UK Horse stables

[Stevethebeast]

We're having a horse stable built consisting of a tack room and 2 stables. We need a light in each of the 3 rooms, 2 PIR flood lights 50w led and 2 power sockets - 1 in the tack room and one outside. All installations will be sufficiently IP rated. Wiring will be through metal conduit where required and switches on the outside of the 2 stables.
Planning on running armoured cable from house CU to CU in stable. Cable length is about 40m of which about 2m is underground.
1) can I run from an MCB on the house CU and if so what size MCB?
2) what size armoured cable should I use?
3) CU in stable is 63a/30mA RCD & 1 x 16amp & 1 6amp MCB's. Is this adequate?
4) what is the best earth arrangement? Concrete base will have steel grid.

Any advice much appreciated, thanks.

 

[R-fur]

You really need an electrician to design this. It is important that someone who knows what they are doing is involved, it could save you money in the long run as otherwise you could install cables that are too large or too small.
Horses and other animals are more susceptible to shock than humans hence the special regulations for agricultural installations.
I am surprised you don't have an electrician involved already as metal conduit is usually beyond DIY abilities.
Things to consider; keep every thing electrical out of reach of the horses.
Have the light switches in the tack room so that when the lights are off there are no live conductors in the stables.
Work lights for Vets or Farriers.
Sockets for clippers
Provision of IR heaters.
Running a Cat 5 cable to provide wifi.
Is there a possibility of a future riding arena? if so allow for floodlights and sound system.
If a concrete base is to be poured? if so get your electrician to consider having the reinforcing bars tack welded together and bonded to the earth bar in the consumer unit.

In our own stables we have one stable with an IR heater and a pulley. This is useful for drying off horses and providing heat treatment for injuries. The pulley is used for drying rugs and clothes with or without the heater.

 

[Julie.]

We're having a horse stable built consisting of a tack room and 2 stables. We need a light in each of the 3 rooms, 2 PIR flood lights 50w led and 2 power sockets - 1 in the tack room and one outside. All installations will be sufficiently IP rated. Wiring will be through metal conduit where required and switches on the outside of the 2 stables.
Planning on running armoured cable from house CU to CU in stable. Cable length is about 40m of which about 2m is underground.
1) can I run from an MCB on the house CU and if so what size MCB?
2) what size armoured cable should I use?
3) CU in stable is 63a/30mA RCD & 1 x 16amp & 1 6amp MCB's. Is this adequate?
4) what is the best earth arrangement? Concrete base will have steel grid.

Any advice much appreciated, thanks.

1) yes, something like 32A should be OK
2) depends on earthing arrangements plus details of your existing supply
3) does sound sufficient - although I would consider two lighting circuits to separate the outside lights - purely because these tend to fail more.
4) Big question!

A horse stable technically comes under a special location (section 705 in the regulations) as it houses livestock. This mandates that all metalwork including the steel grid be bonded.

Then there are issues with the type of supply earth if it's PME it should be connected to the steel grid, if there is no steel grid then PME should not be used.

If it is PME and you use this for the earth then the armoured cable must be a minimum of 10mm^2 and 3 core (Line - Neutral and earth [technically it's called a CPC]), if you use other earthing arrangements such as TT then you would need to add earth rods etc and could use a smaller 2 core armoured cable.

In all it's a bit technical so you need to get it looked at properly

 

[ruston]

AS above , I am too slow at typing - Stables are a specialist job, shod horses are at high risk. Also some forms of lighting affect horses. I would contact a specialist if I were you. They will tell you the correct size for the RCD and lighting requirements.

 

[SparkySy]

Totaly agree with @R-fur, stable electrical installation is not a DIY project horses are very susceptible to electrical shock much as most livestock is and as such it is important to make sure it is undertaken safely. Plus horses ain't cheap I did a stable block and tac room not so long ago for a £100000 show jumping horse wouldn't want that to keel over due to a dodgy install!

 

[Megawatt]

We're having a horse stable built consisting of a tack room and 2 stables. We need a light in each of the 3 rooms, 2 PIR flood lights 50w led and 2 power sockets - 1 in the tack room and one outside. All installations will be sufficiently IP rated. Wiring will be through metal conduit where required and switches on the outside of the 2 stables.
Planning on running armoured cable from house CU to CU in stable. Cable length is about 40m of which about 2m is underground.
1) can I run from an MCB on the house CU and if so what size MCB?
2) what size armoured cable should I use?
3) CU in stable is 63a/30mA RCD & 1 x 16amp & 1 6amp MCB's. Is this adequate?
4) what is the best earth arrangement? Concrete base will have steel grid.

Any advice much appreciated, thanks.

Steve you need to listen to these reply’s. I wired a barn one time and they tore the pipe down off the wall so be very careful on where you run your pipe and wire so they can’t get to it

 

[FatAlan]

As above. Needs careful design. Had a call out to a stable where horse had panicked. Kicked out, caught a light switch and pulled whole switch line off along with light from roof. I’m no expert but risks are obvious hence specific regs re livestock.

 

[ZeldaOG]

And you know...there’s something special about walking into a stable surrounded by those beautiful animals. The atmosphere is so calm, and the smell of hay brings back great memories.

I’ve spent much time volunteering at a local stable, and I think it’s one of the best places to connect with horses.