Plug Hole Survey (how many have you got?)

[Mochamoos]

Re: Plug Hole Survey (how many have you got?)

got over 50 loads of stuff hardwired in like stereo, cooker, dishwasher, fridge, freezer.

6 in kitchen, 8 in living rooom, 2 in hall 2 under stairs?, 2 on landing 6 in bed one, 6 in bed 2 4 in bed 3

They are all doubles but counted each socket as one

[EXC]

Re: Plug Hole Survey (how many have you got?)

I don't know what my socket count is but I when I had the place completely rewired when I bought it about 4 years ago, I made sure I had enough everywhere including 8 double sockets in the garage and exterior sockets in the front and back garden.

You can't have enough I reckon.

[ed.]

Re: Plug Hole Survey (how many have you got?)

2 x double sockets in front room (3 extensions used still)
2 x double sockets in backroom (4 extensions used still)
4 x double sockets kitchen (1 hard wired cooker) plus single socket behind washing machine

zero in hallway

1 x double socket in bedroom plus the idiot one behind the rad) 1 extension used
1 x double socket in kids room 1 extension used.

zero in bathroom lol

1 x double socket on landing.

[WendyB]

Re: Plug Hole Survey (how many have you got?)

Oh yes, I forgot the 6 double sockets in the garage and the outside switch thingsys for the lamp post and lights in the garden.

[enaid]

Re: Plug Hole Survey (how many have you got?)

Well thanks you lot as always a great response to someones little problems.
This is all because of the flat we are moving into has no plug hole in the dining room.
I have been in touch with the council and they are coming next Tuesday to have a look.
We all know what have a look means don't we lol, anyway will keep you informed thanks again for your input.
I may start a national survey on this as it seems quite important lol Enaid xx

[ByTheWay]

Re: Plug Hole Survey (how many have you got?)

I must agree with you there enaid, in this day and age it's very important to have plenty of sockets. I wonder how many accidents are caused by plug extension overloads these days? We have the surge protected extensions for our pc's etc but alot of people don't. Think about it, what does the normal household have in each room...
Lounge....TV, DVD, Sky/freeview, maybe a VHS too, PC, monitor, modem, phone, stereo (tho in our case its an amplifier and mixer) lamp, plus normally a mobile phone charger plugged in somewhere.
Kitchen.... Microwave, dishwasher, kettle, toaster, fridge/freezer, washer/drier (can opener cos I really hate the manual ones!)
Bedrooms...one or two bedside lamps, TV and DVD (maybe) alarm clock...plus needing spares for hairdrier, straighteners etc
well I could go on but you get my drift..... I hope the council are willing to help you enaid, ours wouldn't with us. When we left our flat they actually complained because of the amount of sockets we'd had put in!! It was all done professionally so they didn't push it but they wanted to!
Good luck xx

[enaid]

Re: Plug Hole Survey (how many have you got?)

Well last week we had the fire brigade in ( oh i've gone all funny again, it's the uniforms i think)
They were putting us some smoke alarms in FOC.
They also checked all our plugs etc.
They stressed 1 plug socket, 1 appliance, so you can have an extension lead coming off a plug and 1 plug in each on the extension. We had a double plug with a plug and an extension lead in this, they said that was a complete no no.
To be honest it was well worth their visit and as we all know prevention is better than cure.
They really opened my eyes and made me a lot more aware of the risk of over loading etc.
Also the chip pan and the old candles etc.
Then about the amp thing 3 or 13, all this helps in the safety of your home and I was really glad they came.

The council told me they will not be willing to add more sockets, but seeing as I have non at all in the dining room an electrician will come next week and see what can be done. I too will have to have more added myself in need be and will have them done properly. Just wait for the shouting if they come in 12 months time to do a rewire lol

[EXC]

Re: Plug Hole Survey (how many have you got?)

Nelly

I spoke to my brother-in-law and existing properties that are at least 10 years old have no regulations governing the number of sockets but he said that there is a fair chance that an older council property would need a rewire on saftey grounds. This means that a rewire would have to conform with current regulations that cover the number of sockets based on the size and number of rooms

[enaid]

Re: Plug Hole Survey (how many have you got?)

Thanks for that Exc I will tell them on Tuesday and if they say it needs a rewire fair enough, I very much doubt it though.
Least I know if it does need a rewire how many sockets I should have.
Once again thank you and everyone else for your comments and info. Enaid xx

[Delta]

Re: Plug Hole Survey (how many have you got?)

Not sure when the house was built, think it was late 50's, but we have

Living/dining room (two rooms knocked through) grand total of 3 double sockets
Study ----- 1 double
downstairs toilet ........ 1 double (god only knows why the last owner put that there!)
4 bedrooms, each with 1 double socket

And the clincher....... the kitchen was redone by the previous owner and there are 7 double sockets that I know of!

[Guest]

Re: Plug Hole Survey (how many have you got?)

Well last week we had the fire brigade in ( oh i've gone all funny again, it's the uniforms i think)
They were putting us some smoke alarms in FOC.
They also checked all our plugs etc.
They stressed 1 plug socket, 1 appliance, so you can have an extension lead coming off a plug and 1 plug in each on the extension. We had a double plug with a plug and an extension lead in this, they said that was a complete no no.
To be honest it was well worth their visit and as we all know prevention is better than cure.
They really opened my eyes and made me a lot more aware of the risk of over loading etc.
Also the chip pan and the old candles etc.
Then about the amp thing 3 or 13, all this helps in the safety of your home and I was really glad they came.

