Sockets in the hot press for my node zero

di11on

I've read before that it's ''not recommended'' to install sockets in a hot press (lots of pipes carrying lots of water and all that). But are there regulations prohibiting it? Would an electrician install them if I asked?

I'm wiring the house with cat 5 and co-ax and the hot press is the only suitable place I can think of as my ''node zero''. I'd need sockets for my wireless router etc.

I live in a bungalow so I've no ''under the stairs'' to locate my patch panel.

Anyone any suggestions?

Thanks

Di11on

Hoagy

ETCI Wiring Rules 555.3.1
"Electrical equipment in domestic airing cupboards and similar enclosures shall be confined to the following:
- Wiring and switching device for an immersion heater (subject to 555.3.2)
- Wiring and auxiliary equipment associated with water services or space heating water systems( subject to 555.3.6)
So no socket for the IT.
Could you use the attic? Once the router is set up you shouldn't need to go near it very often.
Otherwise maybe you could use the dead area above a door in a spare bedroom.

di11on

Is it ok to wire a socket in the attic?

It certainly would be an option if it's feasible to have electronics in the attic.

Stoner

yep, your attic would be fine, just make sure its fed from a socket circuit . anyway your attic should give you great coverage for a wireless NW so I'd say its the best place

Alun

Sorry for butting in, but does that rule apply retrospectively, as it were, or is it only for new builds? I ask because when our house alarm was installed, the fitter took the feed for the alarm off of the immersion heater switch in the hot press in the hallway. We're in a bungalow and the alarm is in the attic directly above where the hot press is located. I've never been very happy with it I must admit, but I didn't know whether it was 'legal' or not.

Stoner

previously it was ok to do this, so as long as it was there already then it's "ok" but not now.
taking the alarm off this switch is not the worst thing really as alarm panels draw very little load and as long as there is a suitably fused isolation point beside the panel then i would not worry about it.

Copper

The ETCI's are not meant to be applied retrospectively. Its not important if an existing installation complies with the current edition of the rules, only that it complies with the wiring rules which were in force when the installation was completed, be it 10, 20 or 30 years ago. The most important thing is that the installation is safe.

The rule is supposed to prevent cables being ran in hot-presses because of the hot cyllinder and people piling clothes on top of cables could cause a build-up of heat, plus the prescence of water makes it dangerous. You're not even supposed to put the immersion switch in the hot-press unless its not practicable to place it outside.

Looping an alarm off an immersion circuit in a hot-press, although technically against the rules, isn't dangerous so long as the alarm feed is the same size as the immersion cable, or was fused down if its smaller.

ETCI 555.3.1 is quoted from the third edition ETCI which was published in 2000, but I don't know if previous editions had a similar rule.

Hoagy

No, it wasn't in the previous editions.
It's hard to see the need for the rule, the point about the immersion switch and flex etc was well enough covered in the previous edition.
As it stands now, I don't think we can even put a light in a hot press.

Vertical

Aside from the very important safety and regulatory requirements mentioned by the other contributors:
Hot presses are very low humidity enclosures, usually IT equipment such as switches/routers etc. do not like such environments as often some of their electronic components literally "dry out" over time. This means you would also need to replace such equipment sooner than expected.
Also the low-humidity of the room fabric and its contents increases the fire risk when mixed with unnecessary electrical equipment. Especially when somebody opens the door and throws a duvet onto your equipment...

antoinolachtnai

Is there spare headspace in your hot press? If there is, and you are handy with a bit of carpentry, you could section off an area above the door, double-dry-line it, and provide access to it from above the door in the hall through one of those nice little plastic hatches.

It's not perfect, but in my opinion it is better than the attic. The problem with the attic is that getting to your 'node 0' requires ascending a ladder through a trapdoor, which is quite a dangerous thing to be doing on any sort of regular basis. It also makes it less likely that the equipment will be regularly inspected.

Gyck

I'm wiring the house with cat 5 and co-ax and the hot press is the only suitable place I can think of as my ''node zero''. I'd need sockets for my wireless router etc.

I´m not an expert, but I´d be inclined to think that setting up a home network shouldn´t require cat5 cabling anymore. I´ve got a wireless router hanging off my broadband box and while I have two PCs connected with cat 5, I´m also using a laptop with a wireless connection which has excellent connection speeds to the router. All of the cabling/boxes terminate under a table (in my attic, as it happens). If I wanted to be really tidy I´d replace the network cabling into my PC with a wireless NIC and use the Airport on the Mac, eliminating all cat 5 cables.

For home networking I don´t think you need to cable anymore unless your network needs high bandwidth between peers on the network. IMHO, of course, and I´m not able to comment on what you need to do with your coax.

FrankGrimes

if you're planning on streaming video over the network wired is the way to go. As things like Windows Media Center become more and more popular video streaming will start moving up more and more peoples' priority lists.

Pretty soon streaming hi-def will be the norm so a Cat 6 cable might even be a sound investment.

I have a wireless router but always use the wired connections through my network as the performance and reliability is simply better. If you have concrete walls and or ceilings I'd definitely veer towards wired.

Often the people preaching the merits of wireless are those who only use it to share a broadband connection, which mightn't even be a very fast connection. I think it's a pity if people don't install a wired network based on this advice as they are limiting their future options and the wired network is relatively cheap (i.e. less than €400 for an entire 3-bed house), even cheaper to just run the cables, take photos of where they are and only add the faceplates as needed.