13amp sockets trip switch keeps going - anyone know why?

forgotmyname

Hope your sitting down when you get your electric bill, Over £1 an hour if you have 3 heaters on at once.

wallofbeans

macman wrote: »

Can't work out why your property has only one ring main-it's not a flat, as you have 2 lighting circuits, up and down?

The norm would be 2 ring mains, one up and one down, and (on most modern installs) a 3rd one for the kitchen.

yep, its a two bed terraced house...

"modern installs" might be the keyword there... our house was built in 1873, we've been here 12 years and who knows when the electrics were put in... i think i remember a few years back an electrician being baffled by the wiring behind a light switch and saying something about the colours of the wires not being used like that for a long time...

this is all a great learning curve for me! we're looking to move soon and ill be checking that houses have at least two ring mains now!

keystone

Yes really. I'm talking practically what the voltage will be rather than the specification to which it is produced. This was a "harmonisation" exercise to bring UK into line with Europe. You'll find that the average voltage that is actually delivered to UK homes will still be much much closer to 240V than 230. EU bureaucracy has very little relevance in the real world.

Cheers

zax47

macman wrote: »

Can't work out why your property has only one ring main

Not that unusual, I go to lots of properties (mainly older terraced ones) that only have 1 ring final - usually only got 5 or 6 smallish rooms. (2 down, 3 up).

keystone

andrew-b wrote: »

Voltage varies through the day .. how quick the man is shovelling the coal and the hamster running around the wheel!

Yes - that would be why I was careful to use the word average and its the average that counts. The application of the principle of "diversity" to an installation design is also relevant in considering this.

Using 230V rather than 240V for calculations based on 8kW there's a difference of about 2amps to using 240V..either way it's too much for a 30A circuit.

Actually 2 amps could make all the difference in another case although I agree that in the context of this thread it won't.

As for EU legislation...Brussel sprouts just make you fart

:rotfl:Indeed.

Cheers