The council told me they will not be willing to add more sockets, but seeing as I have non at all in the dining room an electrician will come next week and see what can be done. I too will have to have more added myself in need be and will have them done properly. Just wait for the shouting if they come in 12 months time to do a rewire lol

This is too simplistic and is precisely why such "advice" is treated as nonsense.

This is the way it works.

Homes contains several different types of power circuit. Some will supply wall-mounted sockets into which you plug all sorts of portable electrical appliances. How these circuits are wired up will depend on the age of your house or on whether it has been rewired since it was first built. Other circuits will supply individual large appliances such as cookers, showers and immersion heaters.
These circuits are, ring circuits, or sometimes called a ring main and houses built or rewired since the 1960's have their sockets supplied by one or more ring circuits. The circuit cable starts and finishes at the consumer unit, allowing current to flow round the circuit in either direction and so increasing its capacity. The circuit can supply an unlimited number of 13-amp socket outlets. Each circuit can supply rooms with a total floor area of up to 100sq m (1075sq ft), and is protected by a 30-amp fuse or circuit breaker in the main consumer unit.

Then there are radial circuits which was the norm before the ring circuit was introduced. Each socket was supplied by an individual cable running from the house fusebox. These are now obsolete and should be replaced. However, modern homes may have radial power circuits supplying an unlimited number of 13-amp socket outlets. These are used if a ring circuit would be wasteful of cable. Each can supply rooms with a floor area of up to 20sq m (215sq ft) if protected by a 20-amp fuse or circuit breaker.

There are also combined systems which consist of both ring circuits and modern radial circuits and these can supply additional sockets wired up as spurs off the main circuit. This economises on the amount of cable needed to serve the main circuit, since only a single length of cable connects the spur socket to the circuit. Spur cables can be connected to the main circuit at an existing socket outlet, or by means of a junction box wired into the main circuit. Each spur can supply one single or one double socket outlet and the circuit can have as many spurs as there are outlets on the main circuit.

There are also switched spurs. These tend to be fitted into kitchens for slide-in appliances such as fridges, dishwashers and washing machines and these types of appliances are often plugged into unswitched socket outlets located at the rear of the appliance recess. The socket is wired as a spur, with the cable running via a switch on the wall above the worktop which controls the appliance.

Finally there are appliance circuits which are power circuits supplying individual appliances and these are wired as radial circuits, with the cable running from an appropriately rated fuse or circuit breaker in the consumer unit to an isolating switch and then to the appliance. You are likely to have one circuit rated at 15 amps serving the immersion heater in the hot water cylinder and circuits rated at 30 , 40 or even 45 amps supplying electric cookers and an instantaneous shower, if you have them.

In order to know what is safe to plug in where, you should know that 13 Amps is approximately 3000 Watts. The formula is Watts = Amps x Volts. In the UK, mains voltage is 230 Volts, so you can very easily see that stating simply that only one socket is to be used for one appliance is foolish and misleading. For example, a slow-cooker, which by definition you would leave on all day, consumes approximately 156 Watts, which means you could, perfectly safely plug in and operate nineteen of them from a single 13 Amp socket.

The amount of electricity listed on the label is the maximum amount that the appliance will ever use. For example, a 300-watt fridge will only run at 300 watts when the compressor's running (which is when it makes that humming sound, indicating that it's actually chilling the air inside). Most of the time the fridge just sits there, using only 5 watts or so for its electronics. If the amount of work done by a device varies up and down, then so does its energy use. (e.g., a stereo that can be turned up or down, an oven that can be set at various temperatures, a fridge that sometimes runs and sometimes doesn't, a computer that sometimes spins its various drives etc.)

To make things even more confusing, many consumer items are advertised according to their power output, not input. That means a 900-watt microwave oven might actually use 1400 watts (on its highest setting). That's because all electrical devices are inefficient -- they have to use some extra energy to do what they do.

Having said that, because we have a 230 volt system and wiring that is sized according to load, it is rare that appliances will take the whole 3000 odd Watts and making a blanket rule that only one appliance must be used in each socket plain wrong. Televisions, DVD players, Sky receivers or cable boxes for example take only a few hundred Watts all put together and can be safely used from a single 13 Amp outlet with an extension socket.

[enaid]

Re: Plug Hole Survey (how many have you got?)

:doh: oh silly me, I should have known this.

So how many plug holes do you think the average house needs then ?

All I want is a plug hole for my appliances, that doesn't have to go all round the walls with extension leads and wires.

[Guest]

Re: Plug Hole Survey (how many have you got?)

Well, it depends on what you want to plug in and how often you want to use it.

[enaid]

Re: Plug Hole Survey (how many have you got?)

Am sorry can't stop laffin now, will reply when I can compose myself if thats ok

[PJ69]

Re: Plug Hole Survey (how many have you got?)

Not been on here for a couple of days but, funnily enough, we were talking bout plug sockets at work and how i've not got nearly enough! my house was built round the 1930's [i think] and I have:

Living room: 1 double [each socket has a 5gang extension lead plugged in - 1 for pc, 1 for tv/dvd/sky etch] & 1 single

Landing: 1 single

My bedroom: 3 singles

Oldest sons room: 3 singles

Youngest sons room: only 1 single! [def need to get something done about that!]

Conservatory: 1 single

Kitchen: 6 doubles & 1 single [included with cooker switch] - I've just had kitchen redone tho' so gained a couple there.

Total: 7 doubles & 11 singles [25 holes.....not many really for the amount of electrical equipment we've got in this house!]