Needing power to my shed/reptile room

[reptile room]

Hi all newbie here,

What i am wanting to do is get power to my shed which is being turned into a reptile room,
my sparky friend is working on the oil rigs and wont be back until christmas and i want things ready for him just to check over and wire in when he gets back.(plus i am at a standstill until all the cabling is done)

I am wanting to feed,
4x150watt spot bulbs
4x150watt ceramic heaters(type that go in a heatproof screw light fitting),
3x30watt uv tubes,
the lights and heaters will be on timers and have thermostats wired in,
the thing that will use the most juice is i want to be able to use my power tools in there aswell,and there maybe upto 1500watts of tube heaters on the go in wintertime.

what i need to no is this,
I have seen a 2 breaker consumer unit (IP55 GARAGE UNIT )
And it states it can be supplied with whatever size rcd and breakers.(so what do i need)

The power sourch will be the main consumer unit in the house and its going to take a good 15metre run to get the cabling into the shed,

Also i have some 50amp twin n earth cabling that i was hopeing will do for the power to the shed,(it isnt armoured cabling but i can get hold of steel conduit for this to go in)

Will this 50amp cable be fine to use as the power source ?
And what size breaker should i purchase for the main fusebox?
will the comsumer unit be ok?
and what rcd and breakers should i be looking at?

Also i am guessing that 2.5mm twin n earth will be ok to run for the sockets in the shed.

I would really like to get this all sorted so its just a wiring in job rather bother him to a full days graft after being away for 3 months,( i no he wont charge me aswell so i just wanna make it as easy as i can plus i can finish of all my jobs if all the cabling is out the way)
cheers in advance for any replies.

 

[Richard C]

You need to read the sticky regarding Part P.

//www.diynot.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=7553

What your proposing is notifyable work & even though your friend may be a fully qualified spark, if he isn’t Part P certified, he can’t do the work without involving Building Control.

 

[reptile room]

Hi there i have already read part p,last night,(i am obviously no sparky,so i sorta get the grasp of the sticky,but i have no way of speaking to him until he is home,and i dont no what certifs he has apart from he has to be well upto scratch to do his job)

I also arlready have power going there,but its not upto scratch for what i want,also its only got a couple of rcd sockets in there,and i am wanting to replace with the 50amp cabling and instead of just having a couple of rcd sockets,i want a consumer unit wired in with upto 10 double sockets in there,

Obviously all i want is to be able to dig the old cable up and replace the lenght with the new stuff,also the main part for me is that if i can run the new cabling in the shed it means i can get all the plasterboarding finished,(which is where i am at now,and i would rather have wires in there hidded rather than stuck in conduit)


I also forgot to mention none of the lights will be hard wired into a ring they will all be through the individual sockets and basicaly i am hopeing to have 2 ring mains in there which there will be only 5 double sockets on each ring then if for some reason a breaker trips the other ring will still be on.

 

[reptile room]

I am also a great believer in each to there own but lets face it when i am now at a stage when my work has came to a holt because of wiring,

which i am quite capable of fitting,well theres no harm in me running them saving me time but more importantly,digging up a old cable to replace with the new is gonna be far easier now than when the ground is frozen,and even more important to me is the fact that if i run the cables and buy the items that saves someone who has been away from home for 3 months working,coming back to start again(plus i can get all the plasterboarding finished off and the get units made and in there ready for connection.

 

[bernardgreen]

Problem

Steel pipe underground with non SWA cable in it.

The building control may not accept it if it is not an unbroken ( ie no joins ) length of pipe due to sections between joins losing earth continutity when joints corrode. And in acid soils the life may be very short.

Best advice ( in my opinion ) is to dig trench and lay in a duct of solvent welded plastic pipes ready for the electrician to pull in SWA cable when he gets to the job. No sharp bends, solvent welded so the joint remain joined while the cable is being pulled in.

This then allows for other cables ( alarms etc ) to be added if you keep a draw cord in the duct.

 

[reptile room]

I get your point with the solvent weld,but the thing is i cant afford swa cable,
My whole idea was because i already have 50amp cable and i can get my hands on some steel pipe,that was the way i wanted to go,

I have friends of all trades that owe me plenty of favours from over the years,but although i have done jobs for them in the past and aint charged them,i am 1 that doesnt like taking the p??? and the truth is i cant afford swa and no way will i ask dave (the sparky) to supply swa knowing i cant afford it(even though he would only charge me cost price if that)

The problem is if i could speak to him them he could tell me what the score is and what to do or who to contact about anything,
But he's in asia i think on some oil rig out there working so its kinda hard to get hold of him when i aint even sure where he is excatly.
Theres also another old friend who i taught how to fit aerials and satellites ect,but i dont no where he is living right now(although believed to be somewhere round here),
So i am stuck in this catch 22 and at the worse case i will just have to abanden and wait,But although i am 2 months ahead on my project if i cant get this sorted then my other work comes to a holt and will end up pushing me behind,
I guess its just 1 of them things but in the meantime it just means i am gonna be sitting on my you no what on here,when i could be busy with my free time.

 

[Steve]

Abandon and wait then. While you're waiting save money for SWA.

The design and safety of an electrical installation should not be compromised by its budget.

 

[reptile room]

Hehe dont need to,armoured cable will be here in about 1 hour also got a lift to go and get my 8x4 plasterboards,

And someone to come and do it all for me next weekend.And its all free,dunno why i never asked my brother in the first place coz he knows even more people than i do .

 

[reptile room]

Abandon and wait then. While you're waiting save money for SWA.

The design and safety of an electrical installation should not be compromised by its budget.

I agree about the safety issue,but i also no what electricains are like for ripping people off as in other trades,
I used to have to rip people off in a job i had once and when i told people the truth i was warned about it,(guess what i soon give my boss what for and left)(found a decent job where i got paid from the customer for work i had actualy done and all was and is still sweet),

Yeh theres plenty of genuine people out there but theres also alot that aint,And thats why many customers hover over tradesmen when the work.
Thanks for the comments though,not that many were constuctive.

 

[Richard C]

Abandon and wait then. While you're waiting save money for SWA.

The design and safety of an electrical installation should not be compromised by its budget.

I agree about the safety issue,but i also no what electricains are like for ripping people off as in other trades,
I used to have to rip people off in a job i had once and when i told people the truth i was warned about it,(guess what i soon give my boss what for and left)(found a decent job where i got paid from the customer for work i had actualy done and all was and is still sweet),

Yeh theres plenty of genuine people out there but theres also alot that aint,And thats why many customers hover over tradesmen when the work.
Thanks for the comments though,not that many were constuctive.

Me thinks something not quiet right with this post! All the above comments are constructive! Of course it's entirely up to you if you chose to totally ignore the advice given, the regulations & put yourself & others at risk!

 

[reptile room]

Everything is all ok with this post,and i now have all the information i require,
I have armoured core and just got back from being out with a electricain,who has taken me for my plasterboards,I also have everything needed and can fit the plasterboards and cabling in the shed tomorrow,

However i have to wait until power to the shed is fitted,but i dont mind this,

sorry for sounding harsh but i use many forums for different things and most are the same and always think something is suss about posts,

Well this is total lagit and i am so pleased i can get on with some work,also i can get on with all joinery so gonna save me time.

thanks for the replies anyway.


ps what i meant about non constructive is that no-one actualy answer'd the questions,

but it dont matter has i now have all the answers.