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Ask The Trades › DIY Forum › Electrical Questions › Wiring a garage

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Wiring a garage (Read 5620 times)

join1310er

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Wiring a garage
Sep 3^rd, 2011, 5:26pm

Hey everyone,

Im looking to wire up my garage and a little phased at what mcd i will need for my main consumer unit in the house, and which rcd's ile need for in the garage, ile be looking to put 4 fluorescents lights in the and around four sockets, i was almost sure i was going to use a 6amp and a 32amp, but on looking for a garage unit, theyre selling with a 6amp and a 16amp, will this be sufficient?

Thank you

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CWatters Super Member Offline "Daddy fick it" says James Posts: 5150 Total Thanks: 58 For This Post: 0 Gender:	Re: Wiring a garage Reply #1 - Sep 3^rd, 2011, 5:57pm Will depends what you want to do out there. Can the supply to your house handle another 32A? (Ok so it won't be 32A but you know what I mean). Boring bit...The regs require you to use an electrician or make a Building Control Application.
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join1310er GDPR opt-out Total Thanks: 58 For This Post: 0	Re: Wiring a garage Reply #2 - Sep 3^rd, 2011, 8:33pm basically as a workshop for general diy as and when required to be honest, the downside about getting an electrician in is the cost which i dont unfortunately have funds to throw around, hence me asking on here. Thank you
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CWatters

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Re: Wiring a garage
Reply #3 - Sep 3^rd, 2011, 10:54pm

I'm not actually an electrician (my background is in Electronics) but..

Most DIY power tools are 1kW or less. 16A is >3kW so would normally be ok.

My understanding is..

You need to select the cable size (in square mm) to suit the load current and the distance from house CU to garage. I think there might also be impedance issue but you need an electrician to answer that.

Then you need a breaker at the house end to protect the cable (in my case this is a 32A MCB so I believe the cable will be sized to carry at least that much under fault conditions).

In the garage CU I have an RCD and two MCB - a 6A one for the lighting and a 16A for the power.

The earthing arrangement needs care. I don't think you can allways export an earth from the house to the garage. You may need an earth spike near the garage (as I have). Need an electrician to comment on the rules for this.

« Last Edit: Sep 3^rd, 2011, 10:56pm by CWatters »

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sparxxxx Full Member Offline Posts: 435 Total Thanks: 0 For This Post: 0	Re: Wiring a garage Reply #4 - Sep 4^th, 2011, 12:34pm Have a look at this, you want issue 16 the first item - http://electrical.theiet.org/wiring-matters/2005.cfm As you will see there are many issues to be considered. And employing a spark might not be that expensive, but its important to get it right.
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baz

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Re: Wiring a garage
Reply #5 - Sep 4^th, 2011, 11:36pm

Some basic questions:

Is this garage attached to the house, or some distance away?
If it is some distance, what is your preferred method of running cables:
Underground, suspended cable, along the fence, etc? (wireless Grin

)

Does your consumer unit have any spare ways?
Are any of them RCD protected?
Do you know what sort of supply type you have (TN-S, TNC-S, TT, etc?)

Why is it that, when we stumble across a can of worms, instead of running for the door we find ourselves reaching for a can opener?

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join1310er

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Re: Wiring a garage
Reply #6 - Sep 5^th, 2011, 9:53am

sparxxx
thank you for the link, that info is just the ticket. greatly appreciated.

Baz, hmm, good question, would you be ok to describe the difference it would make through the choice of mcb etc.

And it is rcd protected, probably a ten year old consumer unit

Installation wise i was planning 10mm armoured cable and running it under ground, the garage is around 10/15 metres away from the house,
Thank you guys...

P.s, out of curiosity, with the description i have given, what sort of price range would i be looking at for installation, considering all materials are on site and ready to install? i know it is a long shot bearing in mind it would be a blind estimate, just for knowledge of it would be great, seemingly ever more likely i'le be paying for it, lol.

« Last Edit: Sep 5^th, 2011, 10:32am by join1310er »

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CWatters Super Member Offline "Daddy fick it" says James Posts: 5150 Total Thanks: 58 For This Post: 0 Gender:	Re: Wiring a garage Reply #7 - Sep 5^th, 2011, 1:28pm 10mm might be bigger than you need. Might be of interest.. http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Technical/Charts/VoltageDrop.html
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