Fridges, freezers and fuses

[gordonspants]

We are moving the kitchen from one end of the house to the other (don't ask!), and I'm trying to work out exactly what electrical work will need to be done so I know exactly what I'm asking for in a quote.
We have two fridges and two freezers currently (bu-dum-tishh) on the old kitchen ring main from the rcd - best practise seems to be to put them on a radial non rcd - is this still correct pre new 17th ed regulations?

 

[GaryMo]

All socket outlets rated under 20A require RCD protection. An exception would be a socket for a specific appliance, a fridge or freezer for example. The socket must be labelled as such and not be used for anything else but its intended purpose.

But......all circuits which have unprotected cabling at a depth of less than 50mm require additional protection in the form of a 30mA RCD. An exception to this would be cabling installed in earthed metallic conduit or trunking, or cabling with an earthed metallic covering (see 522.6.6 (i) for list of accepted cables).
Another way would be to make sure the cable is deeper than 50mm along it's full route.

It may well be easier to just RCD protect them though.

EDIT - this is all relevant to BS7671:2008 (17th edition).

 

[securespark]

Hi gordonspants:

Please pass this message on to gordon...

If the F/F sockets cannot be used to supply equipment outdoors, then they could reasonably be supplied without RCD-protection.

However, there are (as always) many different interpretations of how you should wire sockets to comply with this regulation.

Edit: Damn. Got beaten to it...AND I forgot to mention the 50mm rule. Shucks...

 

[gordonspants]

Thanks for the replies.
Any sockets will be directly next to/behind the fridges/freezers, and all are integrated type so the chances of plugging in a hedge cutter to trim the pond plants are unlikely if not impossible.
Or fused switched cord outlets could be used, instead of sockets - that'd be idiotproof?
I'm assuming a 2.5mm ring with 32Amp mcb as there's four compressors going on it, and having checked the fusebox there is one spare space before the rcd.
Here's a question - is it cheaper to run one 4mm or 6mm cable as a radial type thing, or 2 lots of 2.5mm to do a ring? Just been looking at the price of reels of cable and I've come over all light headed...

 

[GaryMo]

Just to add, my reply above is purely 17th edition considering we're only just over 2 weeks away from it being fully implemented.