Max number sockets

midgetman · Mar 23, 2014

Is 5amp sockets classed same as light fixture. As in 100w each and max 13 per 6 amp. Cheers

jackhammerJIM · Mar 23, 2014

are you saying you can only fit 13 lights to a lighting circuit ?

Selfmade · Mar 23, 2014

100W x 13 / 230V is ~ 5.7A. But the OSG recommends max 66% diversity for a domestic lighting circuit so you can go up to 9A or 2070W which is over 20 lights! I think the 100W minimum is a bit of a relic from the days when all people had was plain bayonet cap pendants with incandescent light bulbs. Now you can have everything from a 4W LED to a 400W halogen floodlight and everything in between. So you have to work out what is likely to be fitted. I think the same would go for your 5A sockets - if you fitted 2, and they both had 5A loads frequently, that will be tripping the 6A breaker all the time, without any lights even being on! So think about what they are likely to be used for. That is my humble opinion anyway!

Engineer54 · Mar 24, 2014

If you are talking about using 5A sockets solely for table and lamp standards, then yes use the 100W rule of thumb for your calculation basis!!

I used to use the old 2A socket outlets for table lamps and the like. used them in both my parents and my sister house rewires. One circuit downstairs for lounge and dining room and one circuit upstairs for the bedrooms. Switched at the normal light switch positions via a 2 or 3 gang wall switch and in the bedrooms, with two way switching by the beds......

Eddiesparks · Mar 24, 2014

Selfmade said:
100W x 13 / 230V is ~ 5.7A. But the OSG recommends max 66% diversity for a domestic lighting circuit so you can go up to 9A or 2070W which is over 20 lights! I think the 100W minimum is a bit of a relic from the days when all people had was plain bayonet cap pendants with incandescent light bulbs. Now you can have everything from a 4W LED to a 400W halogen floodlight and everything in between. So you have to work out what is likely to be fitted. I think the same would go for your 5A sockets - if you fitted 2, and they both had 5A loads frequently, that will be tripping the 6A breaker all the time, without any lights even being on! So think about what they are likely to be used for. That is my humble opinion anyway!

Common sense. What he said