Nope, I'm afraid not, I've still got an old 1988 vintage crabtree 6000 series board. Its getting moved into the garage and replacing with a hager full of RCBO's when one comes my way 'affordably' or when RCBO's drop in price.
Wylex Upgrade 30A to 45A needed or not?
- Thread starter GODLY
- Start date
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London waiting does not apply where i am near heathrow, well as far as i know.
This is what i got in the detailed quote
"
Thank you for giving us the opportunity of submitting a quotation for electrical work to be carried out in order to bring the electrical installation up to BS7671 standard.
The work involved is as detailed in the work schedule.
We are able to complete the work within a day with electrical certificates to be issued on Completion
•Extension of existing ring main in kitchen to other side of room. Points to include double socket outlets powered spurs for extractor fan washing machine etc.
•Extension of cooker circuit to new radial circuit with outlets for hob & oven
•New fuse board duel type split load with rcd 5/5 ways
•Test & certification through out.
"
Looking at it again.. .it is actually £987 including VAT
Doesn't sound too bad to me, not to sure about the 5+5 board though, very little, almost no room for expansion.
Does 5+5 Mean that i can use 5 for storage heating night rate while the other 5 for rest of flat.. i.e lights.. socket rings.. oven and hob etc?
would this be at 45A as the sparky kept going on about?
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you are already using 9 circuits so 5+5 is insufficient.
a kitchen ring and it is full.
what about your future electric shower? external lighting? garden socket? loft circuits? dedicated freezer circuit? kitchen appliance circuit? soke and intruder alarms?
and I still suspect you would do better to have a separate CU for storage and immersion heater circuits on night rate
It will be very inconvenient to have the lights and freezer on the same RCD as the cooker and sockets
Can you show us a pic of your meter(s) and timer and the various cables between and around them please.
a kitchen ring and it is full.
what about your future electric shower? external lighting? garden socket? loft circuits? dedicated freezer circuit? kitchen appliance circuit? soke and intruder alarms?
and I still suspect you would do better to have a separate CU for storage and immersion heater circuits on night rate
It will be very inconvenient to have the lights and freezer on the same RCD as the cooker and sockets
Can you show us a pic of your meter(s) and timer and the various cables between and around them please.
My flat is mid floor so will never need garden sockets, loft circuits or any external lighting. I have two bathrooms and both are served by a pump from a gravity fed system which i will replace for an unvented main pressure system at some point. Therefore no power shower needed.
No need for dedicated freezer unit as i dont have space plus dont really need it for a 2 bed flat.
Kitchen appliance circuit is what the sparky recommends and that i need a new dedicated line replacing the older 30A dedicated one.
Not sure about an alarm system but have a normal battery operated smoke alarm at the moment.
Sockets around the flat are plenty at the moment. Both rooms, hall way and living room has enough for me.
Kitchen is the only area that needs an upgrade plus the heating might as well once i replace the old immersion heater with a newer system.
Based on the above do you reckon just a slightly bigger CU than 5/5 will be fine?
What is the Jargon between upgrading from the dedicated 30A to 45A?
Also is there a way to split the ring which makes up the kitchen and Living room sockets to two different rings easily without major work?
I will upload a picture of my meter and connections around it later today once i get home.
Thanks to you and everyone else helping me here. I really appreciate it.
Nav
I would always go for a bigger one than you think you need
Splitting a ring is not too difficult if the cables run under a wooden floor and you can lift it for access.
The electrical work is far easier than digging up the floor and walls.
Splitting a ring is not too difficult if the cables run under a wooden floor and you can lift it for access.
The electrical work is far easier than digging up the floor and walls.
I am not sure where the cables run as the flooring is glued together i.e tongue and groove chip board. Underneath it is regular insulation, water proof membrane, fireproof plasterboard and finally timber frame.
It would be a real hassle is the cabling was running at the lowest level along the joists as i would have to replace the entire flooring to get to them.
My only guess is that the cables run along the plasterboard walls.
I will definitely get a bigger CU but not sure how big. How can i calculate how big a CU i will need?
Cheers,
Nav
guesswork?
I would say at least 12 ways. 16 ways might cost about the same (big ones are getting quite popular and well-discounted).
