Adding Extra Sockets

chib

I'm going to call out an electrician next week and get some thoughts from them on adding some extra sockets to our home. When we moved in (2014) we had an electrician visit who checked out our wiring and installed a new consumer unit and feed to electric shower.

I'm going to look at adding two extra sockets to each bedroom, a local friend done the same via DIY using spurs however I was thinking of extending the ring in each room. See the image below - the existing green line would be removed with the addition of the orange for the extra socket(s). Does this seem like a smart idea?



When we moved in the electrician doing the work said the cabling in the house looked good and to give him a shout if we wanted any extra sockets or work done - unfortunately he's always failed to show up hence getting in a new guy.

phil24_7

Extending the ring is always a smarter approach than spurs so your on the right track.

G_M

I believe it is advised (and may nowadays be part of Building Regs) never to add more than one spur off a socket.

Mr.Generous

G_M wrote: »

I believe it is advised (and may nowadays be part of Building Regs) never to add more than one spur off a socket.

Yes a spur off a spur fails testing on inspection. Extending the ring is always better, you can do it by interrupting the ring under the floor with junction boxes if this is easier, on properties with floorboards rather than chipboard floors this can be easier than chasing out walls. The rules about numbers of spurs are quite complicated but for a typical home you can have as many spurs as sockets on the ring - its related to the area of the property in sq mtrs and the likely current drain. Your diagram is fine, three double sockets should be the minimum in a bedroom now so much stuff to plug in.

Biggles

If I was calling an electrician in, I'd be inclined to take his advice on how to do the work.

chib

Thank you all for the responses.

Biggles wrote: »

If I was calling an electrician in, I'd be inclined to take his advice on how to do the work.

Of course, and I'll do the same. I just wanted to check what I thought may be a good idea.

YouKwoteMe

I would definitely call for a professional, all the answers seemed correct to me and the other question would be to know what use are you giving to the system and if it would need a new feed in and keep the existing network as is.

Jonesya

I'll disagree, I'd use spurs, particularly if you decided to do it yourself.

Extending the ring is easy on paper, in reality and to do it properly and safely you need a lot more knowledge and test gear - you need to prove you're actually on the ring, not on a spur, need to trace the section you're removing and confirm it isn't supplying any other sockets, need to test the ring to prove the loop impedances are still satisfactory. You need to ensure you never bridge the ring.

Spurs are relatively simple.

For a typical bedroom, extending the ring is unnecessary because the electrical load is normally very low. Its mostly electronics - clock, TV, stereo, console, lamp, total load is probably easily below 1kW / ~4A most of the time, perhaps 4kW if you use a room heater. What are you planning to plug into these extra sockets, total up the load?

phil24_7

The OP isn't DIY-ing it, just seeing if they were on the right lines.

DigForVictory

Whatever you do, once the wires are sorted, stick a double socket in not a single one! You're paying for a Real Sparky, get Full value for money.

I think the code now is for 4 sockets a bedroom minimum & my teens manage to use every socket they can get at... Sometimes, you're as well sorting a charging point & keeping the "vital" gadgets out of their hands overnight.

DRP

DigForVictory wrote: »

Whatever you do, once the wires are sorted, stick a double socket in not a single one! You're paying for a Real Sparky, get Full value for money.

I think the code now is for 4 sockets a bedroom minimum & my teens manage to use every socket they can get at... Sometimes, you're as well sorting a charging point & keeping the "vital" gadgets out of their hands overnight.

Yep - Our spark & builder thought we were a bit mad in our recent refurb:
4 doubles in the tv corner
a double in each of the other 3, and a double by the door
(plus an external garden socket)

I'd definitely rather have too many than extension leads all over the shop...