Power cable to slatted house

thewiseowl12

Hoping for a recommendation:

Want to run a power cable from the house to the slatted shed to power it. Its just shy of 60m but I'd like to buy a 100m reel if possible. I'll wire a plug at the house end and a connector at the slatted end, simple enough job.

Anyone recommend where I could buy the reel? Had a look online but not sure about the grade I'd need. Ideally I'd like to bury it.

Thanks

Muckit

I don't know why lads go off spending years doing electrician apprenticeships or going on chainsaw/tree surgery courses for that matter !! :-)

buffalobilly

get a electrician to put in the proper wire and
get a digger and bury it do it right and you
only have to do it once

thewiseowl12

Point taken, thanks for the feedback.

Sharpshooter82

thewiseowl12 wrote: »

Point taken, thanks for the feedback.

Get a length of swa cable, bury it and job oxo

monseiur

thewiseowl12 wrote: »

Hoping for a recommendation:

Want to run a power cable from the house to the slatted shed to power it. Its just shy of 60m but I'd like to buy a 100m reel if possible. I'll wire a plug at the house end and a connector at the slatted end, simple enough job.

Anyone recommend where I could buy the reel? Had a look online but not sure about the grade I'd need. Ideally I'd like to bury it.

Thanks

The cable you require is called SWA cable (Steel Wire Armoured)
The size will depend on the load and distance from house. By load I mean the number of lights, power sockets etc. required in the shed. The distance is important as you will have to allow for volt droppage and you will have some droppage over 60m.
Under no circumstances should you plug this into a standard socket in the house, it has to be wired into the consumer unit (fuse box) with the required RMCB, you will also require a small ''fuse box''in the shed with different amp MCB's for lights, sockets etc.
This SWA cable is heavy and you will require a forklift or teleporter to lift a 100m. roll. As it's fairly expensive why buy the extra 40m. if it's not required.
Obviously the bulk of the work is in burying the cable, the actual electrical work at both ends should take 2 to 3 hours max.
So get an electrican to size the cable, you can bury it yourself and leave a tail at both ends ready for the sparky.
Any good electrical wholesalers will stock the cable.

M.

Sharpshooter82

monseiur wrote: »

The cable you require is called SWA cable (Steel Wire Armoured)
The size will depend on the load and distance from house. By load I mean the number of lights, power sockets etc. required in the shed. The distance is important as you will have to allow for volt droppage and you will have some droppage over 60m.
Under no circumstances should you plug this into a standard socket in the house, it has to be wired into the consumer unit (fuse box) with the required RMCB, you will also require a small ''fuse box''in the shed with different amp MCB's for lights, sockets etc.
This SWA cable is heavy and you will require a forklift or teleporter to lift a 100 roll. As it's fairly expensive why buy the extra 40m. if it's not required.
Obviously the bulk of the work is in burying the cable, the actual electrical work at both ends should take 2 to 3 hours max.
So get an electrican to size the cable, you can bury it yourself and leave a tail at both ends ready for the sparky.
Any good electrical wholesalers will stock the cable.

M.

That's the job

Cogsy88

thewiseowl12 wrote: »

Hoping for a recommendation:

Want to run a power cable from the house to the slatted shed to power it. Its just shy of 60m but I'd like to buy a 100m reel if possible. I'll wire a plug at the house end and a connector at the slatted end, simple enough job.

Anyone recommend where I could buy the reel? Had a look online but not sure about the grade I'd need. Ideally I'd like to bury it.

Thanks

How man sockets and lights will be in the shed and what sort of equipment will u be using? As this is needed to calculate volt drop and cable size?

thewiseowl12

Cheers for the feedback lads. It looks more complicated than I had thought (isn't it always) so I'll be getting a sparky in.

Thanks again

Sharpshooter82

thewiseowl12 wrote: »

Cheers for the feedback lads. It looks more complicated than I had thought (isn't it always) so I'll be getting a sparky in.

Thanks again

Just make sure you put in a strong mcb for the sockets about 20 or 30 amp should do it. In case you decide to do welding in the shed off the sockets

just do it

This SWA cable ain't cheap. I think it could be around €10 per metre.

onyerbikepat

Is it worth bringing a loop up maybe half way along if you ever need to tap in, say for a light or whatever. Digging for an electric cable is a major pain. Been there, done that.

