Wiring for a new kitchen

[bulgariasteve]

Hi folks - some advice please! I am about to start fitting a new kitchen into our house here in Bulgaria and will be fitting new electric cable. The room is 3 metre square and I want to fit 3 double sockets on one wall and 4 double sockets on 2 of the other 3 walls (2 per wall) above the working surfaces plus 2 under the counter sockets for the fridge and dishwasher. There will also be 2 wall mounted switches for the cooker and extractor fan. 2 walls face the outside and are to be plasterboarded and insulated. The new cable will be running along the ceiling which is made from reinforced concrete slabs.The ceiling will also be plasterboarded after the cables are fitted. There will be a seperate cable for the cooker. The house is wired 3 phase.

Q1. Ring main or radial (1 radial or 2) 2.5mm.
Q2. Should the cable be in conduit or just clipped to the ceiling.
Q3. 6mm cable for the cooker?

Any other advice would be most welcome. Cheers, Steve

 

[telectrix]

Q1. Ring main or radial (1 radial or 2) 2.5mm. ring is preferable
Q2. Should the cable be in conduit or just clipped to the ceiling. or clipped to walls just above/below platerboard ceiling.
Q3. 6mm cable for the cooker? upto 15kW, 6mm clipped direct on a 32A MCB will usually suffice.

20A D/P switches above worktop for the under worktop sockets and FCU for extractor fan advisable.

above subject to any Bulgarian regulations that may be different to ours here in the UK.

 

[SJD]

I thought ring final circuits were somewhat of a UK-thing (post-WW2 and all that), and not commonly used elsewhere, or am I wrong about this?

 

[Midwest]

Did you know, Bulgarians make the best yoghurt in the world (allegedly), nod they heads up & down to say no & horizontally to say yes and they also play the bagpipes. Don't think they're into ring mains, sorry sorry sorry ring final circuits.

 

[westward10]

Do what you like it is bound to exceed their requirements.

 

[telectrix]

Did you know, Bulgarians make the best yoghurt in the world (allegedly), nod they heads up & down to say no & horizontally to say yes and they also play the bagpipes. Don't think they're into ring mains, sorry sorry sorry ring final circuits.

can't comment on the monkey snot (yoghurt) as i hate the stuff. bagpipes are only for the Bad Piper, and as for ring finals, choice is down to the installer/

 

[bulgariasteve]

Q1. Ring main or radial (1 radial or 2) 2.5mm. ring is preferable
Q2. Should the cable be in conduit or just clipped to the ceiling. or clipped to walls just above/below platerboard ceiling.
Q3. 6mm cable for the cooker? upto 15kW, 6mm clipped direct on a 32A MCB will usually suffice.

20A D/P switches above worktop for the under worktop sockets and FCU for extractor fan advisable.

above subject to any Bulgarian regulations that may be different to ours here in the UK.

Many thanks for your reply. Cheers - Steve

 

[Risteard]

Do what you like it is bound to exceed their requirements.

Can't agree - a ring final circuit is likely to be a prohibited arrangement. There are also likely to be requirements which don't exist under BS 7671. There is a duty to ensure that any work satisfies their national requirements.

 

[FatAlan]

I have a Bulgarian chap on my course at the moment. I could ask him to pop round but I think he's committed in London at the moment. Good luck Steve and welcome to the forum.

 

[kingeri]

As far as I know in Bulgaria they use a shared neutral/cpc, hence only use two conductors, even in final circuits. I remember seeing a link between cpc and neutral inside a socket outlet when I was there a few years back.

Edit: And definitely no ring finals allowed!

 

[bulgariasteve]

As far as I know in Bulgaria they use a shared neutral/cpc, hence only use two conductors, even in final circuits. I remember seeing a link between cpc and neutral inside a socket outlet when I was there a few years back.

Edit: And definitely no ring finals allowed!

Yes, you are right. The earth and neutral are wired together in the socket outlet. Found this out to my cost soon after we bought the house (2003) when I pluged in a plastic pipe welder. Got a hell of a belt when I touched the metal housing of the welder. Some "bright spark??" had joined the live to the earth in the socket!! As far as I can tell ring finals are not used. So I rekon on splitting the sockets by using 2 radials.

Thanks to all who have commented. Cheers, Steve

 

[bulgariasteve]

I have a Bulgarian chap on my course at the moment. I could ask him to pop round but I think he's committed in London at the moment. Good luck Steve and welcome to the forum.

Thanks and good luck with your course.

 

[bulgariasteve]

Can't agree - a ring final circuit is likely to be a prohibited arrangement. There are also likely to be requirements which don't exist under BS 7671. There is a duty to ensure that any work satisfies their national requirements.

Thanks for you reply. Cheers, Steve

 

[bulgariasteve]

I live near Borovets ski resort. So if any of you electricians are over here on a ski holiday and are prepared to have a look at the electrics in our home (an hour) for the price of me buying dinner, let me know! Cheers, Steve

 

[bulgariasteve]

Did you know, Bulgarians make the best yoghurt in the world (allegedly), nod they heads up & down to say no & horizontally to say yes and they also play the bagpipes. Don't think they're into ring mains, sorry sorry sorry ring final circuits.

All true..

 

[bulgariasteve]

I thought ring final circuits were somewhat of a UK-thing (post-WW2 and all that), and not commonly used elsewhere, or am I wrong about this?

Yes I think you are right. Cheers, Steve

 

[The Ghost]

As a matter of interest, it being Bulgaria, are you in an older type installation with no earth, or modern with an earth? And what type of sockets will you be using, two pin or three? And what is your supply rated at in terms of fuse capacity?

 

[bulgariasteve]

As a matter of interest, it being Bulgaria, are you in an older type installation with no earth, or modern with an earth? And what type of sockets will you be using, two pin or three? And what is your supply rated at in terms of fuse capacity?

The house was built in about 1975 so has no seperate earth wire within the cableing. However there is an earth strap at the fuse box that is joined to the neutral return. The sockets are 2 pin with an earth connection, so plugs can be fitted either way up into the sockets. Not too sure how to answer your last question, but when we moved in the original main switch was a 3 phase 100amp switch. Since the electricity board has put in a new meter (now 100 metres from the house) the on/off switch next to the meter is a 3 phase mcb switch rated at 60 amps. Cheers - Steve

 

[buzzlightyear]

I would have thought that in Europe. they do not do ring circuits but radials,like they do in Spain.

 

[westward10]

Is Spain not in Europe.