Power Cable Under Carpet

supermonkey

Hi All,

I read somewhere this is not a good idea... I presume fire risk?

I have an area in my front room where I want I have a 4 gang extension lead running about 50 cm between two pieces of furniture. I want to hide the cable under the carpet and don't really see it would be a problem as it'll never be walked on and so shouldn't wear away...

thanks!

[Deleted User]

Hi,

:mad: I hate seeing cables.

Are you talking about lifting the carpet and tucking it underneath, or just throwing a rug over it, can't see a problem with either, it's not high voltage is it?

What's running on it?

supermonkey

Hi, thanks for your reply. It's a standard 4 gang extension lead, 240V 13A....TV, DVD, Amp etc plugged in, so quite a few appliances.

I'm talking about lifting the carpet and running it under there (theres a gap between underlay and gripper rods.

I personally don't see a problem, but thought another opinion would be a good idea!

Thanks

hewhoisnotintheknow

it will be fine, just dont pierce it with the gripper

supermonkey

thanks guys! It will be done straight away!

thanks

andrew-b

Sorry but i disagree with the advice given to you.

The fire safety & prevention advice on this is NOT to run power cables under the carpet (just to qualify this i did a few fire prevention courses when i was younger with the fire service) .

The problem is that if the cable becomes damaged (walking on it, rolling things over it and so on may over time wear it down) the damage will not be obvious as you can't see it. The combination of damage to the cable and heat being less able to dissipate because of the carpet covering could result in overheating leading to a fire.

IMHO it's not worth the risk - even if it is perceived as being small. Alternatives are to clip it the skirting, get some of the stick on trunking (see here where you can get some nicer looking trunking) and run it around the skirting in that or to put a socket in the right location in the first place.

If there is gripper rod around the perimeter of the room I suppose you carefully could tuck it in at the base of the skirting as the gripper will offer some protection (i've done this in the past but only with thin speaker cabling) but obviously don't stand any furniture tight to the skirting on top - but i mean the skirting side of the gripper ..not the underlay side where the OP is considering to run it.

Hope that helps

Andy

edgex

NO!!!

extension cables are not designed to be used like that


either run it along the skirting to the intended location
or
get an electrician in to fit extra sockets

27col

Not really a good idea to put it under the carpet. Whether it can be seen or not, it is still a lash up. I imagine that there are hundreds of thousands of this type of set up around the country. But there is no way that the installation of extra permanent sockets is ever going to get near to catching up with the sheer number of gadgets and appliances that need supplying in most homes. A bit of common sense required I think. If you must have an extension then I suggest that it would be best served by having the cable clipped to the skirting, as has already been pointed out.

supermonkey

hmmmm.... well it's been done now. cable was wrapped in elephant tape first. it wont be walked on or anything rolled over it...

capita_guy

Wrapping tape around the cable causes heat to build up. It really is NOT a good idea putting cable under carpet. If you have a fire and the insurance company see this they will probably not pay out even if this was not tne cause of the fire.

supermonkey

does a cable like this really get that hot? i've never known an extension cable to feel even warm to the touch???

what about enclosing it in conduit?

On the subject of electrics, I have another question... since leads are often rated at 13 amps, how do I calculate whether I am exceeding this?