbell and the porch lights.

Plus a few spares on RCD & non-RCD sides for expansion beyond that for future unforeseen needs.

 

[Jim2287]

Can i ask why dedicated for HiFi ? ... incase its a really powerful one ? or high earth leak ?

 

[jondiy]

I reckon its for when ban's other half is ****ing him off blasting out all the girly ****e - he can just wipe it out with the flick of a switch

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Some people claim it is of benefit.

I don't have one (yet), but will probably put one in because I've bought a mil-spec power conditioner that (a) has high leakage, and so needs to be on a non-RCD circuit, and (b) has a high starting surge, and so needs to be on a Type C breaker.

 

[Adam_151]

Keep us informed on the building control aspect of it

Anyway, did you ever get that 40 way CU fitted?

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Yes I did. Silly of me to forget that I did the hi-fi circuit at the same time.

I'll post photos one day.

 

[Adam_151]

Silly of me to forget that I did the hi-fi circuit at the same time.

Yeah just before you did the aircon circuits

 

[Pensdown]

Some people claim it is of benefit.

I don't have one (yet), but will probably put one in because I've bought a mil-spec power conditioner that (a) has high leakage, and so needs to be on a non-RCD circuit, and (b) has a high starting surge, and so needs to be on a Type C breaker.

Section 607..single sockets or twin high integrity earthed sockets...dual earth paths....3 core radial or split earths on a ring...new cct=PP....

now someone tell me that we are not over regulated

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Silly of me to forget that I did the hi-fi circuit at the same time.

Yeah just before you did the aircon circuits

That's right.

And just after I split the tails and put in the SWA to the summerhouse off a switchfuse. It was a good job some earlier occupant had previously pulled the service fuse and put an isolator in.

 

[Adam_151]

have a look closely, he might have left you a separate board connected before the meter , ...actually I think the fuse fairy was responsible for the lack of seal (a relative of the red diesel fairy if I'm not very much mistaken...)

 

[ban-all-sheds]

No - the fuse fairy is a very honest person - she would never do anything like that.