Sharpshooter82

onyerbikepat wrote: »

Is it worth bringing a loop up maybe half way along if you ever need to tap in, say for a light or whatever. Digging for an electric cable is a major pain. Been there, done that.

Hard to loop swa, it's wrapped in steel cable

Cogsy88

10mm2 SWA from your board to the shed, the SWA must be protected by a 40amp mcb. The SWA must be buried in accordance with the ETCI regs, 600mm I think but I'd hav to check dat one. Then you would require a consumer unit for the shed with a main switch fuse, rcd, 20 amp mcb for sockets and a 10 amp mcb for lights.

2.5mm2 cable for sockets (must be rcd protected)
1.5mm2 for lights

My advice would be to ring an electrician if your not confident cause there's some fuse board work required. Remember electricity can kill!!

Do not use more than a 20 amp mcb for a radial socket circuit and if you don't no what a radial circuit is I suggest u ring a sparks nd get him to do the job. Check the RECI website for a list of certified electricians in ur area.

Juniorhurler

Also price the cable yourself and then price the electrician to supply and fit or buy through them as they will have a trade discount at the wholesalers. Just wired a shed last weekend and the material was costing me €740 but I bought it through a first cousin who is a spark and he got it at €580.

49801

Bury the swa cable in a duct and get the sparky to make the connections.
Don't forget the warning plastic on top of the duct either.

Farmer

I added a second light cable (IIRC 2.5mm) so that I can switch on an outside light from the back door of the dwelling house. It didn't cost a lot extra and is very handy on a winters night

sea12

49801 wrote: »

Bury the swa cable in a duct and get the sparky to make the connections.
Don't forget the warning plastic on top of the duct either.

Agree with the duct. Had a digger in last week digging out a bit that we concreting. Had the electricity turned off invade we would hit it. Luckily as he hit the ducting and broke it. It would have cut the wire if it wasn't in a duct.

noddyk

49801 wrote: »

Bury the swa cable in a duct and get the sparky to make the connections.
Don't forget the warning plastic on top of the duct either.

Hi. Any idea on what size duct it would need??

Miname

noddyk wrote: »

Hi. Any idea on what size duct it would need??

Just call into any hardware and ask for the power ducting. It's around 2" and red in colour. Don't forget to run a trace wire incase you ever want to pull another cable.

Effects

It's doubtful you could pull another cable through the duct if there's already a 10 sq SWA in it. Even with a bigger duct it's not recommended.

noddyk

Effects wrote: »

It's doubtful you could pull another cable through the duct if there's already a 10 sq SWA in it. Even with a bigger duct it's not recommended.

Sound. Do u need to put a separate rcd device for the shed ?

Effects

For sockets you would need to have them on a RCD.

Miname

Effects wrote: »

It's doubtful you could pull another cable through the duct if there's already a 10 sq SWA in it. Even with a bigger duct it's not recommended.

And how do the four inch ducts work? Any amount of cables can be pulled once there's room. Something as simple as a cable for a calving camera or something, it's not a huge amount of work and better done prior to burying.

Farrell

Miname wrote: »

And how do the four inch ducts work? Any amount of cables can be pulled once there's room. Something as simple as a cable for a calving camera or something, it's not a huge amount of work and better done prior to burying.

Agree with being prepared & handy to have possibly for extra power lines in the future.
If you were also installing a ducting for water, would you put both in the same trench?

Miname

Farrell wrote: »

Agree with being prepared & handy to have possibly for extra power lines in the future.
If you were also installing a ducting for water, would you put both in the same trench?

I would anyways. I'd aim to have them slightly apart but for convenience sake alone.

Farrell

Miname wrote: »

I would anyways. I'd aim to have them slightly apart but for convenience sake alone.

Was thinking water 3ft down & power 1ft above.
Maybe even putting yellow tape above

noddyk

Can I run the cable along an existing wall? Surface mounted

Effects

Miname wrote: »

Any amount of cables can be pulled once there's room. Something as simple as a cable for a calving camera or something, it's not a huge amount of work and better done prior to burying.

You're better off pulling all cables at the same time. Puling another one in at a later time gives a fairly good chance of cable burn from the friction caused by your draw rope or the second cable itself.