Power in the loft

[theshrew]

I have a few questions about my loft electrics.

I have a couple of lights up there put in by previous owner and want some more. Is it ok to just run the cable from the existing ones ?

I want to put a plug socket in there where would be a safe place to run that from ? Dont really want to have to go all the way back to the fuse board as it is miles away.

 

[bongos]

I have a couple of lights up there put in by previous owner and want some more. Is it ok to just run the cable from the existing ones ?

The lights should presently be wired in a radial circuit. You should be able to continue from the last light to the extra two you require. Assuming your lighting circuit is protected by a 6A MCB, use 1 or 1.5mm² twin and earth.

I want to put a plug socket in there where would be a safe place to run that from ? Dont really want to have to go all the way back to the fuse board as it is miles away.

What do you want to use the plug socket for? Is it likely to be light/heavy loads? Will it just be occasional use?

You may be able to break into the nearest ring main and extend it via this additional socket. You may be able to create a spur from the ring on 2.5mm² twin and earth. This will depend on whether the cable from your ring final circuit goes up to the loft or goes down and runs under the floorboards. AFAIK most tend to drop down and run under the floorbaords.

If you will require heavier loads in the loft and more regular use, it may be worthwhile getting a spark to install a new cirucit from the CU. If a new circuit were to be installed back to the CU then the work would become notifiable.

 

[theshrew]

The socket would be to run Scalextric track that im planning on building up there for the kids also possibly a heater hopefully not but will have to wait and see how cold it gets in there

 

[mikhailfaradayski]

The socket would be to run Scalextric track that im planning on building up there for the kids also possibly a heater hopefully not but will have to wait and see how cold it gets in there

yea, right

Im gutted i got rid of all my scalectrix when i was a teenager, had a huge box of it and loads of cars. Would be worth loads now.

Would it be easier to find a way from the loft to a bedroom socket, use an FCU there, then take a double socket into the loft from that?

Or tell kids to play in the garden/on motorway etc, ditch heater idea, install beer fridge

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Im gutted i got rid of all my scalectrix when i was a teenager, had a huge box of it and loads of cars. Would be worth loads now.

Speaking as one who fairly recently sold a load of old Scalextric I can assure you that unless you had mint condition cars, and unusual pieces of track, like a Goodwood Chicane, or a multi-lane pitstop, your huge box would have been worth ⅔ of b****r-all, and that if you want to buy any then eBay is awash with it....

 

[londonboy]

Any sockets or old immersion points you can come off and run upto loft from?

 

[TonyW2]

Well this is a DIY forum, so I am offerring the following, regardless of its technical legitimacy!

Faced with a similar situation, I cut into the lighting circuit ( Not a switch wire) and fitted a socket so that an electric train set could be operated. A large notice was put up stating that a maximum of 5 amps was to be plugged in, (So NO HEATERS ) and the train set plug was fitted with a 3amp fuse.
On vacating the property, I offerred to change the socket for a junction box, so as to allow the circuits to revert to a conventional arrangement (but the purchaser also had kids!)
In practice my son got fed up with the loft after a couple of months and letting him wear a sweater avoided any need for heating.
Fastidious folk may want to fit an FCU into the lighting circuit and then go to the socket, and this could even be a 5a lamp plug unit.

 

[imroberts]

Fastidious folk may want to fit an FCU into the lighting circuit and then go to the socket, and this could even be a 5a lamp plug unit.

I would ALWAYS fit a FCU if I was fitting a mains socket onto a lighting circuit. No matter how safe it is and how knowledgable you are yourself, there's no guarantee someone else isn't going to come along and plug 2 3kW heaters into your double socket

 

[chivers67]

Fastidious folk may want to fit an FCU into the lighting circuit and then go to the socket, and this could even be a 5a lamp plug unit.

I would ALWAYS fit a FCU if I was fitting a mains socket onto a lighting circuit. No matter how safe it is and how knowledgable you are yourself, there's no guarantee someone else isn't going to come along and plug 2 3kW heaters into your double socket

I wouldn't, though I also wouldn't run anything off a lighting circuit other than lights or a clock with the smaller type plug socket.

What's the chance of someone changing a 5 amp fuse for a 13amp fuse in the future as they wouldn't know where the FCU is fed from when you've moved out?

 

[Aragorn84]

Well if you did that, the breaker would trip and everything would be fine (well barring the darkness).