Electricity to shed

Daniogroove

Hi,

I'm getting work down in the garden; patio, steel shed and reseeding. I will have all drainage and ducting layed for using shed as a utility room but wondering about bringing power to it.

Can I connect at the meter and have a fuseboard inside the shed? This is would be a much easier task than going to the fuseboard inside the house and running a cable all the way through.

Plan on getting a registered electrician to do it but it would help to know when planning for electrical ducting in the garden.

Cheers

Stoner

No you can't connect to the meter

Daniogroove

Stoner wrote: »

No you can't connect to the meter

I had a feeling that would be the reply alright. Murphy's law and all that 🙈

*sigh*

Cheers

Bluefoam

You coluld get a solar system (pun intended)... Does your wifi reach the shed?

• Goal Zero Battery C/W inverter
• 50KW Solar Panel
• Philips Hue Light Bulb
• Philips Hue Sensor

iamtony

Crusader V762 Mains Supply Unit with 3 Sockets 15 meter Cable https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B004DV6UXS/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_N8jTCbSJ3YVNK

I stuck one of these into my shed recently and it's plugged into one of my outdoor sockets and does the job perfect. If the cable is long enough you could drill into you house and plug it in inside, if you don't have outdoor sockets.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/QG8nP164D1u53pvBA

Daniogroove

Bluefoam wrote: »

You coluld get a solar system (pun intended)... Does your wifi reach the shed?

• Goal Zero Battery C/W inverter
• 50KW Solar Panel
• Philips Hue Light Bulb
• Philips Hue Sensor

Thanks but that'll work out more expensive than linking to mains. Gonna run it from the kitchen socket ring and put an rcd and small fuse board out there.

2011

Daniogroove wrote: »

Gonna run it from the kitchen socket ring and put an rcd and small fuse board out there.

Not a very satisfactory solution.

Besides I would hope that the kitchen sockets are already protected an RCD so there isn’t much value in the addition of another one.

Irishphotodesk

We did exactly this, not sure how but electrician ran a line in the concrete from the house to the shed, lights were installed and power sockets, we have a chest freezer, dryer and two spare sockets (for extension lead when using electric lawnmower and if we decide to add something else into the shed.)

Bruthal

Daniogroove wrote: »

Gonna run it from the kitchen socket ring and put an rcd and small fuse board out there.

Not much point in a small board out in the shed if coming from a socket circuit. Or in a second RCD.

Not ideal spurring off a ring either, if it is a ring socket circuit.

stiofan85

Daniogroove wrote: »

Hi,

I'm getting work down in the garden; patio, steel shed and reseeding. I will have all drainage and ducting layed for using shed as a utility room but wondering about bringing power to it.

Can I connect at the meter and have a fuseboard inside the shed? This is would be a much easier task than going to the fuseboard inside the house and running a cable all the way through.

Plan on getting a registered electrician to do it but it would help to know when planning for electrical ducting in the garden.

Cheers

I ran a 6sqmm swa cable in a duct about 3ft underground and got an electrician in to connect it to the board. It's connected straight to the CU at the fuse/main switch afaik. The electrician installed a small board with a main switch, rcd and separate circuits for lights, sockets and the washer and dryer.

I'm not sure of the ratings etc... But he tells me the cable is fine and it's very safe to the depth I put it under the ground and in a duct. The duct is overkill but if the cable needs to be changed it's easy to pull through.

Alternative was clipping the cable to the wall.

I like the board in the shed so I can turn it off if I'm away although I'm pretty sure the same can be achieved in the main board in the house. I think the 6sqmm cable is also overkill for a washing machine & dryer but good to have the capacity.

...Ghost...

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/109941799#Comment_109941799

Sorry to resurrect an old thread, but some tool started trolling a thread I opened on exactly this type of setup. I plan to run 6sqmm SWA on the wall out to my shed and have a mini fuse board in the shed protected by an RCD to run a fridge, some power tools and a couple of LED lights for the shed and garden. I will have a 20A MCB for the sockets, a 6A MCB for the lighting and a 10A MCB for a 1.6-2kWp solar array on I will be installing on the shed roof. The electrician will be making the connection to the main CU after inspection.

