Electricity to my shed

[dgratton]

I have a new 8x10 shed which will be used for storage of mower, tools, paint etc - it will not be used as a workshop, office, summer house or anything else. However I want to put a light in it and a double socket for things like the mower, charging hedge cutter, drill and such. The shed is 8 metres from the house. I want to get the electric feed using a blue extension cable plugged in to the main house and I guess I will have some kind of plug in the shed linked to the socket and light. Obviously the use will be occasional and sporadic. My question is twofold: firstly, is this legal, and secondly, what kind of plug should I use to link the power in the shed. I will use 1.5mm cable for the light and 2.5mm cable for the plug, where do these wires go in order that I end up with one plug to attach to the extension cable?
Thanks

 

[blup]

You would need a consumer unit in the shed supplied by armoured cable(s) from your mains supply, all conforming to regulations i.e prior approval and signed off by building control, or design and installation by a suitably qualified electrician.

Your Heath Robinson approach is not do-able.

Blup

 

[dgratton]

Am I wrong in thinking that a temporary supply is not part of the regulations. The cost otherwise would be prohibitive for such occasional use.

 

[bernardgreen]

Am I wrong in thinking that a temporary supply is not part of the regulations.

Death by electrocution is never temporary

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Am I wrong in thinking that a temporary supply is not part of the regulations.

Yes.

You don't need a CU as suggested by blup -IHNI why he advised that. A socket and an FCU for the light will do.

You do need though to properly install a supply cable to the shed, it should be armoured so that RCD protection can be at the shed end, and it should all be tested. Depending on how it's done it may or may not need notifying.

You should get an electrician - I'm sure she'll be happy for you to do the physical grafting of digging a trench if that's necessary.

 

[AndyPRK]

I'm a great fan of these temporary setups.
You can fix lights to the ceiling where they will function well.
You can fit a socket where it will be useful.

I would just have 1m of flex cable in the shed (near the door) with a normal 13A standard plug.
And use an existing extension lead to connect it.

Obviously if you wish to shut the shed door, you would want to cut a nick of wood out, for the cable to pass thru without being trapped. (and leave the plug/socket in the shed (in the dry)

You could use an FCU (switch and fuse holder) for the light switch if you wished.

Run the light to the fcu/switch by door.
The FCU to the socket.
Then flex from the socket to the trailing lead (if the socket is close to the door)
If the socket is not close to the door, you could use a cooker connection unit to join the fixed wiring to the flex. You could also join you light cable in here if it meant a shorter/neater run.

The previous owner of my house was a fan of cooker connection units!



For best practice, ensure your house is RCD protected.
An outside socket on the house would compliment this (and could also be used for lawn mowers)

 

[dgratton]

Thanks AndyPRK, that makes sense. The extension cable will only be used when I need light in the shed and that will probably be less frequent than I use the lawn mower. I just want something a bit more robust than a torch.

 

[cwhaley]

I put a wooden board in mine with a double socket screwed to it. That double socket was connected to a fused switch on that board, and from that I ran a cable down the garden back to the house where I have an outside socket.

I use the socket when I need to use the mitre saw, pillar drill or a single light if working in the dark. Most of the time the wire is wound up and in the shed. It is temporary.

When I build the summer house I will have a new circuit added to the consumer unit, with armoured cable ran to the this structure to a separate consumer unit there. This will then be permanent, fused, protected with the right cable and signed off by an electrician. Works completed by a qualified electrician too -- nothing done by me.

In my eyes those are the two acceptable approaches.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

That double socket was connected to a fused switch

Why?

 

[cwhaley]

Because originally the plan was to spur from the back of a ring main socket. The FCU would then protect the wire on that spur.

Two fuses in the circuit in its current form yes, but totally safe.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

To what is the FCU supply cable connected?

 

[cwhaley]

That double socket was connected to a fused switch on that board, and from that I ran a cable down the garden back to the house where I have an outside socket.

As I say the plan was to have it spurred from a socket, hence the need for the FCU.

 

[ericmark]

One could treat a shed in same way as a caravan or narrow boat, I know caravans normally have special consumer units with double pole MCB's and have RCD protection at both supply point and inside caravan, never really worked out why? I will guess in case the site you have visited has not followed the rules, or is abroad where line and neutral can be swapped.

However minimum cable size for a caravan is 2.5mm² 25 meters long +/- 2 meters and must not be a TN-C-S supply, to comply with caravan rules i.e. temporary supply is going to be just as hard as doing the job proper to start with, so depending on if you already have 30 mA RCD protection or not either a FCU or a RCD FCU in the house and SWA cable or a catteenary wire with the cable running on that, I would use a black flexible cable on a catteenary wire I note Screwfix sell cable for pond pumps which should be suitable.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

As I say the plan was to have it spurred from a socket, hence the need for the FCU.

"The plan was...". i.e. not how it is.

From where does the supply to the FCU originate?

 

[cwhaley]

"The plan was...". i.e. not how it is.

From where does the supply to the FCU originate?

Original plan: spur from socket straight to an FCU, cable down the garden to a board with sockets and lighting.
Current solution: extension cable plugged into outside socket, ran down the garden to a board containing a trailing double socket, from which I have ran an LED light from the socket. The circuit it is connected to (via the extension) is protected by an RCD.

Sorry if it didn't come across clearly. Tired from working at a new retail unit in Loughton in NE London.

When I have the money, I will have a new circuit added to the consumer unit, with armoured cable ran down the garden to a separate consumer unit in the shed. The reason for the separate consumer unit in the shed is because I will be connecting inherited tools which would draw a lot of current. the work will be done entirely by a qualified electrician with me only doing the ground work for the cable. I'll also drill through the brick as they usually make a pig's ear of this...