Re using electric heater circuits advice

[stephen25uk]

Hi guys

I have recently had our electric storage heaters and panel heaters removed as well as our immersion heater tank removed and had a combi boiler fitted with gas central heating.
the storage and panel heaters were not that old just really inefficient.
Each panel heater and storage heater was wired directly to the consumer unit individually using 2.5m cable with each one protected by a 16amp mcb
As all of the wiring and switches are still on the wall for the heaters i was wondering if its ok to replace each of these with a double or single socket.
I was wanting to use of of the circuits as a double socket and then plug in my lcd tv sky box,broadband router,and blueray player using an extension lead.
does this sound ok.

The plumber used the immersion circuit which was also protected with 16amp mcb at the consumer unit to power the combi by connecting it to a fused switch he fitted,can i take a spur from here and connect another double socket to it around 4 meters away.

Thanks in advance for all your help

 

[flameport]

You can, however storage heater circuits are only powered for certain times, generally overnight.

Unless the circuits have subsequently been connected to a permanent supply, they will not be of much use.

 

[stephen25uk]

You can, however storage heater circuits are only powered for certain times, generally overnight.

Unless the circuits have subsequently been connected to a permanent supply, they will not be of much use.

sorry should have said,the electricians that removed them did convert them in the consumer unit to be permanently live.
Is there a max loading or max number of sockets i can have if i spur from one to another using 2.5m cable and 16amp mcb

 

[sparkwright]

Hi guys

I have recently had our electric storage heaters and panel heaters removed as well as our immersion heater tank removed and had a combi boiler fitted with gas central heating.
the storage and panel heaters were not that old just really inefficient.
Each panel heater and storage heater was wired directly to the consumer unit individually using 2.5m cable with each one protected by a 16amp mcb
As all of the wiring and switches are still on the wall for the heaters i was wondering if its ok to replace each of these with a double or single socket.
I was wanting to use of of the circuits as a double socket and then plug in my lcd tv sky box,broadband router,and blueray player using an extension lead.
does this sound ok.

The plumber used the immersion circuit which was also protected with 16amp mcb at the consumer unit to power the combi by connecting it to a fused switch he fitted,can i take a spur from here and connect another double socket to it around 4 meters away.

Thanks in advance for all your help

Everything you suggest sounds feasible.

You will need to get an electrician to disconnect the storage heater consumer unit from the off peak supply, and reconnect to the peak supply.

What you are suggesting is a very sensible way of adding extra sockets without a lot of disruption.

 

[AndyPRK]

As you have 16a MCBs you can connect as many sockets as you want.

 

[stephen25uk]

Hi guys

I have recently had our electric storage heaters and panel heaters removed as well as our immersion heater tank removed and had a combi boiler fitted with gas central heating.
the storage and panel heaters were not that old just really inefficient.
Each panel heater and storage heater was wired directly to the consumer unit individually using 2.5m cable with each one protected by a 16amp mcb
As all of the wiring and switches are still on the wall for the heaters i was wondering if its ok to replace each of these with a double or single socket.
I was wanting to use of of the circuits as a double socket and then plug in my lcd tv sky box,broadband router,and blueray player using an extension lead.
does this sound ok.

The plumber used the immersion circuit which was also protected with 16amp mcb at the consumer unit to power the combi by connecting it to a fused switch he fitted,can i take a spur from here and connect another double socket to it around 4 meters away.

Thanks in advance for all your help

Everything you suggest sounds feasible.

You will need to get an electrician to disconnect the storage heater consumer unit from the off peak supply, and reconnect to the peak supply.

What you are suggesting is a very sensible way of adding extra sockets without a lot of disruption.

thanks for your help,I asked the electrician from scottish power that came to fit a new electricity meter (no longer need the off peak one) if he could do that for me a couple of weeks ago which he did.
is there a max number of sockets or load i can have on each individual circuit,it will only be on double socket on them all apart from 1 circuit where i would like to add a couple of double sockets.
The plumber has used the imersion heater circuit to power the combi by fitting a fused switch 3amp, i would like to spur from this to fit a new double socket around meters away to power my soon to be delivered electric reclining couch.
As the fused switch at the comb has a 3 amp fuse,am i right in thinking if i spur from this anything over 3amps will bow the fuse,i am assuming the electric recliners will need more than this so could i fit a junction box above the fused switch from the combi and wire the new double socket directly to the junction box.....hope that makes sense

 

[sparkwright]

When you spur off a FCU with a 3 amp fuse in, your new cable gets cinnected to the 'supply' side, not the 'load' side. By doing this, the 3 amp fuse won't enter the equation - the 3 amp fuse and the switch will only serve the boiler.

You can add an unlimited number of sockets to a 16 amp socket circuit, assuming you use 2.5 mm² cable.

 

[ericmark]

You as said can add as many RCD protected sockets as you like. The RCD protection can either be in the consumer unit, as a RCD FCU feeding sockets or as RCD sockets but any new sockets do need RCD protection to comply.

 

[winston1]

the storage and panel heaters were not that old just really inefficient.

Such electric heaters are in fact very efficient, virtually 100%. There are no noticeable losses unlike a combo boiler which loses heat through the flue.

They area however expensive to run simply because electricity is about three times the cost of gas.

 

[stephen25uk]

You as said can add as many RCD protected sockets as you like. The RCD protection can either be in the consumer unit, as a RCD FCU feeding sockets or as RCD sockets but any new sockets do need RCD protection to comply.

bit confused with this one,all i was going to do was spur off of the existing socket by running more 2.5mm cable to the new socket,all of which are protected by a 16amp MCB...is this ok?
Bit confused by the terminology probably ,do the new sockets need to have built in RCD?

Thanks again for all your help

 

[AndyPRK]

Technically regulations state that new sockets require rcd.

 

[stephen25uk]

Technically regulations state that new sockets require rcd.

Wont the original cable and socket have rcd protection in the consumer unit

Thanks again for everyones help guys

 

[AndyPRK]

Possibly. You tell us or post a pic of the consumer units

 

[JohnW2]

You can add an unlimited number of sockets to a 16 amp socket circuit, assuming you use 2.5 mm² cable.

Indeed. What no-one seems to have mentioned is that if the OP wants to have multiple sockets on some of the old heater circuits, if the existing circuit is wired in 2.5 mm² cable it would almost certainly be possible to upgrade the MCB(s) concerned to 20A (possibly even 25A, if such an MCB is available for the CU, and the cable installation method allows it), should the OP want more power availability. The electrician will obviously be able to advise on all these matters.

Kind Regards, John