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EVGY9413

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Hi,

Some advice required please.... I have a new build house and the electrician left an armoured supply into the garden, unterminated but weatherproofed outside and disconnected from a fused spur 13A in the house.

I'll be getting a qualified electrician to carry out all works and not particularly looking to do anything 'cheaply' just correctly. From the cable mentioned already in situ, which is located next to a shed, what is required for running some garden lighting and a couple of outdoor sockets? Would connection to a consumer unit from the shed be required?

The plan is to have some ground lamps uplighting mature trees via an outdoor switch and some sockets to be installed at a later date when a new patio is put in which would also have some uplights from an outdoor switch also.

I appreciate it's hard to advise without seeing the job to scope, but cable lengths aside, it's really the basics of the hardware required to connect from the existing cable run into the garden. Any advise welcome to help plan.

Thanks.
 
to be honest, I'd not advise on anything without seeing the job, determining where cables were run so as to decide on what cable/s to use, and how to install them. might need SWA or H07RN, also cable sizedependent on load and things like volt drop.
 
to be honest, I'd not advise on anything without seeing the job, determining where cables were run so as to decide on what cable/s to use, and how to install them. might need SWA or H07RN, also cable sizedependent on load and things like volt drop.
Ok, thanks.

For info, the cable is 600/1000v rated 3 core 2.5mm run outside from the fused spur.
 
Ok, thanks.

For info, the cable is 600/1000v rated 3 core 2.5mm run outside from the fused spur.
yes, but then what do you do? fit a submain and fuse down circuits to use smaller cables? site visit essential to assess.
 
The cable installed (3 core 2.5mm sq. SWA) is being done something of a dis-service by connecting it to a 13A fused spur at the house. It is capable of carrying significantly more, and by the sounds of it this job would benefit from some flexibility the far end.
I suspect the fundamental question is whether to scale down ambitions slightly in terms of number of sockets and live with the convenience of the 13A spur, or extend the cable to the consumer unit area in the house.
As above, a site visit is needed, and the design load needs estimating - lighting power consumption can vary enormously as (unfortunately) can the range of appliances that can be plugged into a 3 pin socket.
 
Is OK thinking I need to add sockets and the lighting and from a 13amp fuse, you has well put a kettle on the end of it, has above designing is must and lf course loading.
who needes a kettle when a beer fridge takes much less leccy?
 
IMO running a 2.5mm SWA before Planning and doing the cable calcs is premature. the installer who did this is working backwards.

work out what you want where you want it with the appropriate loads and distances. Then calculate the size of cable.

2.5mm may ( in fact probably is) be too small. A 4 mm or 6 mm may be required.
It's fed from a fused spur, unlikely to need to be any bigger than 2.5mm. Don't think it will have any issues doing some garden lighting, if anything it's overkill.
 
It's fed from a fused spur, unlikely to need to be any bigger than 2.5mm. Don't think it will have any issues doing some garden lighting, if anything it's overkill.
Thanks for the reply. I felt it was probably overkill for lighting as the cable was left for future possibilities, we've moved in and lighting is sufficient for us. Which is why I posted, just to see if it'd require a little consumer unit in the shed to then feed the lights or any other alternative way that would be standard practise as I'm not a sparky for dropping down to 3 or 4 garden lights for lighting the copse at the bottom of the garden. (Probably on spikes and either 240v or (E)LV).
Cheers.
 
If the cable is already there and in good condition then you can work backwards from its length to find the maximum load it can deal with while meeting both the current-carrying capacity and the maximum voltage drop requirements. That is not the best way to do it of course, and has already been pointed out, but pragmatic here.

Realistically unless you have a very long length or need more than a full 13A worth at any one time then it should be fine.

But...the Devil is in the details. So really nobody can give an accurate assessment without checking first as there are a few other aspects that might be relevant.

TL;DR Probably OK.
 
Thanks for the reply. I felt it was probably overkill for lighting as the cable was left for future possibilities, we've moved in and lighting is sufficient for us. Which is why I posted, just to see if it'd require a little consumer unit in the shed to then feed the lights or any other alternative way that would be standard practise as I'm not a sparky for dropping down to 3 or 4 garden lights for lighting the copse at the bottom of the garden. (Probably on spikes and either 240v or (E)LV).
Cheers.
Does this cable supply power to the shed as well?
 
If the cable is already there and in good condition then you can work backwards from its length to find the maximum load it can deal with while meeting both the current-carrying capacity and the maximum voltage drop requirements. That is not the best way to do it of course, and has already been pointed out, but pragmatic here.

Realistically unless you have a very long length or need more than a full 13A worth at any one time then it should be fine.

But...the Devil is in the details. So really nobody can give an accurate assessment without checking first as there are a few other aspects that might be relevant.

TL;DR Probably OK.
Thanks for the pragmatic reply, appreciate the input. I'll arrange a site visit with a local electrician as at least I know now that the job is do-able. Given the low voltage of lighting and an approx 15m length of cable it's not a major headache just not a ideal set up.
 
Does this cable supply power to the shed as well?
Not at the minute, the cable is unterminated and run from the fused spur in the house (fuse removed) from the garden room to the garden under the patio and to the property perimeter fence (approx 15m) which is buried to 600mm and then comes up to a junction box 500mm above ground to protect it from the elements which is sited about 2 metres from the shed. To get it into the shed it would just need the cable extending that last 2 or 3 metres which would be a straightforward job.
 

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