House Rewire Questions?

tony58_3

i am getting my house rewired next week, and want to make sure i get the best out of the electrician, from one of my earlier posts, i learnt following equipment is the best to use:

- Pirrelli for cables,
- MK for consumer Uunit and accesories.

after speaking to my electrician tomorrow, he told me that the wire he uses doesnt have a make (im not sure if he was jus blagging that) and that it does pass british standards etc and asked him to use Pirrelli cables, his response, they all meet current standards, so makes no differnce which cable u use? same with consumer unit, he is going to use a make called CPN

is he correct in saying that?? what advantages are there in using Pirrelli wires and MK consumer unit?

i am going to phone him tomorrow, to tell him to use, Pirrelli and MK, but before i do so, some advise or an oppinion would be nice.

Or are there any better makes than what i'v mentioned?

Thanks

baldelectrician

cpn consumer unit £89.23

MK consumer unit £133.96 (see TLC direct) MK 15 way with MCB's


The CPN (looks linke CHINT to me) another 'quality' brand- is 50% less costly

I personally wouldn't touch this stuff with your bargepole

This is the problem with asking 3 guys round for a 'price' for a rewire without a detailed spec.

The cheapest price will usally be a lower spec in materials.

In a rewire of similar spec to yours I reckon I would be £100-£150 more as I use pirelli (*now called prysimmian) cable (or similar), MK consumer units and GET acessories.
I will usually put a grid system in the kitchen where required.

The advantaves in using a decent consumer unit (such as MK) - spares are readily available and will be for a considerable time.
Pirelli cable (no cheap and nasty cable faults- had a 'join' in a drum of cable from B&Q- this is where the copper length runs out during manufacture and they have to connect a new coil)

This causes a cable fault, but most manufacturers scrap the particular drum affected.

You need to redefine the price if you are asking the electrician to use more costly materials- otherwise check out the other quotes

spirit

Could I ask you how much he is charging you for the job please? I am buying a 3 bed semi that needs a rewire so am interested. I was going to ask a work colleague's husband (who is a qualified sparky) to do it for me.

I hadn't previously thought about the materials he would use, but I guess I could buy the stuff from Screwfix or wherever and just have him do the work?

baldelectrician

There's such a thing as appearing too cheap;

What make of sockets is he using?

Did he include smoke detectors (as I mentioned on the other post) ?

I reckon the quote (using decent materials) should be half way between the lower and middle quotes you mentioned previuosly.

Hope this helps

tony58_3

thanks baldelectrician for ur help,

i'm going to ring him today, and make sure he uses the above mentioned, i dont mind paying a bit extra, this is somewhere i am going to live so i want it to have perfection.

baldelectrician maybe u can help me this too.

i am setting up a home network in the house, this is how i think i want it to work:

from the modem in the box room, a cat5 will run into a router/switch, which will have 8 outputs, 5 of those, will go into a wall faceplate, the back of the faceplates will have cat5's running to different rooms, (2 to living room, for ps3 and tv) 2 to other bedrooms, and another left for future.

i went to an electrical supply shop, he goes he's only seen a faceplate with maximum of 4 inputs, i have come across a few on the net with 6, but the outside UK websites so cannot order off them..

can you think of anything???

tony58_3

and spirit he is charging me £1.7k for a 3 bedroom detached.

tony58_3

ok baldelectrician i'v rang him and told him use pirelli/prysimmian cable, and MK consumer unit, he was already using GET accessories,

however just in case he tries to conn me, is there a cheaper/budget version of the pirelli/prysimmian cable, or is there only one type of pirelli/prysimmian cable?

how will i know it is the pirelli/prysimmian cable, will it have it printed on the cable? or some kind of logo.

thanks

baldelectrician

Decent cable (like pirelli etc) has the name and year of manufacture stamped on the cable.

I reckon the price may jump by £100 - £150 due to the cable and consumer unit

Make sure it is a 17th Edition MK consumer unit with full rcd protection

tony58_3

is that the latest consumer i guess then?? yeh will tell him that!

so is there only one type of pirelli wire??

any did you have any ideas about the home network system, mentioned above??

Homersimpson

At work we specify that all cables should be BASEC approved. We don't usually specifying a cable manufacturer unless its something specific and this is for everything from twin and earth to 630mm2 XLPE/AWA/LSF or HO7RN-F!

baldelectrician

Hi Tony

I would suggest EBUYER or MAPLIN for an 8 way item

The cheapest option is to put 2 4 way items side by side

regards
stewart