Installing electricity to shed....

ARBeads · November 12, 2009, 04:30:43 PM

Hi,

In my dim distance past I was a maintenance electrician....not normally known to do the house wiring bits (good excuse for not getting involved with family requirements) , I would check that any electrician you involve with this is going to be able to give you the required (legal) P certificate you can then be fairly sure that advice given is correct and current. Any electrical supply fitted in the garden (garage/shed included) is required to have one other than temporary feeds of 13amp plugs.

I'd be looking at a similar install as the one described by Redkite - It will be cheaper to have more sockets added now than later....

Hope you get it all sorted

Ruth

Forester18 · November 12, 2009, 05:19:27 PM

If you run a ring main you can have as many socket outlets as you like. There is a limit on spurs though. You'll use a 2.5mm twin with earth and fuse at 32A. I think earth spikes are used when you have ie water pipes in the building.

Frederick

firedinglass · November 13, 2009, 03:42:18 PM

I also have just had electricity run to my shed. I already had outside sockets from the previous owner but they turned out to be lethal using indoor cabling that rodents had eaten through........ In the end my bill was £900 +!!! I had to use armoured cable and the shed is about 30m from the house. I couldn't get a cheaper quote even though i tried 3 different electricans, i was just relieved that i had the existing supply looked at! I've had 5 double sockets put in and a new consumer unit, just make sure you plan to put them in the right place, I would move a few if i was doing it again.

TamsynAmber · November 15, 2009, 05:32:02 PM

hi all,

The figures your all talking for wiring up the workshop are a bit scary. Ive recently had a shed/workshop delivered and erected, I've put in the insulation myself and had a friend who's a carpenter board out the inside and build work benches but I still need to get an electrician in to wire it all up. I was thinking that it would be a reasonably simple job and not too costly. Usefull reading the thread tho as it's really made me think about number of sockets and logistics etc. I'll let you all know what quotes I get!

ejralph · November 22, 2009, 05:10:56 PM

My uncle recently qualified as a spark - when we discussed running the electric out to my shed (which is only 1.5 metres from the house anyway) - the price was astounding just because of the cable needed to make the job actual legal and certified. And that was with mates rates too.

Decided to keep my trusty extension lead in the end, since I never know how long I will be staying anyway.

So chances are the electrician is just trying to make sure your job is legal and above board maybe?

Emma

cwest · November 22, 2009, 06:19:15 PM

We have finally managed to get a few quotes from electricians. Best seems to be £350 to drill through the wall from the fuse box, take armoured cable along side of house, round the garage, then under the ground, past the greenhouse, to the consumer unit in the shedio. Said shedio arrives on Wed (yeah!), so need to make a quick decision.
This has been 'pebble in the pond' syndrome.
Had to take down and move greenhouse and make it smaller in the process to make room for shedio. So, while greenhouse is in pieces on the lawn we may as well replace the fence which the greenhouse was very close to. Before shedio arrives, and now greenhouse is in pieces, it also makes sense to replace existing shed roof (torn) as we have now got room to reach it, and so it goes on!

Carolyn

Redkite · November 23, 2009, 05:26:09 PM

Hi!

My cable has just been layed at ground level with cable ties holding it to the side of the house or the fence

TamsynAmber · November 25, 2009, 08:47:31 PM

Hi all,

I notice that ejralph mentioned using an extension lead for the power supply for their set up. Does anyone else do this? I'm just wondering if this would be a better solution for me. I worked out the total watts for all the stuff I want to use out in my new shedio and recon that a heavy duty extension lead would do the job. Any views or advice would be welcome as I'm trying to keep the costs down!

ejralph · November 28, 2009, 10:29:51 AM

Quote from: TamsynAmber on November 25, 2009, 08:47:31 PM
Hi all,

I notice that ejralph mentioned using an extension lead for the power supply for their set up. Does anyone else do this? I'm just wondering if this would be a better solution for me. I worked out the total watts for all the stuff I want to use out in my new shedio and recon that a heavy duty extension lead would do the job. Any views or advice would be welcome as I'm trying to keep the costs down!

It isn't ideal to be honest. I can't have a decent heater and kiln on at the same time for example. Also, my oxycon units are indoors so haven't even factored those in to the power consumption sums. But it has served me well enough on the whole! Just be sure you get a proper heavy-duty extension with circuit breakers and whatever.

For me, I never really bothered with anything better because the shed was always going to be temporary and I never really knew how long I would be staying in this location. Had i known when I started that I would still be here, I would have done things differently and invested in things like running leccy out to the shed, insulating the shed etc. As it is, me and my spiders hobble along out there just fine and the only thing I really spent much thought on was making sure the ventilation was adequate and worked.

Next studio I set up though - well, it will be the dogs...

Emma