2 gang fused socket

[parklane]

Is there any such animal on the market as a 2 gang fused socket?

 

[Deleted member 26818]

The problem is the current carrying capacity of the cable to the first socket-outlet, is likely to be insufficient.

 

[Nick Mayne]

The reason I would like a 2-gang fused socket is to stop my student tenants using electrical heaters when I already supply gas central heating. I would fuse them at 3 Amps as they should only be used for laptops, bedside lights, and chargers etc. I could simply replace the existing 2-gang standard sockets. Any solution?

 

[DPG]

The reason I would like a 2-gang fused socket is to stop my student tenants using electrical heaters when I already supply gas central heating. I would fuse them at 3 Amps as they should only be used for laptops, bedside lights, and chargers etc. I could simply replace the existing 2-gang standard sockets. Any solution?

Surely they would just replace the fuse with a 13A one?

 

[westward10]

The reason I would like a 2-gang fused socket is to stop my student tenants using electrical heaters when I already supply gas central heating. I would fuse them at 3 Amps as they should only be used for laptops, bedside lights, and chargers etc. I could simply replace the existing 2-gang standard sockets. Any solution?

Why should a 13A socket outlet only be used for the appliances you suggest.

 

[Spoon]

The reason I would like a 2-gang fused socket is to stop my student tenants using electrical heaters when I already supply gas central heating. I would fuse them at 3 Amps as they should only be used for laptops, bedside lights, and chargers etc. I could simply replace the existing 2-gang standard sockets. Any solution?

Welcome to the forum mate.
You post sounds strange to me. maybe there is more to it that you haven't explained for us to suggest a solution.
If you have gas central heating and the rooms are sufficiently heated then why would anyone plug a heater in?
As @DPG has stated, if you put a 3A fuse in they could just replace it with a 13A fuse.

 

[pc1966]

One option is to feed the sockets with a deliberately under-rated circuit breaker such as 6A. That is not good practice as obviously 13A sockets are supposed to allow that, but it would avoid prolonged use of 3kW of heating, etc.

However, if you have kitchen appliances plugged in to the same circuit that is going to be a problem and would need the various rooms selarately wired so you can keep per-room load down but overall use where expected is not a problem.

 

[Lucien Nunes]

As above, the fuse would be readily accessible and anybody who did want to run a larger heater would lose no time swapping it out for a 13A. OTOH, at 50p/kWh, even an 800W oil filled radiator (which will run on a 3A fuse) will clock up £10/day if left on permanently.

Could metering be a way forward? (I know it imposes some obligations on the reseller)

 

[westward10]

We need to know more about @Nick Mayne intentions and how his tenants are paying for their power and the terms of their tenancy.

 

[JBW175]

Maybe his alter ego is Rupert Rigsby…

 

[timhoward]

I was talking recently to someone about a proposed design at a university halls of residence. They have problems with students using toasters and cooking gadgets in their rooms and they were proposing supplying desk lamps with a 5A plug on, usb charging ports and a single socket high on the wall for laptop charging (but too long for average kettle / toaster lead)

I pointed out that a simple extension lead and they are back to square one with increased danger and they may be better off splashing all this cash on a better fire alarm.

Going back to this question, it might even be cheaper to let the tenants have small electric heaters with the current price of gas….

 

[pc1966]

Looking at my OVO (formally SSE) bit I'm currently charged 26.57p/kWh for electricity and 6.98p/kWh for gas, so even allowing for 80% heating/boiler efficiency it is still way cheaper to heat using gas. Assuming, of course, you heat on the same basis of room area / temperature goal / etc.

If designing for low electricty usage (i.e. only lights and laptop charger, etc) then I would put normal 13A sockets in, labelled as they do on trains as intended usage, and each room to have them off a dedicated radial with something like a 3A D-curve MCB & RCD.

 

[brianmoooore]

Loooong time ago, but I think the one double socket in my room in my university hall of residence was a panel consisting of the socket and a MCB, probably 5A.

 

[pc1966]

Thinking about it, I believe the trains use the PTC "self resetting fuse" for overload limiting of probably 0.5A or so per outlet, however, I have no idea where that is located. They get hot if tripped, so would need to be in a suitable enclosure and so I guess they have some dedicated design for it. Also they are no good for high fault currents so would need to be backed up by something small like a 6B B-curve RCBO for a group of them, etc.