The new regulations will shortly require all buried cables* to be RCD protected, but it is poor practice to put them all on one RCD (as the lights and freezer go off even if the fault is elsewhere) which is inconvenient, and losing the lights can be dangerous.
Until we see your metering setup I don't know, but I still think it would be a good idea to have a separate CU for off-peak. I haven't seen a two-tariff 17th Edition CU yet but I bet they will be rare and expensive.
*I simplify
I would say at least 12 ways. 16 ways might cost about the same (big ones are getting quite popular and well-discounted).
The new regulations will shortly require all buried cables* to be RCD protected, but it is poor practice to put them all on one RCD (as the lights and freezer go off even if the fault is elsewhere) which is inconvenient, and losing the lights can be dangerous.
Until we see your metering setup I don't know, but I still think it would be a good idea to have a separate CU for off-peak. I haven't seen a two-tariff 17th Edition CU yet but I bet they will be rare and expensive.
*I simplify
But all my lights are on a 5A ring where as my FF is connected to the 30A kitchen/lounge ring.
How will both go off if there was a fauly somewhere else? I am being dumb now, i dont get it. Do you mean i need to split the load etc?
usually, an RCD protects several circuits. If you look at
View media item 1092the RCD is fitted part-way along the busbar. All the circuits to the right are RCD protected. An earth leakage fault on any one of them will trip the RCD and all those circuits will go off.
A few other ways of doing it:
Have two or more RCDs, each protecting a set of circuits
In this one, the top row of circuits and the bottom row have separare RCDs
View media item 1090Fit RCBOs, one to each circuit, so that each is individually protected. This is the best way, but the most expensive. In the one shown here, three circuits towards the right are on RCBOs
View media item 1091
View media item 1092the RCD is fitted part-way along the busbar. All the circuits to the right are RCD protected. An earth leakage fault on any one of them will trip the RCD and all those circuits will go off.
A few other ways of doing it:
Have two or more RCDs, each protecting a set of circuits
In this one, the top row of circuits and the bottom row have separare RCDs
View media item 1090Fit RCBOs, one to each circuit, so that each is individually protected. This is the best way, but the most expensive. In the one shown here, three circuits towards the right are on RCBOs
View media item 1091
If i install a separate CU for the off-peak.. will i need some sort of timer or i rely on the main meter timer set up?
To be honest i have no idea how the existing setup works.
I will upload a picture later today of the meter which might help all of us.
Hi all,
Sorry for the delay in uploading the picture.
follow the link below where all the images are.. I was having trouble uploading using this forum.
http://cid-f05bda638f6520cb.skydrive.live.com/browse.aspx/ELECTRICS
Let me know what you think and now recommend.
Cheers,
Naval
can you step back a bit and take a wider view, showing both the meter and the CU?
It looks to me like you have four thick grey cables going into the CU, is that right? Three of them out of the meter to the CU, and one of them from the cutout to the CU? Some of the cables may have coloured rings round them, near the ends.
And your meter may have some buttons that you can use to make it display a meter reading at full price and a meter reading for off peak? And the meter contains its own timer? No other boxes or timers with wires going into them?
It looks like, if you push the Orange button, it will provide power to the storage-heater circuits during the day (but at full price)
It looks to me like you have four thick grey cables going into the CU, is that right? Three of them out of the meter to the CU, and one of them from the cutout to the CU? Some of the cables may have coloured rings round them, near the ends.
And your meter may have some buttons that you can use to make it display a meter reading at full price and a meter reading for off peak? And the meter contains its own timer? No other boxes or timers with wires going into them?
It looks like, if you push the Orange button, it will provide power to the storage-heater circuits during the day (but at full price)
Sorry the CU is actually in the flat while the meter is outside hence no CU in the picture.
Yes 4 thick grey ones go through the wall into the flat to the CU. Three from the meter and one from the cutout. Looking at them closer the ones from the meter are two red ones and one black underneath the grey cover.
Yes the blue button displays readings for rate 1 and 2. Yes there are no other connections therefore the meter would have a timer inside.
I am not sure about this but yes it says "Boost" near the orange button.
So what you reckon now? Definitely need a special two tarriff CU??
or can i just get two different CU's?
Thanks,
Nav
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