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pjgtech

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Hi, I'm about to have two log cabins installed in the garden, one will be a gym and the other will be study with side store.

I'm going to get an electrician to wire it all up, but would like an idea of what I will need before I get quotes?

Can both cabins run off one mini consumer unit, or will they each need their own?
My thoughts are that the gym (approx 4m by 3m) will require one main ceiling light and switch and say, three or four double sockets?
And for the office and store (approx 4.4m by 3m - all in one cabin with a small room and a small side store, separated by an internal wall) I would need two ceiling lights and switches, one for each area, and say three or four double sockets in the study. I don't need any sockets in the small storage area.

The gym will have an electric treadmill, possibly a laptop, maybe a desk lamp, an electric heater.
The study will have a laptop, a desk lamp, a heater, a sewing machine.

Thanx for any info....
 
They can run off a single supply from the house , but I would put each with its own little consumer unit inside each cabin

installation methods can all be surface wiring or if you are having them insulated and boarded then get the cables in before the boarding goes up

probably be a good idea to get a couple quotes
 
They can run off a single supply from the house , but I would put each with its own little consumer unit inside each cabin

installation methods can all be surface wiring or if you are having them insulated and boarded then get the cables in before the boarding goes up

probably be a good idea to get a couple quotes
Thanx, I'm happy to have it all surface run in trunking, cheers
 
The heaters are the main loads and their power rating will influence the size of circuit needed from the house. Although the treadmill is probably a similar load at its peak power, you could include that within the allowance for general use via the socket-outlets. You might want to consider at this stage whether any other heating load, e.g. for a hot tub, might be wanted in the future.
 
Cheers for the info, small update, the two cabins will now both be 4m x 3m, next to each other, the company I am using are insulating and installing the electrics, (bases were installed this week), so all good so far.
Small electrical query....
My consumer unit is in the attached garage at the front (front LHS corner).
The cabins are in the back garden on the diagonally opposite corner of the garden to the garage. (Rear RHS corner).
I am assuming the leccy guy will run armoured cable from the consumer unit inside the garage (there are three spare ways in the garage consumer unit) along the internal garage wall at high level to the rear, through the rear wall, and along the back of the house (presumably above the GF windows and rear patio doors) and then the cable needs to go around the (paved) patio and onto the lawn to a corner of the first cabin.
Do I need to dig a small thin trench for the cable where it goes around my large patio?
Or, alternatively I have a large Timber pergola, so could the leccy guy keep the armoured cable up high and attach to the cabins, via the Pergola, eg: clipping it at high level to the timber frame? I know some cables are supported by wires, etc with loops left in, etc.
See attached photos...
 

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You can clip SWA to the structures but I don't think it would look very good. You could paint it brownish to disguise on the Pergola but given the high quality appearance just now it seems a shame.

Running it round burred underground is an option, or clipped on the fence as well, but route length and max load needs to be decided in advance for the cable specification.

Note that buried cable need not be very deep as long as no real chance of damage. Around a lawn edge you might be fine with 30cm deep or similar. If the ground is stony you need to put sand around the cable to avoid sharp edges damaging it.

If doing so you might also want to put it in twinwall duct so you can run a network cable as well in case you fancy some high speed streaming device in any of the new cabins.
 
You can clip SWA to the structures but I don't think it would look very good. You could paint it brownish to disguise on the Pergola but given the high quality appearance just now it seems a shame.

Running it round burred underground is an option, or clipped on the fence as well, but route length and max load needs to be decided in advance for the cable specification.

Note that buried cable need not be very deep as long as no real chance of damage. Around a lawn edge you might be fine with 30cm deep or similar. If the ground is stony you need to put sand around the cable to avoid sharp edges damaging it.

If doing so you might also want to put it in twinwall duct so you can run a network cable as well in case you fancy some high speed streaming device in any of the new cabins.
Not to be too picky but wouldn't clip anything to a fence myself, fairly sure there's something in regs for that?
 
Not to be too picky but wouldn't clip anything to a fence myself, fairly sure there's something in regs for that?
Not aware of any, what one(s) did you have in mind?

Provided it is mechanically sound and able to support the cable, and not presenting any risk of trip, etc, then should not be a problem. It is SWA after all so needs no special protection even if non-obvious location.
 
Not aware of any, what one(s) did you have in mind?

Provided it is mechanically sound and able to support the cable, and not presenting any risk of trip, etc, then should not be a problem. It is SWA after all so needs no special protection even if non-obvious location.
Have always Thought it was a no in case the fence is changed/whose fence it is/fence blows over what happens to your cable etc..pretty sure it's in there somewhere don't have a regs book to hand though
 
Have always Thought it was a no in case the fence is changed/whose fence it is/fence blows over what happens to your cable etc..pretty sure it's in there somewhere don't have a regs book to hand though
True, you should check whose fence it is first! But if it blows down, etc, that is kind of not being mechanically sound in the first place.

I'm not saying it is the best idea, but I would not say it should be ruled out.

In the OP's case, especially if they are up for a bit of small trench digging, then putting in some 50mm twinwall duct and pulling through the SWA for power and any (outdoor rated) network cable at the same time would be my first choice.
 
Regarding max load for the cabins, each cabin will have its own mini consumer unit.
Each cabin will have a ceiling light and switch.
Each cabin will have four power sockets.
The 1st cabin will be a gym, so will have a treadmill (powered), possibly a radio, tv or laptop, (not decided yet) and possibly an electric convector heater if it gets cold in the winter, eg: 2kw.
The 2nd cabin will be a "hobby" room for the wife who is into sewing, so there will be a sewing machine, a radio, tv or laptop, (not decided yet) probably a desk type plug in work light in addition to the ceiling light, and again a convector heater if it gets cold.
Distance from the garage consumer unit to the nearest cabin will be around 23-25m.
Distance to the furthest cabin will be around 28-30m depending on where they run the cable.
Cheers
 
You need to discuss these requirements with your electrician.

You could get away with 20A for both on 2.5mm SWA if both are not needing 3kW heaters simultaneously, etc. However, for all the extra cost I would probably look at 6mm cable so you can get a total 32A if needed.

There are other size requirements depending on the earthing arrangement and the presence of any "extraneous conductive parts" like metallic service pipes, but that seems unlikely here.
 
You could get away with 20A for both on 2.5mm SWA if both are not needing 3kW heaters simultaneously, etc. However, for all the extra cost I would probably look at 6mm cable so you can get a total 32A if needed.
The absolute minimum I would advise is 6mm2, and I'd recommend 10mm2.
In the grand scheme of things the extra cost is minimal. It's a lot of work putting in a supply cable, so do it once, and cover any future loads that might go on it in the future.
 
There was once, but AFAIK, it no longer exists.
There are times I regret throwing away my old books :(

At that time I did not expect to need them again, but fast-forward a couple of decades and changes in work requierments and here I am!
 
The absolute minimum I would advise is 6mm2, and I'd recommend 10mm2.
In the grand scheme of things the extra cost is minimal. It's a lot of work putting in a supply cable, so do it once, and cover any future loads that might go on it in the future.
Yes, 10mm makes more sense for all the extra cost over ~30m.

You never know, come summer there might be a hot tub question :)
 

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