I am starting to see the light at the end of the planning tunnel and I'm about ready to start the actual installation. Before I get there I was looking for some advice regarding the actual mains wiring side of things if possible. I have a limited understanding of the anatomy of a typical domestic wiring installation but my ambitions are now beyond "typical"
The existing electrical wiring in the house is dated but still in full working order so what I would like to do is rather than completely re-wire immediately, tackle things in stages.
At the moment following the meter there is 2 old fusewire consumer units (one for upstairs and one for downstairs) What I would like to do is have an electrician install an isolator and a new consumer unit in tandem with the existing consumer units and slowly upgrade the wiring over the course of a couple of years as the different parts of the house are decorated. The kitchen is currently in the design stage so this would be first with the wiring installed at the same time as the new consumer unit. Will I be allowed to do this legally in accordance with "the regs"?
Also, throughout the house the floor skirting is quite high and in one of the rooms the pattress boxes have been flush mounted behind the skirting. Is this OK according to the regs? the reason I ask is it leaves it very easy to install additional pattresses in the future very easily avoiding further chasing out of the walls.
My final query is in relation to suggested circuits connected to the consumer unit. In my old house the consumer unit was very basic. It consisted of MCB's for...
What I can't work out is why some of the pictures of node zero's on here have several CU's. Is this because ALL INDIVIDUAL lights are star wired back to relays/dimmers in node zero? This to me seems like an open invitation for any electrician installing to ask for a blank cheque! Is there really any advantage to this? I am planning on installing an Idratek based system so can I not simply replace the typical light switches with Idratek button/relay modules to achieve the same thing?
Thanks in advance and apologies for the lengthy post.
The existing electrical wiring in the house is dated but still in full working order so what I would like to do is rather than completely re-wire immediately, tackle things in stages.
At the moment following the meter there is 2 old fusewire consumer units (one for upstairs and one for downstairs) What I would like to do is have an electrician install an isolator and a new consumer unit in tandem with the existing consumer units and slowly upgrade the wiring over the course of a couple of years as the different parts of the house are decorated. The kitchen is currently in the design stage so this would be first with the wiring installed at the same time as the new consumer unit. Will I be allowed to do this legally in accordance with "the regs"?
Also, throughout the house the floor skirting is quite high and in one of the rooms the pattress boxes have been flush mounted behind the skirting. Is this OK according to the regs? the reason I ask is it leaves it very easy to install additional pattresses in the future very easily avoiding further chasing out of the walls.
My final query is in relation to suggested circuits connected to the consumer unit. In my old house the consumer unit was very basic. It consisted of MCB's for...
- Upstairs Lighting
- Downstairs Lighting
- Upstairs Sockets
- Downstairs Sockets
- Kitchen
- Central Heating
What I can't work out is why some of the pictures of node zero's on here have several CU's. Is this because ALL INDIVIDUAL lights are star wired back to relays/dimmers in node zero? This to me seems like an open invitation for any electrician installing to ask for a blank cheque! Is there really any advantage to this? I am planning on installing an Idratek based system so can I not simply replace the typical light switches with Idratek button/relay modules to achieve the same thing?
Thanks in advance and apologies for the lengthy post.
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