Hi,

just checking out the electrics.

There is a 15 amp fuse for power in the kitchen.
The note on the inside of the fuse box cover says "fan and double socket"
but there seem to be three twin sockets off this fuse.
I assume it is a spur not a ring, but haven't been able to confirm this
yet.

How many twin 13amp sockets can you run off a 15 amp fuse?

The rest seems fine - 30 amp fuses for power, 5 amp fuses for lights, 15
amp fuse dedicated to immersion heater.

TIA

Dave R

In article ,
David WE Roberts wrote:
There is a 15 amp fuse for power in the kitchen.
The note on the inside of the fuse box cover says "fan and double socket"
but there seem to be three twin sockets off this fuse.
I assume it is a spur not a ring, but haven't been able to confirm this
yet.

Correct name would be radial if it starts at the consumer unit. A spur
comes off a ring.

How many twin 13amp sockets can you run off a 15 amp fuse?

Not even one if fully loaded?

This arrangement should be safe, but given the kitchen is usually the most
power hungry part of the house not very convenient. You'd have to be
careful not to use many appliances at the same time or the fuse will blow.
Does it look difficult to extend this radial back to the CU and turn it
into a ring? And perhaps change the CU into a modern split load type with
RCD and MCBs rather than fuses?

The rest seems fine - 30 amp fuses for power, 5 amp fuses for lights, 15
amp fuse dedicated to immersion heater.

--
*In some places, C:\ is the root of all directories *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On Sun, 19 Feb 2006 13:19:21 +0000, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

In article ,
David WE Roberts wrote:
There is a 15 amp fuse for power in the kitchen. The note on the inside
of the fuse box cover says "fan and double socket" but there seem to be
three twin sockets off this fuse. I assume it is a spur not a ring, but
haven't been able to confirm this yet.

Correct name would be radial if it starts at the consumer unit. A spur
comes off a ring.

How many twin 13amp sockets can you run off a 15 amp fuse?

Not even one if fully loaded?

This arrangement should be safe, but given the kitchen is usually the
most power hungry part of the house not very convenient. You'd have to
be careful not to use many appliances at the same time or the fuse will
blow. Does it look difficult to extend this radial back to the CU and
turn it into a ring? And perhaps change the CU into a modern split load
type with RCD and MCBs rather than fuses?

The rest seems fine - 30 amp fuses for power, 5 amp fuses for lights,
15 amp fuse dedicated to immersion heater.


Thanks.

The old style fuse box appears to be protected by a newer RCD which I
guess is a compromise but an improvement.

We are about to gut and redo the kitchen, which will entail an
electrician, so would be a good time to upgrade the CU. New kitchen would
have 13 amp ring, of course.

Fortunately we are not using most of the sockets most of the time- one for
the fridge, one for the combination microwave, a toaster (very rarely
used) and a kettle.

Oops! That makes 4 double sockets; however the fourth one doesn't have
anything plugged in, and two more have only one socket in use, so that is
four plugs in total.

When we start redoing stuff our electrician will of course safety test
everything and fix anything which is dodgy.

Just prompted to raise a question now because I haven't seen a kitchen
running off a 15 amp fuse before.

Cheers

Dave R

In article ,
David WE Roberts wrote:
The old style fuse box appears to be protected by a newer RCD which I
guess is a compromise but an improvement.

We are about to gut and redo the kitchen, which will entail an
electrician, so would be a good time to upgrade the CU. New kitchen would
have 13 amp ring, of course.

Depending on size some have two.

Fortunately we are not using most of the sockets most of the time- one
for the fridge, one for the combination microwave, a toaster (very
rarely used) and a kettle.

That explains why you've probably got away with it. Things like washing
machines, driers and dishwashers can use a lot of current for a short
while when heating the water, etc.

Oops! That makes 4 double sockets; however the fourth one doesn't have
anything plugged in, and two more have only one socket in use, so that is
four plugs in total.

When we start redoing stuff our electrician will of course safety test
everything and fix anything which is dodgy.

Just prompted to raise a question now because I haven't seen a kitchen
running off a 15 amp fuse before.

Certainly a bit restrictive these days.

--
*Confession is good for the soul, but bad for your career.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.