Outdoor socket from existing spur

[rob2304]

Hi,

Just wanted some advice please.

I would like to install an outside socket from my garage. I've got a masterseal double socket and a wall mounted RCD. I was planning for it to just spur from the existing double socket in the garage, straight into the RCD unit and then out through the wall into the socket.

However, upon checking the existing socket, it looks like it may already be a spur as there is only one set of wires coming into it. With it being the garage (all breeze blocks), I've been able to trace the cable run back and found it runs from the house high up near the garage roof. The adjoining part of the house is the kitchen so I suspect it runs either behind the tiled wall/kitchen cupboards or from the floorboard area etc. In short, it's not going to be easy to extend the ring main even if I got a professional in. My wife is not going to let me rip any tiling/cupboards/floors apart just for an outside socket so I need to find an alternative solution.

Can anybody offer up any other ways of safely doing this using the existing spurred socket? I've seen fused spurs etc mentioned. I realise I would have to be careful with load if I did anything like this. At the moment, a fridge and freezer are constantly run off the existing socket and a tumble dryer occasionally used. The outside socket would be mainly used for some low voltage outside lights but also occasionally a lawn mower etc. Usage of the tumble dryer could be avoided whilst using something like the lawn mower for load reasons as this is what currently happens anyway (i.e. unplug dryer and use socket for lawn mower etc).

If there isn't a solution to safely spur off then what about similar to the DIY kits you can get it B&Q which just plug into the indoor socket? I wouldn't want to use the socket you get with them as it looks poor in terms of quality and weatherproofing, but what about running from my masterseal still into the wall mounted RCD but then from there having a short length of cable with a plug which gets plugged into the existing socket in place of the dryer when required? In this way it's more like a hard wired extension cable. I realise that the load issues don't go away if I did this but it makes it more explicit and any future users would clearly realise that they are running the outdoor socket from that same indoor socket and then use common sense.

Couple of further bits of information :-
House is only 2 years old. Garage and the existing socket in there were installed at the time the house was built.
The existing garage socket is connected to the same circuit as the indoor sockets as switching off the sockets at the fuse box switches off the garage socket too.
The wall mounted RCD unit has a 13amp fuse built into it
I understand about Part P etc. Depending on the solution, I would use a professional

Thanks for any help

Rob

 

[ColJack]

are you sure that it isn't on it's own breaker in the board?

 

[rob2304]

There are two switches marked up as "Sockets" on the board. Switching just these two off results in the power to the garage socket being lost.

There's nothing else on the board relating to the garage

 

[rebuke]

If you replace the current socket with an FCU (your wall mounted RCD unit will do the trick if it has a 13A fuse in it), then you can run as many sockets as you want after that, since the 13A fuse provides overcurrent protection.

The load you describe (even ensuring that you don't use the lawn mower at the same time as the tumble dryer) is probably too high for this though - a tumble dryer could quite easily draw 13A on its own...

The best option would be to run a new circuit from your CU out to the garage, either straight in to the sockets, or perhaps to a new mini-CU.

Note that new circuits, and outdoor sockets are all notifiable work under Part P...

 

[rob2304]

Thanks for the reply. As I said, running a new circuit from the CU is probably going to be too much (CU other side of house with multiple rooms inbetween and for the other reasons specified anything involving extensive ripping apart of the house is not going to be feasible just to achieve an outside socket)

It doesn't sound like the spurring is going to be an option for the load issues you state but out of interest and just for my benefit/learning:-

Why would the existing socket need to be replaced? Couldn't the FCU or my RCD unit just be installed inline before the socket? (remember the wiring is surface mounted in trunking as it's in the garage on breeze blocks)

By using the RCD, I would be restricting things to the 13A of the RCD unit. What limit have I currently got just with that existing socket? (i.e. what's the standard limit?) - I always use common sense anyway and try to avoid double adapters/4 ways etc so never approach it but just wondering

Would you say my other idea about having it plugged into the existing socket is also a no-go? If so, how is this any different to having an extension cable reel (for example) plugged into it or the cheap outdoor socket spikes you see at places like Lidl/Aldi? Just thinking with that approach I could even just remove it entirely if I moved house etc.

Thanks for your time

 

[rebuke]

Well, when I said replace I meant in terms of putting the RCD unit first in the line, you could obviously keep the existing double outlet etc...

With a standard double socket, although you could theoretically draw 26A (2 x 13A) you shouldn't aim to draw more than 13A, as that's all they're rated to.

Plugging it in makes very little difference, apart from meaning there is no fuse to protect from a total load of >13A on the spur, so you could start to cause cable melting issues. It also doesn't help with Part P etc, as if it's permanent then it still counts as fixed electrical equipment, even if plugged in...

 

[rob2304]

Thanks for your help. That gives me some stuff to think about and see if I can find another solution or a different place to spur from within the actual house.

I understand what you are saying about the "plug in" solution and that's how I would expect it. My comparison with the plug in "garden spikes" available was sort of me suggesting that they are maybe not as safe as they make out (I'd personally not buy one as the unit itself looks cheap but never considered the actual plug in aspect of it to be an issue - not something a lot of the buyers probably consider).