Two core or four core SWA ?

[bernardgreen]

The requirement is to feed two outhouses with up to 6 Kw of power to each.

SWA buried

Each outhouse will have its own 32 amp MCB at the house. No RCD on these circuits in the house.

The outhouses have a party wall so a single 4 core cable could be run and the pairs separated to the two RCD equiped consumer units, one on each side of the party wall.

Or two separate 2 core cables could be used.

10mm is within the budget.

Earthing will be TT at the outhouses. SWA earthed at the house end.

Are there any reasons not to use 4 core ?

 

[holmslaw]

..

 

[ericmark]

The heaver the cable the harder to damage to a point of being un-usable so using 4 core makes sense.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Each outhouse will have its own 32 amp MCB at the house.

Is that because you actually want to be able to isolate the buildings separately, from the house?

Can't run a larger 2-core and just supply the 2 CUs from it?

 

[bernardgreen]

One outhouse will be my workshop and garage and the other will be rented out to a florist as a shop. ( all planning consents etc in place ) So isolation of one or the other from the house is required.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

I'd run 2 cables, in that case, to avoid being forced to cut off both buildings if anything needed to be done at a common point upstream of them.

And I'd at least have the florist's supply (are you metering it, BTW?) removed from the house CU. They're a business, paying you for facilities - they should not be dependent on a supply which you may have to interrupt for reasons which are nothing to do with them.

 

[bernardgreen]

Using two cables may "complicate" the situation as regards appearance of the building which is grade 2 listed.

The supply to the florists will not initially be metered.

The design allows for any CU to be easily isolated without affecting any of the other three

The meter tails will feed a 4 way consumer unit.

This will have with two 45amp MCBs feeding the two consumer units for the house and two 32amp MCBs feeding the two out house consumer units.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

OK - I envisaged 2 x 32A breakers in the (only) house CU, which would be tricky if that ever needed turning off.