Garden wiring for lights and sockets

[MalcolmS]

Hi Gents,
I am thinking about running some cables in the garden. The idea is to electrify the garden.
My idea is to run some electrical cables so I have
a). lights
b). electricity
There is a plan to build a shed or garden office at the end of the garden - about 40 meters away from the house.
The whole area will need some landscaping so I thought while I move the earth around it would be good to dig a long trench across the property and lie some cables.
One cable would be for the insulated sockets for the garden (future pergola ~half way into the garden),
another cable for some lights and 3rd for the shed.
I don't think I will need anything out of ordinary e.g. high wattage power tools.
In terms of lighting I think 2 options to lit the 1st half and all lights.

What cables should I order?
Thanks

 

[Spoon]

Hi mate.
Are you intending to wire the cables in?
Are you testing the circuits?
Are you intending these cables to be on new circuits or to add to already existing circuits?
Wouldn't it be better to get an electrician in so that you can go into detail about what you want and they can tell you what cables are needed?
To save money you could suggest digging the necessary trenches for the cables.
Are you not having heating in the shed/office for winter time?

 

[Dustydazzler]

Might be easier to either...

A, get a sparks to help you pick the suitable cable(s) so you can buy it , lay it and then they can come back next year and connect it

B, put in some large ducting with blue draw rope in it so a future sparks can drag in a cable

 

[MalcolmS]

Hi Gents,
Yes I wanted to lie the cables and then at least fill in the trench and leave the rest for the electrician.
I had an idea of the ducting but could not find any info about what is appropriate.
I think these new circuits will have their own isolators.
Thanks for replies.

 

[suffolkspark]

Hi Gents,
Yes I wanted to lie the cables and then at least fill in the trench and leave the rest for the electrician.
I had an idea of the ducting but could not find any info about what is appropriate.
I think these new circuits will have their own isolators.
Thanks for replies.

Hi Malcolm, your first port of call is to get an electrician over to look, he/she (insert other random 2022esque "genders" as required) can chat it through with you and they can calculate required cables, sizing, installation method, anything needing altering upstream, its still likely youll be ok to lay them yourself, after instruction, just get somebody on board first as this will need designing, and testing and sign off too

 

[Dustydazzler]

Traditionally if you wanted power from the house to the far end of the garden it would be one fair sized armoured cable buried in the ground on its own circuit

Sometimes you needed to put in a couple additional cables for switching but with wireless stuff now you don't need to these days

 

[MJPD29]

35mm swa should cover it. Don't forget glands

 

[Dustydazzler]

I was thinking more like 90mm swa just to be on the safe side

 

[MJPD29]

I was thinking more like 90mm swa just to be on the safe side

Probably right better to be safe than sorry

 

[MalcolmS]

Hi again, it was quite a while but this is what I want.
The consumer unit is just above the black door.
I am in the process of replacing these doors to PVC and was wondering how these wires should be run.
The frame is going to be replaced so it would be good to make some preparation to avoid unnecessary drilling later on.
Should I just fit some piece of pipe in the lower corner between the frame and wall so the wires can go through?
Re wiring itself I have asked some electrician about this but I think he has no imagination for garden wiring especially when none of the building are standing, I think I need to consult this with someone who has done something like that. I think the wires has to be ordered by the electrician himself because it also get cheaper.

 

[MalcolmS]

I spoke to the electrician and 10mm SWA is more than enough for what I need. 10mm armoured SWA is a thick cable, hard to bend.

 

[MalcolmS]

Hi again Gents,
So I put this 10mm armoured SWA in the ground. I think one of you said to do as few connection points as possible.
The sparks suggested the transition from armoured to regular wire as it is difficult to bend and run it in the wall.
I am going to replace the back doors and what I could do is to run this armoured SWA into the house (bottom left corner of the doors).
The question is can the armouring be removed on the indoors bit and run this wire up to the consumer unit?

 

[newfutile]

The armour can't be removed and needs proper glands, if the armour was removed, then conduit or similar would be needed as the internal wires are only single insulated

 

[Spoon]

The question is can the armouring be removed on the indoors bit and run this wire up to the consumer unit?

Yes you cab remove the armour.
What you can do is have the armoured cable to into a junction box, with an armoured gland.
The cacble coming out will also need a gland, and this will to to the CU.
The armoured gland will need earthing correctly.

 

[Spoon]

The armour can't be removed and needs proper glands, if the armour was removed, then conduit or similar would be needed as the internal wires are only single insulated

Are you saying that the PVC bedding is not suitable?

 

[newfutile]

That is what I am saying, the bedding is for manufacturing purposes and not condidered insulation ( most of the time it's weak and rips).
It's fine if enclosed in trunking or conduit.

 

[Spoon]

I bet there are lots of threads saying what I suggested is ok. I'm sure I've read some.
I will have to go searching.... If the ads dont blind me first..

 

[newfutile]

Maybe so , but the armour is an exposed conductive part,it would not be such if it was already double insulated .
On the iet forum its suggested that it has not been water bath tested as an insulator.
There are similar conversations here, but i suppose the manufacturer is the only one who has the definitive answer.

 

[littlespark]

Some bedding is quite tough…. Like a regular flex within an armoured surrounding….

But other stuff just falls off if you even look at it funny.

 

[mickegh]

Its mostly a waste of time doing any cable laying when there's any complexity . Any saving likely be will be wiped out by error

A simple a-b you might get away with it

That's without instruction . Even with instruction it probably won't work out

 

[Ventricular Fibrillation]

Its mostly a waste of time doing any cable laying when there's any complexity . Any saving likely be will be wiped out by error

A simple a-b you might get away with it

That's without instruction . Even with instruction it probably won't work out

Exactly. The naïve nature of the OP's questions makes me inclined to suggest getting a professional in and offering to help. Laying a duct with a draw rope in it is a good idea though.

 

[MalcolmS]

Yes you cab remove the armour.
What you can do is have the armoured cable to into a junction box, with an armoured gland.
The cacble coming out will also need a gland, and this will to to the CU.
The armoured gland will need earthing correctly.

The electrician gave me some glands when he brought the SWA cable. I don't know what are these for but this is something he is going to install later on while replacing the consumer unit. I just wanted to use the opportunity to get SWA into the building when the doors are being replaced. It's the shortest way anyway and no more holes drilled into the walls.

Someone else on a different thread said there should be as few connections as possible so I wanted to avoid that box outside the building for transitioning from armoured to unarmoured cable but now it looks like it is unavoidable.