Ring mains and automation
Well seeing as I am also about to retrofit idratek into an old solid walled house (as well as a nice easy extension) I thought I would add my 2p, like all good bystanders I'll change the question a bit to muddy the waters. The short answer is um don't do it. As has been said most 13A wall sockets either power temporary things liker vacuum cleaners or permanent things like hifis or clock radios, neither of which are usefully turned on and off remotely. If they have poor standby ratings replace them it will be cheaper than the rewire anyway.
So far in my plan the only things I want to switch from a sockets are lights and all of these can easily be done via a single round pin plug. Ring mains also tend to be noisy and are now basically considered a bad idea in the new IEE regs anyway. If the sparky is tearing up your walls I would suggest you ask him to look into breaking the ring main and creating several spurs. Not always as hard as you think once the floor boards are up.
Another even simpler option is rf sockets (I plan to reuse some homeeasy sockets and control them from an HAH hub). I might even tie in some Idratek DIO to allow reflex control.
Al tough I have just had an idea: what about a fused spur with flex? As far as I know this is still allowed and would be compliant as long as fuse rating is clearly marked externally. Of course your device would be made permanent but surely it would be anyway if you have gone to the trouble of automating it?
Just a thought
Simon
Well seeing as I am also about to retrofit idratek into an old solid walled house (as well as a nice easy extension) I thought I would add my 2p, like all good bystanders I'll change the question a bit to muddy the waters. The short answer is um don't do it. As has been said most 13A wall sockets either power temporary things liker vacuum cleaners or permanent things like hifis or clock radios, neither of which are usefully turned on and off remotely. If they have poor standby ratings replace them it will be cheaper than the rewire anyway.
So far in my plan the only things I want to switch from a sockets are lights and all of these can easily be done via a single round pin plug. Ring mains also tend to be noisy and are now basically considered a bad idea in the new IEE regs anyway. If the sparky is tearing up your walls I would suggest you ask him to look into breaking the ring main and creating several spurs. Not always as hard as you think once the floor boards are up.
Another even simpler option is rf sockets (I plan to reuse some homeeasy sockets and control them from an HAH hub). I might even tie in some Idratek DIO to allow reflex control.
Al tough I have just had an idea: what about a fused spur with flex? As far as I know this is still allowed and would be compliant as long as fuse rating is clearly marked externally. Of course your device would be made permanent but surely it would be anyway if you have gone to the trouble of automating it?
Just a thought
Simon
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