power socket attached to floor????

[new2electrical]

Hi all, as my screen name says i am new to electrics, as in wiring.

Story goes, im having an argument with my father about wiring power sockets to the floor, as it was 1 thing that slipped my mind when decorating the room.

Tell me the problem with this if there are any, and how to overcome these. It will save so much work.

We already have 2 wall sockets, but they are close to the floor and laminating it would mean removing them, further up the skirting, or being placed into the floor.

Anyone who can help, please do.

Thank you all.


P.s.

is possible to have like a mini CB in the room? As i have large amounts of power hungry equipment. If so how to go about installing one.

 

[ZenStalinist]

You mean where you have power sockets flush into the floor? You can get special sockets for that, with a cover, you cannot do that with regular sockets as the protrude slightly, presenting a tripping hazard, and are not designed to withstand the weight of somebody standing on them.

http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Products/CM3344BC.html

http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Main_Index/Wiring_Accessories_Menu_Index/Sockets_Floor_1/index.html

As you can see, however, they are rather expensive.

As for having a mini CU in the room, why don't you just wire an extra circuit to the room and connect it at the main CU...

 

[new2electrical]

thanks for that. and also came up with that idea after posting the post, gotta istall the main CBs as well, still using the old styled ones.

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOHOHOO, think ill stick to the hole in the wall version.
what about if it is in an inacessable area? or does one still need these ones?


Thanks again

 

[ban-all-sheds]

These sorts of things are better:

as you can close the lid with plugs in there. More work though, and it's arguable which looks more obtrusive - the advantage of the floorboxes is that you can insert flooring or carpet into the recess in the lid.

As for the mini CU - wont help you much, as you've still got to get the power to it...

 

[ZenStalinist]

You dont HAVE to install at the main CU, but I would reccomend it. Installing an extra CU is a bit of a hassle. If you have an old style CU, you can get MCBs (not RCD though, just easier than running out of fuses and a little faster responding) to fit. If you don't want to use those, I recommend you use HRC fuses, as rewirable fuses are a liability IMO.

You must use RCD sockets if any of them can be expected to be used with outdoors equipment, as your existing setup, unlike most new ones, probably doesn't cover this.

I reccomend that as a better solution that you replace your CU with a modern RCD one. As you are a newbie, you may want to cal out an electrician to do this for you, or read a very detailed book about wiring and make sure you understand it all.

Still, if you just want to add a CU, I will help you with that.

 

[AdamW]

OOooh, I had only seen the brass ones before, nice!

The floor boxes ban mentions: we have them all over the place at work (office) but there is a special false floor. Are they designed to be used with standard wooden floorboards or recessed into concrete floors too? If not, has anyone tried doing it?

New2, could I ask what the "power hungry equipment" consists of? You would be surprised at how little power many things actually consume, so your concerns might be alleviated if you add up all the power consumptions of everything in the room.

 

[AdamW]

Alternatively, if you have high power requirements eg several electric heaters there may be alternative solutions!

 

[plugwash]

i can't think of much that someone would want in thier room that would overload a 30A ring

maybe a bar of 5 2KW spotlights or something

 

[new2electrical]

fair enough, concidering that everything is working in the make shift room, perfectly with only a few glitches when one turns something else on.

Only other thing is i do not like the wiring we have at the moment. Just the other day had a mini power cut (gens being turned over in the area) frightened the life out of me, o and the power hungry equipment i meant to say was expensive. Ans with all that i dont really need any electric heaters, produces enough heat by themselves. But I like to be careful. Saves time and money in the long run.

this place is old, wiring kinda new, but have to be careful when nailing anything to the floor as some cables run directly underneath the floorboards.

thanks again for the help. much appreciated.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Who did this wiring?

 

[new2electrical]

unknown, previous people whi lived here 16+ years ago.

they cut every corner you could, and the story is just begining.

walls themselves are a disaster, been doing patch plastering, huge holes behind skirting boards, rotten floorboads in places. piping is a shamble as well. the list could go on, but havenot come across many other major problems.

but hard work pays off in the end. and i do like to finish everything, but it does take time,

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Get a PIR done...

 

[ZenStalinist]

Agreed. When you say the sockets are low down, do you mean they are skirting board mounted? If so, this combined with an old fashioned consumer unit could suggest your wiring was older than you thought it was.. Might not be the case, the person who rewired probably just copied what was in before that, therefore adding little to the safety beyond getting rid of deteriorating components, wires, etc.

 

[new2electrical]

Whats a PIR?

its like most the house patch work corners cut, looks ok on surface but What Lies Beneath???????

can upload a pic so u all can c but not sure howa picture says a thousand words as they say

 

[ZenStalinist]

PIR means Periodic Inspection Report - in human terms it means having an electrician inspect your wiring.