My House Rewire (Current progress and some questions!)

[lorraine]

Hi everyone,

As you may know me and my dad are currently in the process of rewiring my house (informed the council and handed over £90) and have done the following (attached with questions):

1. taken out the old fuse box, replaced with new consumer unit

2. split the upstairs and downstairs lights, they are both on 10A breakers, is this okay? I have used 1.5mm cable and the guy in the electrical shop said it would be best to have a 10A over a 6A. As I have installed about 5 new halogen light fittings upstairs and a further 3 downstairs.

3. I currently have a switch socket (not a pull cord) in my bathroom as it was already there, would it be okay to leave this or do i have to change to a pull cord? I believe it is in zone 2 (within 60cms of the bath) or could be right on the edge and into zone 3.

4. We are about to install an upstairs ring, the problem lies in the cable routing. the holes in the joists that the previous circuit used (radial circuit) aren't between 25 and 40% of the beam length. Would it be okay to use these holes are will the council ask me to drill holes in the correct place? I figure having two holes is worse than having one! Also is it mandatory to clip every 600mm?

5. Is it possible to have the whole of the downstairs on a ring? I was not sure if the kitchen had to have a separate ring or not? I believe the cooker does though?

Thanks to everyone who has helped me so far and thanks in advance to anyone who replies.

Lorraine.

 

[andy]

1. taken out the old fuse box, replaced with new consumer unit

best do that last, but either way works

2. split the upstairs and downstairs lights, they are both on 10A breakers, is this okay? I have used 1.5mm cable and the guy in the electrical shop said it would be best to have a 10A over a 6A. As I have installed about 5 new halogen light fittings upstairs and a further 3 downstairs.

C6 would be a better option. altho there isnt much wrong with 10A

3. I currently have a switch socket (not a pull cord) in my bathroom as it was already there, would it be okay to leave this or do i have to change to a pull cord? I believe it is in zone 2 (within 60cms of the bath) or could be right on the edge and into zone 3.

change to pull cord. if your doin s full re-wire then why would you need to leave it?

4. We are about to install an upstairs ring, the problem lies in the cable routing. the holes in the joists that the previous circuit used (radial circuit) aren't between 25 and 40% of the beam length. Would it be okay to use these holes are will the council ask me to drill holes in the correct place? I figure having two holes is worse than having one! Also is it mandatory to clip every 600mm?

i would use the old holes. not sure if theyll check under the floors

5. Is it possible to have the whole of the downstairs on a ring? I was not sure if the kitchen had to have a separate ring or not? I believe the cooker does though?

best have the kitchen on its won ring. cooker is a seperate radial. even if you dont plan on using it now, you should put it and so its P approved at the same time as the rest of the house so you dont have to pay again

 

[Adam_151]

2. split the upstairs and downstairs lights, they are both on 10A breakers, is this okay? I have used 1.5mm cable and the guy in the electrical shop said it would be best to have a 10A over a 6A. As I have installed about 5 new halogen light fittings upstairs and a further 3 downstairs.

What is the load on the circuits, if its less than 6A, use a 6A breaker

3. I currently have a switch socket (not a pull cord) in my bathroom as it was already there, would it be okay to leave this or do i have to change to a pull cord? I believe it is in zone 2 (within 60cms of the bath) or could be right on the edge and into zone 3.

Think its allowed in zone3, but not in any other zone, best change it to a pull cord anyway IMHO

4. We are about to install an upstairs ring, the problem lies in the cable routing. the holes in the joists that the previous circuit used (radial circuit) aren't between 25 and 40% of the beam length. Would it be okay to use these holes are will the council ask me to drill holes in the correct place? I figure having two holes is worse than having one! Also is it mandatory to clip every 600mm?

Seems common sense to use the existing hole, you can't un drill them!, whether the council will see this remains to be seen however

5. Is it possible to have the whole of the downstairs on a ring? I was not sure if the kitchen had to have a separate ring or not? I believe the cooker does though?

More than possible, its possible to have the entire house on one ring if you wanted (providing less than 100M²), but just because its possible, it doesn't mean its partiuclay sensible, best put the kitchen on its own ring IMHO, Cookers should be on their own suitably sized radial (probably 10mm² to be reasonably future proof), not ring, as its only one device, you'd struggle to create a ring (and would end up just using parallel conductors)

 

[sparkybird]

Just a thought but you are putting all downstairs sockets on an RCD aren't you? A mate of mine had to redo part P because they weren't. The reasoning behind this was that these sockets could be used to supply an item of equipment outside the house (and therefore the equipotential zone)
Good luck
SB

 

[Spark123]

is it mandatory to clip every 600mm?

