Rewire and circuits advice

[adsmith]

hi guys

I’m a qualified industrial electrician so I am competent working domestically however don’t have the official quals etc.

I’ve Recently bought my first house and if there was ever a time to do a rewire now is the time as the whole house requires decoration etc and I’m thinking of carrying out the work myself. House is a typical 1930s semi detached 3 bedroom.

Currently the house is fed from an 8 way RCBO board
6amp- Up lights
6amp- down stairs lights
16 amp- wash machine and dish washer (all in kitchen)
16amp - fridge, dryer, garage and alarm (all in kitchen)
32amp - up sockets
32amp - down sockets
32amp - kitchen sockets
32amp - Hob and cooker

I was surprised to see so many circuits for the kitchen. I understand there is nothing wrong with it And I understand the fridge/freezer being on its own supply to prevent defrosting of freezer etc however I would like to free up space on the board. Ideally where the 16 amp RCBOs and replace one for other rated RCBOs for different circuit.

Usually I have seen just a 32amp ring circuit for a kitchen as well as 32amp circuit for hob /oven circuit. Am I ok to have all kitchen appliances ie- fridge, dryer, washing machine, dish washer, plus counter top appliance all on a 32 amp ring main. Am I correct in thinking this is generally normal practice or am I way off.

Ideally I would like to have
2x6amp - lighting up and down
16amp - Combi boiler
20amp - garage/alarm
32amp x 4 up, down and kitchen ring, hob/oven

Thanks for the help and sorry if it seems long winded

 

[Octopus]

Nothing wrong with what you have imho

RCBO circuits are the ideal choice, and the more circuits the butter .......

Far less chance of nuisance tripping

 

[simpson93]

16amp seems a tad excessive for a combo boiler, nothing wrong with one kitchen ring if it overloads it will trip, reset the breaker and use less

 

[Spoon]

Does the combi boiler require it's own circuit?
Are they not happy just to be fed from a switched fused spare from the RFC. 16A is a bit big isn't it.... or is that just me?


Looks like I'm not the only one who thinks 16A is a bit big....

 

[Leesparkykent]

I always prefer heating on its own circuit where it can be achieved I.e. on a rewire or new build. I normally run in a 2.5 as I don’t carry 1.5 and put it on a 16A circuit breaker or RCBO. No reason why it couldn’t go on a 6A for example but a 2.5 on a 16A OCPD is a standard circuit.

 

[Midwest]

If the kitchen stuffed has bee rewired, I'd keep as is, and just get a bigger CU enclosure.

 

[telectrix]

i'm with midwest. buy a bigger enclosure and fit existing gear in it. add extra RCBOs as required.

 

[adsmith]

Thanks for the quick reply everyone!
Yeah I suppose 16amp is a tad excessive for a boiler. To be honest I was originally just going to put it as a fused spare from the upstairs ring main (boiler in spare bedroom) but a friend advised to have it on its own radial supply.

Is it essential to have an alarm on its own circuit.

Also can outside sockets or lighting be as a fused spare from ring main?

Also as long as I stick to the regs etc am I ok to carry out the reword then get work signed off once work conplete?

 

[telectrix]

in your own home, you can do what you like. officially new circuits, DB changes, and work in bathrooms is notifiable under part pee, but this might only rear a problem if and when you come to sell the property.

 

[Octopus]

Only put outside accessories on an inside RFC with DP isolation inside ....

 

[Spoon]

Is it essential to have an alarm on its own circuit.

Why? I can't see a problem with then also being from a switched fused spare on the ring.

 

[Silly Sausage]

RCBO circuits are the ideal choice, and the more circuits the butter .......

Far less chance of nuisance tripping

I've never really been convinced by that argument.
If you're getting tripping on more than a very occasional basis, it means you've got a problem or more somewhere
Down, Up, Kitchen RFCs & Up, Down lights is perfectly sufficient for a house.

 

[Octopus]

I've never really been convinced by that argument.
If you're getting tripping on more than a very occasional basis, it means you've got a problem or more somewhere
Down, Up, Kitchen RFCs & Up, Down lights is perfectly sufficient for a house.

I’ve given you a disagree because over the last 10 years, the amount of people I’ve seen who “lose” 50% of their circuits to faults is astonishing. Even more if you add in people who have up front rcds

RCBOs mean you know which circuit has a problem

 

[Midwest]

in your own home, you can do what you like. officially new circuits, DB changes, and work in bathrooms is notifiable under part pee, but this might only rear a problem if and when you come to sell the property.

OP I’m selling my property at the mo. There’s a Law Society Property Information doc, that your solicitor supplies. One question is whether or not you’ve had any electrical work done since 1 Jan 2005. It requires either electrical safety certificate (whatever one of those is), Compliance Certificate or LBC Completion Cert.

You have to sign & date the form. So up to you to decide to disclose that.

 

[johnduffell]

RCBOs mean you know which circuit has a problem

True and that's more useful than the alternative, however to balance that, on the flip side you don't know which problem that circuit has. Could be either earth leakage, overload or fault.