Garage Conversion

[Easty]

Hi
Im in the process of converting my garage into a home recording/music studio. I have studded it out, insulated the walls with rockwool and covered with soundcheck plasterboard. Im going to build a second wall around the perimeter of the room for all electrics etc..
I have my consumer unit in the garage which I want to connect my sockets and lighting to. There are no spare mcb's so whats the best way to connect to it or can I add a second small consumer unit.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks

 

[ban-all-sheds]

1) you may be able to simply extend the existing socket and lighting circuits - it will depend on total floor area served and loading.

Another factor though, AFAIK, is mains-borne interference when sharing circuits.

2) Unless you have an isolator between the meter and the CU adding a second CU or replacing yours with a larger one will involve breaking the company seals on the main fuse and pulling it out.

3) Unless you simply extend the existing circuits, the work is supposed to be notified to LABC in advance, via a Building Notice.

4) The "any advice" is a very wide-ranging question, and suggests that you need to bone up some more on design principles, installation considerations (particularly concerning cable rating factors when they run in insulation, which yours might do, by the sounds of it) and regulations. Have a look here, for starters: //www.diynot.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=75416#75416

 

[Deluks]

Im going to build a second wall around the perimeter of the room for all electrics etc..

By this, do you mean a low wall inside the room to house all your cables? Depending on what this perimeter wall will be made of, and how high it will be, it could reduce your rooms soundproofing, by adding whats known as a 'third leaf'

1) Outside wall..
2) Plasterboard stud wall..
3) Inner Perimeter Wall..

...makes 3 walls, and for max sound insulation you only want 2 walls.
You probably know about this if you've been doing your research on the various acoustic websites, so excuse me for jumping in, just wanted to make sure you don't make an error that's all.

Why not use surface mount conduit/trunking anyway?

 

[Lectrician]

Dado trunking would be cheaper than a thrid wall, and easier to expand...

 

[Easty]

Deluks
Thanks for your post.
My exsisting garage was block and brickwork construction I have now added 47x50mm timber studs at 600mm centres with rockwool in between. I then covered with sound check plasterboard which has been sealed with joint filler and acoustic mastic.
I now want to build another layer of 47x50mm timber,Rockwool and plasterboard full height and put all my cables etc. into this layer.
What cable should you use in this type of construction with insulation involved? I thought T&E 6242Y 4.0mm instead of 2.5mm.
Also without speaking to an electrician, Im still not sure how to connect my new lighting and power circuits up to my exsisting supply.
Thanks
Gary

 

[plugwash]

if the insulation is only on one side of the cable then going up one size over the normal requirements (e.g. 4mm rings and 1.5mm lights) should be fine.

there are two possible ways to add a second consumer unit, one is to break in before the existing consumer unit but this requires you to pull the company fuse which is not something we normally reccomend diyers do.

the other way is to run the new CU as a cuircuit from the existing CU but this obviously requires care in selecting which cuircuits you place on the new CU as for many domestic CUs the highest breaker you can get is 50A or even 40A.

what are your existing cuircuits and what is your present consumer unit style and layout. photos would be very very helpfull here as they convey lots of details that are hard to put into words.

 

[Easty]

Thank you for helpful reply.

I will post some pictures of my exsisting CU asap.

Thanks again.
Gary

 

[Easty]

as for many domestic CUs the highest breaker you can get is 50A or even 40A.

Excuse my ignorance but what do you mean by the highest breaker?

 

[Adam_151]

as for many domestic CUs the highest breaker you can get is 50A or even 40A.

Excuse my ignorance but what do you mean by the highest breaker?

He means the highest rateing breakers available for consumer units are 50A, or in some cases, even as low as 40A, though some old re-wireable fuseboxes won't take more than a 30

 

[plugwash]

in some cases you can actually get 63A ones too but not from normal diy outlets.

 

[Adam_151]

in some cases you can actually get 63A ones too but not from normal diy outlets.

Didn't know CUs could take ones that big, thought those were for 3ph dist boards?

 

[Deluks]

Deluks
Thanks for your post.
My existing garage was block and brickwork construction I have now added 47x50mm timber studs at 600mm centres with rockwool in between. I then covered with sound check plasterboard which has been sealed with joint filler and acoustic mastic.
I now want to build another layer of 47x50mm timber,Rockwool and plasterboard full height and put all my cables etc. into this layer.
Gary

Electrics aside mate, that doesn't sound like a good idea at all, you will already have the existing brick wall, then the soundcheck wall, then a third wall for cable runs. This makes 3 walls for the sound to pass through, which believe it or not will lower your soundproofing performance. You need just 2 walls, each as heavy as possible, with insulation in between, this you already have, forgot about the third wall and use trunking for the cables. If you've already bought the extra plasterboard then attach it straight to the soundcheck stuff, without any gap in between.
Read more info Here about three walls and their negative effects on soundproofing.

Cheers
Del

 

[plugwash]

in some cases you can actually get 63A ones too but not from normal diy outlets.

Didn't know CUs could take ones that big, thought those were for 3ph dist boards?

with some brands i'm pretty sure you can fit them to the CUs you obviously have to take care about things like total load though.

 

[Easty]

Thanks again