continental instalations

crossmolinalad

a friend of mine bought an old farm house with a shed and two new houses on it
Those houses were built by germans
From the old farm house they took the power for the two new build houses
My friend wants to split it all and want to connect each house separately to the ESB
I took a look at it and saw the put blue square blue boxes behind the sealing lights
From there they are gone to the sockets and switches
They did two rooms on one rcd of 16 amps
Hot water tank boiler dish washer washing machine ect all have theyr own rcd 16amps too
Is this allowed here or do we have to renew the whole installations of both houses and the farm house first
Another option i told him is it possible to put in every house their own kwh meter ourselves without splitting them up by the ESB??

M cebee

it'll have to comply with the wiring rules

that's basically it

hard to say with the limited info provided

they might be using something like a 'star' wiring arrangement -with cables ran back to a junction box- i don't think that's a problem really

crossmolinalad

they might be using something like a 'star' wiring arrangement -with cables ran back to a junction box- i don't think that's a problem really

Thats exact what it is
They brought up all the sockets separately to a box in the sealing behind the sealing light and connected them there together with the light and switch on one group 16 amps
Thats for me one of the questions
Is that allowed here in Ireland
I know its the normal working way in Holland Belgium and germany and maybe more EU countries, i worked there myself for a couple of years but never seen here before

DublinDilbert

crossmolinalad wrote: »

a friend of mine bought an old farm house with a shed and two new houses on it
Those houses were built by germans
From the old farm house they took the power for the two new build houses
My friend wants to split it all and want to connect each house separately to the ESB
I took a look at it and saw the put blue square blue boxes behind the sealing lights
From there they are gone to the sockets and switches
They did two rooms on one rcd of 16 amps
Hot water tank boiler dish washer washing machine ect all have theyr own rcd 16amps too
Is this allowed here or do we have to renew the whole installations of both houses and the farm house first
Another option i told him is it possible to put in every house their own kwh meter ourselves without splitting them up by the ESB??

Are the lights and sockets on the same circuit? not clear from up above

Do they have lots of combined MCB/RCDs feeding the various loads?

Sounds like its going to need to be brought up to specification.

M cebee

i think it prob complies with wiring rules(star circuit arrangement)

-the radial circuit isn't defined as a 'daisy chain' in the wiring rules

a radial circuit would have to comply with rules regarding no. of points and rooms served etc.

and obviously everything else will have to comply


not clear if lights and sockets are separate final circuits?

Solair

It's quite hard to generalise about 'continental' wiring as each continental country's wiring practices vary as much from each other as they do from Ireland. E.g. in France, the lighting would be on its own separate circuits, very much like it is in Ireland.

If the lights and sockets are all on the same 16A circuits, you might have a bit of a problem with complying with Irish regulations. I doubt it will be THAT complicated to resolve. The worst case scenario is that you might need to run new circuits for the lights. The sockets should be fine if they're on radials and using the correct size of wires etc.

Light fittings aren't generally considred to be rated to be safely wired to a 16A circuit. Usually it's 6A or 10A.

You'd want to check out things like the types of cable used, the size of the tails connecting the premisis and how the distribution board has been laid out e.g. if it doesn't have a main fuse, one will have to be installed etc etc.

The earthing system may also be different, so again that would need to be investigated. Is it wired for TN-C-S (neturalised). Are there connections between earth and neutral, if so, where.. etc etc..

If it is correctly wired for TN-C-S, has pipework been bonded?

Were Irish bathroom regs complied with i.e. are there any sockets/switches etc in the bathroom? It's quite common and normal in Germany to have a 16A socket beside the sink for your hairdryer. That would generally make a lot of people a bit uneasy over here.

Also, did they use norma Irish (IS411/BS1363 sockets) ? Or German 16A side-earthed ones?
They might need to be changed too. I'm not entirely clear on whether you can install Schuko (German) sockets here anymore, at least if they're not shuttered anyway. You do encounter them in hotels (i.e. 1 installed to make life easier for continental visitors)

If the houses are individual units, the ESB won't be very happy about allowing 1 meter for the whole complex. Each address has to have a separate meter, they'll even require a separate meter for an annex on a house if it's a different address.

If you're planning on selling the houses etc, or treating them as completely separate dwelling units, rather than just outhouses, then they get fussy.

Realistically speaking, you would need to get the installation professionally inspected and any remedial work carried out before you go for certification and connection to ESB Networks.

There are just too many possible quirks with different standards in use in Germany and also with the possibility that the installation may have been carried out by a DIY enthusiast and we do not really know what codes it might or might not comply with.

At least you aren't in the situation that a guy I know in France was.

He moved into a house which had been wired by British owners TOTALLY incorrectly.
French 16A sockets (unfused plugs) on 32A rings amongst some other odd things with the earthing system which almost caused the French inspector to have a few heart attacks! lol

crossmolinalad

All wires are lose wires in PVC pipes
All sockets are irish ones
Switches are from the continent also all the lights and downlights
THERE are no earthing bonds on the pipes in bathroom and rest of the house because all plumbing and heating is made of white PVC pipes
Sockets and lights are on one circuit and did put 2 rooms on one circuit 16 amps

They run a 3 core cable (3x 25mm2)with steel mash and a blank copper wire from the old house to each new house and the shed
Those blank copper wire is very thick and all connected together in the old house used for earth bonding
In the old house is a unit with a main switch and 4 mcb,s 32 amps
One for the old house cons unit
One for the shed unit
And the other ones are for the two newly build houses on the site
Rewire the old house and shed will not be a problem
The two houses will because they are concrete build with all the pipes poured in the concrete and screed floors and sealings

Solair

You'll need to call an electrician.

The installation won't comply with Irish regulations if the lights and power sockets are sharing the same 16A circuits.

Bringing it up to code might not be that difficult though i.e. just a case of running new circuits for the lights.

The sockets are probably fine on 16A radials, as long as they're also RCD protected.