If you don't mind, what is the rating of your shed fuse board RCD?

What size MCB is the SWA connected to in the main CU?

Bluefoam

My solar is almost useless in the winter... Just be aware of that if running a fridge...

...Ghost...

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121962302#Comment_121962302

The solar will be in addition to the AC supplied from the main CU. That's why I will need a REC to connect the circuit. In fact, I expect most of the solar from the shed to feed the house, or batteries when I get them. If I was to rely on solar generated from the shed roof to be independent from the main CU, I would have to add batteries and wouldn't be needing a REC for the install. That would be an expensive fridge 😂

drury..

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121962037#Comment_121962037

Don't appreciate being called a tool if that refers to me

Im trying to get the point across to you that electrical installation work isn't like Lego where you ask for what you need and somehow you're magically competent to do the work

If you're using an RCD as an incommer the rating needs to be suitable for the loading at the board

You can see all the standard ratings below

40-100 A , there's also a 25A available

https://www.screwfix.com/c/electrical-lighting/rcds-rccbs/cat7230026

...Ghost...

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121964195#Comment_121964195

Hi Drury. I was annoyed that you had dumped on my thread, which I had explained that I would not be carrying out the load connection, I would just be doing the grunt work for the REC. I had more colourful language in my mind at the time, but shouldn't have referred to you as a tool…sorry ☺️ .

I fully appreciate that electrical works are not something for any give it a go DIYer and why it's not always a good idea to help people asking questions, especially when those relate to the CU or a new circuit. However, this forum has lately fallen under the same strangle hold as the legal one, where nearly every thread points the OP to contact a Solicitor without giving them any idea of possible outcomes. One has to ask a "hypothetical" question to get anywhere there now. The difference is the legal forum charter specifically prohibits contributors from giving legal advice, where the Home & Garden > Electrical charter has no such restrictions in place. It would be a dead sub-forum otherwise.

I commission large electro-mechanical machines worth millions of Euro and there are plenty of high voltage circuits I have to work on with much higher risk of injury or death if you don't heed the risks. I don't work on any circuit without taking every safety measure. I created the other thread to make sure I would be correctly setting up the incomer CU and the wiring up to the main CU where the RECI would check and connect the installation afterwards. I did the very same thing when I was building an electric gate system. All the wiring was done and equipment installed by yours truly before the man with the experience stepped in to check, test and connect.

It's extremely difficult and expensive to get an electrician to do these jobs, but some are willing to check work after it is done and if done properly, make the connection live and get paid for it. You wouldn't believe the trouble I have had trying to get an electrician to update my tails and CU. It took a solar installation to be able to get their electricians carry out the work which was completed at the end of March.

So, I hope that further clarifies my position and intention.

With regard to the LEWDEN unit you linked with the 100A Mains Switch. I wouldn't have thought that the 100A switch wasn't necessary unless the shed CU bypassed the main CU and connected directly to the meter tails. My perhaps incorrect assumption was to run the shed CU (containing a 6A, 10A and 20A MCB and protect these with a 40A RCD) to an isolator switch near the main CU where the REC would then complete the circuit and connect to a 40A MCB in the main CU.

Most of the garage or shed installs I have seen referenced online or on youtube seem to just run a mini CU containing only MCBs to another MCB in the main CU, but I (perhaps incorrectly) wanted to have additional protection and treat the shed CU as a separate installation without actually connecting it to the meter tails. I have only focused on UK and where possible, Irish content. One of the more straight forward video examples for the shed CU is

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIlTbuChRSY&ab_channel=LEARNELECTRICS

This was what I was following on a basic level on the shed CU end. There is no 100A main switch on most of these, but I could certainly go that route if appropriate.

drury..

It's more appropriate that's why I posted it

Ya protect the swa at the supply end

DP isolator at shed board

SPDs should be fitted sub-boards afaik(open to correction)

Ya fit separate rcbos so a socket fault doesn't cause a nuisance blackout

drury..

I don't think this work is legally allowed now by a diyer

Meercat or a REC would be able to confirm