Depends which installation method you use, method 1 allows clipped direct to or lying on a non-metallic surface. To me, this means as long as the cable isn't under any mechanical stress, under the floorboards they are OK laid in.
For the cable support distances in accessible locations 600mm seems a bit too far, see TLC direct

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Don't see why you should worry about the holes - if they already exist then there's no requirement to bring them up to current regulations. It's not like you can move them.

 

[securespark]

Wouldn't use Type C in domestic..........

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Nothing whatsoever wrong with a C6 for lighting.

 

[securespark]

C types were never intended for domestic use.

Find me an authoritative excerpt that recommends them for use on dom lighting circs, and I shall scuttle off into the corner and admit defeat.....

 

[plugwash]

is there anything official that reccomends against them either?

B6 breakers are just too sensitive to cope with the blowing of some lamps C6 breakers are much less sensitive to it and you shouldn't have Zs problems with them unless the cuircuit is extremely long.

a B10 is another option but why chose a breaker with a slow trip higher than it needs to be when its the fast trip that the problem.

btw sometimes bulbs blowing can cause a huge surge of current. I had one in my inspection lamp take out a B16 (loft socket cuircuit) recently.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

C types were never intended for domestic use.

Find me an authoritative excerpt that recommends them for use on dom lighting circs, and I shall scuttle off into the corner and admit defeat.....

There's nothing that says they were, or were not, "intended" for domestic use, and there's nothing which says they are or are not suitable.

They are a protective device with certain characteristics, and if they are more appropriate than another type, and can meet disconnection times, it behoves you as designer to use them.

 

[lorraine]

Hi everyone,

Thanks for all the replies.

In reply to some of the questions:

Bathroom Switch - I would like to leave this as if I take it out it will leave a massive hole in the wall and I can't get matching tiles from anywhere but I was aware that most bahtrooms had pull cords but was not sure if this was due to zonal arrangements or not.

Downstairs sockets are on an RCD, I am going to buy a cooker switch with no socket on for the cooker circuit as this won't be on the rcd side of my consumer unit.

Do I have to provide a separate circuit for my boiler? Which hasn't been fitted yet (I had electric heaters before) or can I spur off the kitchen ring?

Also are there any safety tests I can perform before the council comes round to check?!?

I did not realise the difference between B and C type MCB's! I just went in the shop and the guy gave me a B. incidentally are there any A type?

thanks to everyone who has helped me, I am really finding it rewarding wiring up my house. I am learning as I go along and I'm EXTREMELY Grateful to all the chaps and if there are any chappesses who have helped me along the way.

Thanks again.

Lorraine.

 

[Spark123]

Do I have to provide a separate circuit for my boiler? Which hasn't been fitted yet (I had electric heaters before) or can I spur off the kitchen ring?

Spurring off the ring for a gas boiler is fine.

I did not realise the difference between B and C type MCB's! I just went in the shop and the guy gave me a B. incidentally are there any A type?

There are A type but are rare, type B is the type which most domestic dwellings use.

 

[M1K3]

Just a thought but you are putting all downstairs sockets on an RCD aren't you? A mate of mine had to redo part P because they weren't. The reasoning behind this was that these sockets could be used to supply an item of equipment outside the house (and therefore the equipotential zone)
Good luck
SB

Might wanna check on that SparkyBird, when i did the part P in march there was no mention that you needed all down stairs sockets on a RCD at all. Only sockets/accessories that was fed to the out side or out houses / sheds etc were needed to have an RCD. RCBO's were recommended to be used no matter what if the cost was not an issue but you are still allowed to use a normal 32A CB for down stairs sockets/ring

 

[kavozzy]

Hi everyone,

Thanks for all the replies.

In reply to some of the questions:

Bathroom Switch - I would like to leave this as if I take it out it will leave a massive hole in the wall and I can't get matching tiles from anywhere but I was aware that most bahtrooms had pull cords but was not sure if this was due to zonal arrangements or not.

Fit a "Pull cord" switch, and fit a blanking plate in place of the existing wall switch, it's a lot cheaper than a revisit from the council