shed electrics

[archie]

I want to wire my garden shed with power for max powerpoint loading of appox 15 amps [no motors] plus a simple lighting arrangement to run basic 2 or 3 X100W bulbs,distance of shed from house is =5M [15ft]


what sort of consumer unit do I need to incorporate Mcb &Rcds, & what ratings?



cheers all 'Archie'

 

[breezer]

there are lots of posts regarding this, try a search for power to garage, shed power

 

[plugwash]

firstly you have to decide on rcd protection you should definately have it but different sparkys favor different methods of doing it

an rcd at the house end will protect the cable but an rcd at the shed end is much easier to reset when working out there (some also seem to think it will trip faster but i can see no justification for this)

while you can use the main house rcd this is considered a bad idea because of the possibility of nusence tripping in the case of water getting in at the shed end

some advocate 2 rcds but this is a pain for testing unless the first one is a 100ma type S and those are really expensive

from a 20A breaker in the non-rcd side of your CU run to either a double pole metalclad isolator (if you wan't to have the rcd at the shed end) or a metalclad din rail enclosure with a rcd in (if you wan't the rcd at the house end) use 2.5mm twin and earth for this part of the run

from this run 3 core swa (properly glanded earthing the armour and useing yellow core as earth which must be sleeved in earth sleeving) the swa should be either 2.5mm PVC or 1.5mm XPLE

terminate the other end of the swa into a small metalclad CU (with a rcd if there is not one at the house end) a 16A breaker for the socket and a 6A (or better a 3A if you can get it) breaker for the lighting

 

[ban-all-sheds]

from this run 3 core swa (properly glanded earthing the armour and useing yellow core as earth which must be sleeved in earth sleeving) the swa should be either 2.5mm PVC or 1.5mm XPLE

Plugwash - you left out the stuff here about the requirements for the route of the cable twixt house and garage...

terminate the other end of the swa into a small metalclad CU (with a rcd if there is not one at the house end) a 16A breaker for the socket and a 6A (or better a 3A if you can get it) breaker for the lighting

 

[securespark]

See this from a different thread about outside power.

"Kendor, the only problem will be encountered if the RCD's are not rated so as not to cause problems. IE..in the House 50A 300mA, in the shed, 40A 30mA, the max current rating is only an example, this should be determined in the usual way, but the trip ratings for the devices should be along thos lines to use two together."

Courtesy of FWL Engineer.