Sparks - help on isolation switches

Mummy_Bean

Looking for advice.

House was completely rewired 3 years ago and signed off against Part P and current regs.

Now getting new kitchen fitted, but due to change in layout need some points amended.

Had an electrician come round today who has stated that we need a socket and a wall mounted isolation switch for every appliance, which with Hob, fan, oven, fridge freezer, dishwasher and washing machine and boiler we would have 7 isolation switches plus the 3 double wall mounted double sockets.

Our kitchen isn't very big....so to have that many switches on the worktop seems madness. (And he charging £65 per point)

I have read through some of the regs and it all seems very vague.

After some heated debates he said that he would just put all the isolation switches in one cupboard - Which surely completely defeats the point of having them....esp as our main fuse board is in the hall way about 1.5m from where he wanting to put the switches.

Any qualified sparks on here that could advise?

TIA

glentoran99

Mummy_Bean wrote: »

Looking for advice.

House was completely rewired 3 years ago and signed off against Part P and current regs.

Now getting new kitchen fitted, but due to change in layout need some points amended.

Had an electrician come round today who has stated that we need a socket and a wall mounted isolation switch for every appliance, which with Hob, fan, oven, fridge freezer, dishwasher and washing machine and boiler we would have 7 isolation switches plus the 3 double wall mounted double sockets.

Our kitchen isn't very big....so to have that many switches on the worktop seems madness. (And he charging £65 per point)

I have read through some of the regs and it all seems very vague.

After some heated debates he said that he would just put all the isolation switches in one cupboard - Which surely completely defeats the point of having them....esp as our main fuse board is in the hall way about 1.5m from where he wanting to put the switches.

Any qualified sparks on here that could advise?

TIA

Im no spark but surely its entirely logical that an appliance needs its own switch?


You say your main fuse board is a short distance away, That's irrelevant each item wont have its own fuse

scottishblondie

Not an electrician, but I do have some experience to share. We have an isolation switch for each appliance, but they aren't all on separate plates taking up loads of room, they're very neatly all in one grid switch plate with a switch labelled for each one. It looks very neat, a bit like this:



You can get the switches labelled for most appliances and they are readily available from a lot of different electrical brands, for example from here. The ones in our house are Schneider Electrical, but we used MK ones when we redid the kitchen in my husband's old flat as they are a reputable brand and cheaper than Schneider. I'm sure your electrician would be able to source them from their regular supplier.

The only exception is our double oven - it required its own isolation switch as it is more heavy duty than the other appliances.

Mummy_Bean

Every appliance will have its own switch, it is the fact they want each appliance to also have an isolation switch so essentially two fuses/switches .

that panel above would certainly solve the having 8 wall mounted, it just the amount of extra work/wiring that would be required, when it was only done 3 years ago.

the kitchen will have exactly the same amount of appliances as it currently does, so it cannot be that they concerned with over loading.

glentoran99

Mummy_Bean wrote: »

Every appliance will have its own switch, it is the fact they want each appliance to also have an isolation switch so essentially two fuses/switches .

that panel above would certainly solve the having 8 wall mounted, it just the amount of extra work/wiring that would be required, when it was only done 3 years ago.

the kitchen will have exactly the same amount of appliances as it currently does, so it cannot be that they concerned with over loading.

Not sure I understand then? Mine (just installed) has a switch for each appliance, Where are the two switches going to be?

Ectophile

You really don't need an extra isolator for every appliance. There's a perfectly good one in the "fuse board" in the hall. If anything needs servicing and you want to cut the power, just flip the breaker.

ic

When I had my kitchen done, my electrician was happy to install the switches at the back of cupboards. The fridge, dishwasher, microwave, cooker hood and washing machine all have switched sockets, and the hob and oven have isolation switches. As they're inside the backs of cupboards they remain easily accessible, and are only cheap white sockets as nobody sees them.

flashg67

ic wrote: »

When I had my kitchen done, my electrician was happy to install the switches at the back of cupboards. The fridge, dishwasher, microwave, cooker hood and washing machine all have switched sockets, and the hob and oven have isolation switches. As they're inside the backs of cupboards they remain easily accessible, and are only cheap white sockets as nobody sees them.

My electrician signed off a new circuit he installed in exactly the same way. he also said as long as a switch is accessible, even if in a cupbuard, it doesn't need a seperate isolator

scottishblondie

It's about ease of access and convenience, really. Yes, my dishwasher may be plugged in to a switched socket at the back of the cupboard but that can't be accessed without removing the appliance, which isn't an easy thing to do. I could cut the power at the breaker, but that would affect more than just the dishwasher. If I need to cut power to the dishwasher in a hurry, it's no problem for me to flip the easily accessible switch. That's all it is for. It doesn't provide any extra protection, it's just a switch.

onomatopoeia99

Mummy_Bean wrote: »

Had an electrician come round today who has stated that we need a socket and a wall mounted isolation switch for every appliance, which with Hob, fan, oven, fridge freezer, dishwasher and washing machine and boiler we would have 7 isolation switches plus the 3 double wall mounted double sockets.

You also say "every appliance will have its own switch". Do you mean as part of the appliance itself (which are no good for isolating it if on fire)? Or do you mean on the sockets that are hidden behind the appliance (which are no good for isolating it if on fire)? Or something else?