Electricals question

[Count Steer]

Just bought a new panel heater (Creda) to replace the rubbish, broken Levante that the electrician fitted when he wired up the man-cabin.

Q? If I buy a free-standing one, almost identical, it comes fitted with a 3-pin plug. Buy a wall-mounted one and, according to all the info, it must be wired into a fused spur thingummybob.

Wossat all about?

(It's not a problem as the original is wired to a fused spur thingummybob, just puzzled).

Ta!

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

You can stick a plug on it, it will work, it won't catch fire, but it won't meet electrical safety regulations.

[Count Steer]

You can stick a plug on it, it will work, it won't catch fire, but it won't meet electrical safety regulations.

True. The Screwfix support people on-line don't say as much but it's pretty clear that people do. Just wondered why the regs are so odd.

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

You can stick a plug on it, it will work, it won't catch fire, but it won't meet electrical safety regulations.

True. The Screwfix support people on-line don't say as much but it's pretty clear that people do. Just wondered why the regs are so odd.

I think it's a bathroom thing, so you don't unplug it with wet hands.

[Count Steer]

You can stick a plug on it, it will work, it won't catch fire, but it won't meet electrical safety regulations.

True. The Screwfix support people on-line don't say as much but it's pretty clear that people do. Just wondered why the regs are so odd.

I think it's a bathroom thing, so you don't unplug it with wet hands.

In which case I'm tempted to put a plug on it....but the spur is closer than the socket, so spur it is. (Probably need to be Part P just to do that!).

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

True. The Screwfix support people on-line don't say as much but it's pretty clear that people do. Just wondered why the regs are so odd.

I think it's a bathroom thing, so you don't unplug it with wet hands.

In which case I'm tempted to put a plug on it....but the spur is closer than the socket, so spur it is. (Probably need to be Part P just to do that!).

I think you're okay to connect to a fused spur, but ask Couchy, he's an electrician.

[Demannu]

Didn't the original levante fitting get tested?
Shove it in with some matchsticks, what could go wrong?

[Demannu]

[Mussels]

Talking of which, my wife has just bought me this to put some shelves up.

[Count Steer]

Didn't the original levante fitting get tested?
Shove it in with some matchsticks, what could go wrong?

Oh, sure it was tested and worked fine for a year+ then the digital controller went on the fritz. Usual thing, make something more complicated and introduce more potential points of failure.

Matchsticks? Nah, I'll stick a bayonet plug on the end and run it from a light bulb socket.

(No drilling involved, it's a wooden structure with all the electrics run internally in conduit).

(Mussels - Titan SDS. Had one, did the job I needed it for. Sold it to the landscaper, he broke it ).

[Couchy]

Just bought a new panel heater (Creda) to replace the rubbish, broken Levante that the electrician fitted when he wired up the man-cabin.

Q? If I buy a free-standing one, almost identical, it comes fitted with a 3-pin plug. Buy a wall-mounted one and, according to all the info, it must be wired into a fused spur thingummybob.

Wossat all about?

(It's not a problem as the original is wired to a fused spur thingummybob, just puzzled).

Ta!

The free standing one is a portable appliance so you can move it round hence it needs a plug, the wall mounting one is a fixed appliance so needs hard wiring in through a fused spur. Both need a fuse to protect them one has it in the plug the other has it in the spur.

But if you put a plug on the wall mount one it’ll work just fine and be safe

[Count Steer]

'Tis done and working

Slightly smaller and lower power than the old one but it's mainly for background heat and frost protection (got a greenhouse type fan blower for additional heat when I'm working in there).

I even got to use my super-duper wire strippers that I bought for a project that involved making about 500 plastic tubes with LED strips in.

[Felix]

[

True. The Screwfix support people on-line don't say as much but it's pretty clear that people do. Just wondered why the regs are so odd.

Because sparks like to suck air between there teeth just before fleecing you out a fortnights wage for dare calling them out to do some work.

[Couchy]

[

True. The Screwfix support people on-line don't say as much but it's pretty clear that people do. Just wondered why the regs are so odd.

Because sparks like to suck air between there teeth just before fleecing you out a fortnights wage for dare calling them out to do some work.

Meh it’s domestic, any spark worth their weight wouldn’t touch domestic, all you’ll get is boil in the bag one man bands. Even then the average homeowner assumes the van and tools are free issue, materials are nicked and the VAT will be knocked off for cash mate. All that is best left to the domestic sparkies

[Mr. Dazzle]

The regs don't strike me as odd?

They're just saying you have to have a fuse right? Or have I overlooked something?

[Count Steer]

[

True. The Screwfix support people on-line don't say as much but it's pretty clear that people do. Just wondered why the regs are so odd.

Because sparks like to suck air between there teeth just before fleecing you out a fortnights wage for dare calling them out to do some work.

Meh it’s domestic, any spark worth their weight wouldn’t touch domestic, all you’ll get is boil in the bag one man bands. Even then the average homeowner assumes the van and tools are free issue, materials are nicked and the VAT will be knocked off for cash mate. All that is best left to the domestic sparkies

Err. The bloke that wired our cabin was tiptop. Sure, a one-man band but he picked up a lot of work from the cabin company.
He was wiring inside the cabin while they nail-gunned the tiles on, went all Jungle Jim getting the armoured cable from the house and down the garden, put a new consumer unit in and wriggled his way around the loft with the new, bigger diameter earth - I helped feed the wire Tested everything etc etc. Never stopped, never complained...but I can see why some sparkies don't want to do it.

[Count Steer]

The regs don't strike me as odd?

They're just saying you have to have a fuse right? Or have I overlooked something?

It appears you aren't supposed to put a fused 3-pin plug on a wall mounted heater. Obvs you have to on a free-standing one. Possibly because it might be installed in a bathroom (where there shouldn't be any sockets other than shaver but can be a fused spur).

Clearly, if it's not in a bathroom, it's as safe, if not safer than a free-standing one (can't get knocked over) even if plugged rather than wired. So the rule seems to be to prevent one very specific instance...mine's in a wooden cabin with no water supply - but there's a double socket on the outside wall which is weatherproof so I can plug stuff in and use electricals in the rain

So, in summary, rules appear to replace sense, sometimes but not always. Why not just say that wall mounted heaters must be wired into a fused spur IF installed in xyz?

[Cousin Jack]

Regulations have to get tougher so sparkies can tell you it doesn't meet the new standard.

[Couchy]

The difference is in fixed appliance or portable appliance. One is part of the electrical installation the other isn’t. The regs for the electrical installation are different to the regs for portable appliances. It’s not hard to understand

[Couchy]

Regulations have to get tougher so sparkies can tell you it doesn't meet the new standard.

You don’t apply regs retrospectively so any work on a property to test it should be carried out to the regs in place when it was installed. Problem is you get a lot of sparks in the domestic arena saying you need a new fuse board as the regs have changed. It’s bollox but it is ised as an excuse to try and generate work. Another reason we don’t do domestic and we don’t employ sparks from the domestic world as they don’t have the knowledge or experience for anything other than house bashing.