"Owain" wrote in message ...
"David Robinson" wrote
| From the way almost all the wiring and sockets/switches match
| throughout, I think the whole house was re-wired when the extension
| went up, with the electric cooker circuit upgraded (and shower circuit
| added) later. But I could be wrong. If it was re-wired all at once,
| they chose sensible routes and positions for the sockets in the
| extension, but stuck with the existing stupid positions for the
| sockets in the rest of the house.

Perhaps they only put new faceplaces on the old wiring? One house I lived in
had lovely lead-covered cable and iron-clad DP fuseboards but the brown
bakelite light switches were the modern square style.

Thanks for the warning Owain. Luckily I've already changed two light
fittings, and been in the loft, and all the wiring is fine. If it was
an old house, I'd rather change the wire and keep the nice old
fittings, but I guess that's not advisable, and it's not applicable
here anyway.

The only thing I could fault is that the earth posts in the metal
boxes behind the sockets are not used - the earthing just loops into
the earth on the socket, with no lead to the metal wall box (inset
into the plaster) itself. Should I add a lead, or is it enough that
the sockets themselves connect the earth to the 2 screw holes? I was
going to go around and add a wire to them all.

Cheers,
David.