Hi all i want to get a shower fitted in my barn for the horses, now i have a 6mm swa running from my fuse box on a 50amp mcb with rcd about 60meters to the barn, in the barn there is a 5way fuse box mcbs but not rcd, one the fuse box is a socket circuit with 3 sockets 16amp, a lighting circuit with 6 flu on 6amp, outside lights with 3 floods on 6amp, and a 4mm swa to my tractor shed on a 32amp, and a free slot. Now what would be involed in puttin a cable in for a shower in the barn is it a big job are can we just use the free space with what i have explaned and a ruff cost if possable thank you any more info just ask
shower in barn
- Thread starter uklad
- Start date
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That cable is far too small already, so you cannot use that for anything else.
As a minimum, you would want a new 25mm cable to replace the existing 6mm. The cable alone will be several hundred pounds.
What have you got in the way of a water supply in the barn?
The instant showers need mains pressure and are heavy on the electric supply requirements.
If I were you I would installa hot water tank with an immersion and a pump to give you some pressure.
The instant showers need mains pressure and are heavy on the electric supply requirements.
If I were you I would installa hot water tank with an immersion and a pump to give you some pressure.
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Slap some full stops in so it makes a bit more sense!
It won't require 25mm² for your existing set up but as soon as you look at installing an electric shower, the csa required for the cable will increase massively due to the high power requirements of an electric shower and the distance from the main CU to the barn.
The existing setup probably isn't unsafe, but it is wrong due to the voltage drop.
A 50A MCB would imply the circuit was designed to operate with a load of 11.5kW.
However 60 metres of 6mm would only allow about 3kW of load before the volt drop is too high.
There is another possible problem - loop impedance.
For a 50A type B MCB, the maximum measured value is 0.74 ohms
With line and neutral being 6mm, this is a resistance of 6.16 milliohms per metre, or 0.37 ohms for a 60m length of cable. That only leaves 0.37 for the impedance of the supply - certainly possible, but it could easily be higher than that.
A 50A MCB would imply the circuit was designed to operate with a load of 11.5kW.
However 60 metres of 6mm would only allow about 3kW of load before the volt drop is too high.
There is another possible problem - loop impedance.
For a 50A type B MCB, the maximum measured value is 0.74 ohms
With line and neutral being 6mm, this is a resistance of 6.16 milliohms per metre, or 0.37 ohms for a 60m length of cable. That only leaves 0.37 for the impedance of the supply - certainly possible, but it could easily be higher than that.
The load is just the total watts of the items connected to the circuit.
6 fluorescent lamps, say 70W each = 420W
3x 500W floodlights = 1500W
1920W already without the sockets.
That is why the 6mm cable is undersized - to keep within voltage drop limits, you only have another 1000 watts or so for anything else connected to the sockets.
Even ignoring the lights completely, 3000 watts (3kW) could be taken by a single electric heater plugged in to one of the sockets.
6 fluorescent lamps, say 70W each = 420W
3x 500W floodlights = 1500W
1920W already without the sockets.
That is why the 6mm cable is undersized - to keep within voltage drop limits, you only have another 1000 watts or so for anything else connected to the sockets.
Even ignoring the lights completely, 3000 watts (3kW) could be taken by a single electric heater plugged in to one of the sockets.
Loading info sorry if this is not what u mean, i got 3 500w floods, 2 150w floods, a fuse spur for a cctv system u guys will know more that me what that is, 6 flu lights again u will know more than me the avarage watts on them, and 3 twin sockets thats about it
It sounds as though your setup is currently not quite right, but probably not posing any immediate risk to persons, property or livestock, but it does not have the capacity to run an additional load off it such as a water heater, and definatly not a shower.
Is there any chance of you learning the difference between a computer and a phone?
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