Using redundant ligting cable to power fridge

[tko50]

Hi all, I am removing a pantry wall in my kitchen which has a light that will no longer be required. I intend to put my fridge freezer in this area as it will free up more space but there is no socket outlet to plug in the appliance so I would be needing to get a socket over that side. Now it is not practicable to take a spur from the another socket in the kitchen because there are two doorways obstructing the route of the cable so I would otherwise have to take a feed from on the landing and drop it down the wall on that side.

So I was wondering if instead I could make use of the existing free lighting cable as it is already close by and would cause the minimum inconvenience. The cable is 1mm twin and earth. Is this do-able and would I need to have a fused outlet?

Also, the house was rewired about 18 months ago and everything is on RCDs.

Thanks in advance.

 

[JohnW2]

So I was wondering if instead I could make use of the existing free lighting cable [for a fridge/freezer] as it is already close by and would cause the minimum inconvenience. The cable is 1mm twin and earth. Is this do-able and would I need to have a fused outlet?

Unfortunately, I'm afraid that the short answer is 'no'. For a start, the regulations require a minimum of 1.5mm² cable for anything other than lighting, and that's before one starts considering whether the lighting circuit would actually be up to serving the fridge/freezer.

Kind Regards, John

 

[tko50]

So I was wondering if instead I could make use of the existing free lighting cable [for a fridge/freezer] as it is already close by and would cause the minimum inconvenience. The cable is 1mm twin and earth. Is this do-able and would I need to have a fused outlet?

Unfortunately, I'm afraid that the short answer is 'no'. For a start, the regulations require a minimum of 1.5mm² cable for anything other than lighting, and that's before one starts considering whether the lighting circuit would actually be up to serving the fridge/freezer.

Kind Regards, John

Ok well I was only assuming the 1mm part, but would have to check to be sure.

As for the lighting being up to serving the appliance, I don't see why not. There are currently 7 lights in the upstairs circuit and with a typical fridge freezer rating of 500w, even 1mm cable would cope easily. That's not to mention applying diversity to the lights.

Thanks for your reply.

 

[JohnW2]

Ok well I was only assuming the 1mm part, but would have to check to be sure.

Fair enough. As I said, if it were 1.5mm² cable, then that would be OK, cable-wise.

As for the lighting being up to serving the appliance, I don't see why not. There are currently 7 lights in the upstairs circuit and with a typical fridge freezer rating of 500w, even 1mm cable would cope easily. That's not to mention applying diversity to the lights.

I agree that, particularly if they are low energy or LED lights, the total running current would probably not be a concern. However, it's not necessarily the running current which is the issue - the start-up ('inrush') currents of refrigeration compressors can be much higher than the running current. The chances are that the lighting circuit is protected by a 6A Type B MCB and it's far from impossible that the start-up current of a fridge/freezer could sometimes trip that - presumably not something you would want happening to your freezer when you were on holiday

More generally, I think most people would probably say that running more than trivial non-lighting loads (e.g. aerial amplifiers or routers etc.) off a lighting circuit is not really a very good practice.

Kind Regards, John

 

[tko50]

Ok well I was only assuming the 1mm part, but would have to check to be sure.

Fair enough. As I said, if it were 1.5mm² cable, then that would be OK, cable-wise.

As for the lighting being up to serving the appliance, I don't see why not. There are currently 7 lights in the upstairs circuit and with a typical fridge freezer rating of 500w, even 1mm cable would cope easily. That's not to mention applying diversity to the lights.

I agree that, particularly if they are low energy or LED lights, the total running current would probably not be a concern. However, it's not necessarily the running current which is the issue - the start-up ('inrush') currents of refrigeration compressors can be much higher than the running current. The chances are that the lighting circuit is protected by a 6A Type B MCB and it's far from impossible that the start-up current of a fridge/freezer could sometimes trip that - presumably not something you would want happening to your freezer when you were on holiday

More generally, I think most people would probably say that running more than trivial non-lighting loads (e.g. aerial amplifiers or routers etc.) off a lighting circuit is not really a very good practice.

Kind Regards, John

Actually, thinking about it, it would be on 1.5mm cable so it should be man enough.

Yes I see your point about the current surge and even thought there are breakers to deal with that, it starts to become uneconomical as well as bad practice.

Well at least now I know, thanks for your opinion.

 

[JohnW2]

Actually, thinking about it, it would be on 1.5mm cable so it should be man enough.

Fair enough. In fact, 1mm² cable would, current-wise, be more than man enough for the job - it's just that, for whatever reasons, the regulations require a minimum of 1.5mm² for anything other than lighting.

Yes I see your point about the current surge and even thought there are breakers to deal with that, it starts to become uneconomical as well as bad practice.

There are such breakers (Type C, and even Type D), but tests would have to be undertaken to ascertain whether the circuit could support them. However, even if it could, I think it would still be regarded as fairly 'bad practice'.

Well at least now I know, thanks for your opinion.

You're welcome.

Kind Regards, John

 

[stillp]

In addition to the possibility of tripping the breaker, the surge current would probably dim your lights.

 

[plugwash]

My grandparents used to have their fridge on the lighting circuit (connected via a 2a BS546 plug and socket) before their house was rewired, I don't remember it causing any problems but of course that was in the days of rewirable fuses and it was only a fridge not a fridge freezer.

 

[JohnW2]

My grandparents used to have their fridge on the lighting circuit (connected via a 2a BS546 plug and socket) before their house was rewired, I don't remember it causing any problems but of course that was in the days of rewirable fuses and it was only a fridge not a fridge freezer.

There was a time when my grandparents had virtually everything electrical run from the lighting circuit (I think they only had one or two 15A sockets) - I remember frightening 'Christmas trees' of (mainly 2-pin - "what's an earth?"!) adaptors dangling from lampholders. However, that does not move me to advocate any such practices in 2014

What the OP in this thread was proposing would probably work fine, without problems. Even if compressor start-up did trip the MCB, that would probably only be very occasionally - but Murphy's Law being what it is, that would probably happen whilst the house was unoccupied for a few days!

Kind Regards, John

 

[Taylortwocities]

There was a time when my grandparents had virtually everything electrical run from the lighting circuit (I think they only had one or two 15A sockets) - I remember frightening 'Christmas trees' of (mainly 2-pin - "what's an earth?"!) adaptors dangling from lampholders.

Those were the days…

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• Taylortwocities
• 7 Apr 2009
• 4

 

[JohnW2]

Those were the days…

Indeed so ... a couple of my favourites (showing the effects of use!) are:

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• JohnW2
• 14 May 2014
• 2

Kind Regards, John

 

[Taylortwocities]

That'll teach you not to run a fridge off a lighting circuit!

 

[JohnW2]

That'll teach you not to run a fridge off a lighting circuit!

Probably worse - I certainly remember my grandmother doing her ironing with the iron's lead dangling from a 2-pin plug plugged into one of those things (that is, after she retired the iron that she heated up on the gas stove ). As a small youngster, I used to have to move the kitchen table so that it was positioned beneath the light (the iron's lead was not very long!), then climb onto the table to plug the iron into the lampholder adaptor for her!

Kind Regards, John

 

[tko50]

That'll teach you not to run a fridge off a lighting circuit!

And there I was all ready to accept the accolade for fresh radical thinking, only to discover it's all been done before.

 

[bernardgreen]

We had an adaptor that went between the lamp holder and the lamp. The outlet for the iron was un-switched but the outlet for the lamp was switched with a pull cord. I am told that about the age of 6 I took it apart to see how it worked and managed to get it back together again in working condition.