Discuss kitchen appliances and ways to isolate in the UK Electrical Forum area at ElectriciansForums.net

Reaction score
57
hi,

after some advice re isolation for under the counter kitchen sockets for appliances such as built in washing machines,dish washers,freezers ect. wondering what methods people use.

currently i am instaling a switch fused spur adjacent to a local double socket and spuring down to unswitched single socket. hence using the switch fused spur as the isolator. ive heard that having two 13 amp fuses in series is wrong re discrimination but cant see any problem,we wire fused spurs for additional sockets like that all the time am i missing something. this is ok for maybe one or two appliances but can become very crowded and look messy for a bank of under counter sockets. any other methods that people use ?? (for additions to exisitng circuit)

for new circuit installs ive thought of wiring 13amp sfu or 20amp DP switches directly into the ring main and feeding the socket from the load side, but can you actually wire a 20amp rated switch to a 32 amp protected ring main, i cant see a problem as the appliance is will never draw more than 13amps, just the rating of the switch that bothers me

another thought was to wire unfused spur from local socket to a switched socket located in an adjacent cupbord and plug appliance in there giving access for isolation, solving the problem of numerous sfu or dp switches.

any one see a problem with any of these or have better ideas or suggestions most welcome
 
all those methods are acceptable, the last one is the least favourite, though. if you have several appliances, you might consider a 4 way grid switch assembly with the switches engraved for each appliance.
 
do you mean something like a 4mm2 32 amp protected radial feeding all four 20 amp grid switches then on to individual sockets , no fusing moduals required as all appliances will be fused at 13amps correct??
 
So many valid options!
I can see why tel might not like it, but a socket in an adjacent cupboard means only one 13A fuse (in the plug). Also unplugging in order to test either the circuit or the appliance is easy without moving the appliance out which, for built-in appliances, can be a right pain. If accessible, a socket fixed to the wall, accessible though a good sized hole in the back panel of the cupboard might be preferred.
 
would you mout the socket towards the front of the cupboard on the side of cupboard and clip the 2.5mm t+e to the cupboard ?? or mount the socket on the back wall of cupboard to conceal the 2.5mm. personally my only concern is the socket being connected to the actual cupboard and not the fabric of the building, but i guess if its a fitted kitchen cupboard then its not exactly going to be moved anywhere.
 
thanks tel, for new installs grid system seems easiest and neatest. just to add i cant see any reason why the grid switches cant be added to a ring main instead of a radial if you choose is there ???
 
thanks tel, for new installs grid system seems easiest and neatest. just to add i cant see any reason why the grid switches cant be added to a ring main instead of a radial if you choose is there ???

you can fit the grid switches into RFC, but would need to consider the loading on the RFC, especially if the switches were towards 1 end of the RFC, as then the majority of the appliance load would be on 1 leg of the RFC.

each switch needs only to be rated to the load current of the appliance that it's feeding, not to the ccc of the circuit.
 
would you mout the socket towards the front of the cupboard on the side of cupboard and clip the 2.5mm t+e to the cupboard ?? or mount the socket on the back wall of cupboard to conceal the 2.5mm. personally my only concern is the socket being connected to the actual cupboard and not the fabric of the building, but i guess if its a fitted kitchen cupboard then its not exactly going to be moved anywhere.

fit if possible on the hinge side, at the front. At the back a bad idea as it'll maybe get smacked all the time. Less likely at front and also easy to get to if you need to. Hinge side out of the way as you tend to grab stuff the other side. put the cables in a wee bit of trunking.
 
Personally I hate to see a FCU feeding a socket for an appliance, what's the point? A FCU looks ugly compared to 20amp switch, and the FCU also costs more.
 
Personally I hate to see a FCU feeding a socket for an appliance, what's the point? A FCU looks ugly compared to 20amp switch, and the FCU also costs more.

not only that, but with a FCU, you have 2 13A fuses in series, no discrimination. if 1 fails, you don't know which.
 
all those methods are acceptable, the last one is the least favourite, though. if you have several appliances, you might consider a 4 way grid switch assembly with the switches engraved for each appliance.
why Tel?.....adjacent units to me are the way.....its either that or grid switch setup...or a load of FCUs at worktop height....yuk!!
 
Personally I hate to see a FCU feeding a socket for an appliance, what's the point? A FCU looks ugly compared to 20amp switch, and the FCU also costs more.
yes...its cost, appearance and pointless.....as most appliances have a BS1363 plugtop on em anyway....so its both fused AND electrical seperation is easily acheaved.....
 
Here another option for you..... find the biggest easily accessible cupboard and put all your fcu's and dp switches in there - label it up - sorted. Customer knows exactly where to go should there be a problem to turn it all off (they may have to move the odd box of cereals out the way first though!) :wink_smile:

PS - depending on the quality of the kitchen you may need to get your friendly kitchen fitter to put some extra mdf/ply of the back of the unit to strengthen it up before fein'ing it all out.

All the best,

Sy

IMG_0461.jpgIMG_0465.jpg
 
Here another option for you..... find the biggest easily accessible cupboard and put all your fcu's and dp switches in there - label it up - sorted. Customer knows exactly where to go should there be a problem to turn it all off (they may have to move the odd box of cereals out the way first though!) :wink_smile:

PS - depending on the quality of the kitchen you may need to get your friendly kitchen fitter to put some extra mdf/ply of the back of the unit to strengthen it up before fein'ing it all out.

All the best,

Sy

View attachment 14309View attachment 14310
don`t you mean the quality of the kitchen fitter?...
 

Reply to kitchen appliances and ways to isolate in the UK Electrical Forum area at ElectriciansForums.net

Similar Threads

Hello everyone, I'd like to seek your input on a matter. I'm in the process of designing the electrical connections for the following kitchen...
Replies
38
Views
3K
I have taken delivery of an undersink water heater. It is fitted with an RCD on the electrical supply cable which terminates with a euro-plug. I...
Replies
19
Views
2K
I'll start by saying - I have absolutely no intention of doing any wiring or anything electrical myself. You get someone professional to do a...
Replies
8
Views
901
Evening all, I'm upgrading my kitchen electrics replacing the current gas hob for an induction hob. The oven was previously plugged into the...
Replies
6
Views
2K
what install should be done for integrated kitchen appliances when- 1 socket is unaccessable, ie on the wall behind the backs of the cupboard. 2...
Replies
7
Views
2K

OFFICIAL SPONSORS

Electrical Goods - Electrical Tools - Brand Names Electrician Courses Green Electrical Goods PCB Way Electrical Goods - Electrical Tools - Brand Names Pushfit Wire Connectors Electric Underfloor Heating Electrician Courses
These Official Forum Sponsors May Provide Discounts to Regular Forum Members - If you would like to sponsor us then CLICK HERE and post a thread with who you are, and we'll send you some stats etc

YOUR Unread Posts

This website was designed, optimised and is hosted by Untold Media. Operating under the name Untold Media since 2001.
Back
Top
AdBlock Detected

We get it, advertisements are annoying!

Sure, ad-blocking software does a great job at blocking ads, but it also blocks useful features of our website. For the best site experience please disable your AdBlocker.

I've Disabled AdBlock