Power to the shed

[weasley]

In a couple of weeks we get our garden project underway. It involves a lot of earthworks, a patio, driveway etc. There will also be a hard-standing area for a shed. The shed is on order - a decent 10'x6' apex-roof jobbie.

We currently have a weatherproof external double power socket on the back wall of the house (see diag). I assume this is a spur off of a socket on the mains running inside the house.

How best to get power to the shed? It will only need to be for lighting (probably LED) and a couple of 13A sockets. The shed will mostly be storage, maybe a little workshop bench. It will never be used for heavy-duty stuff (I can do anything like this in the garage, should I ever need to).

I thought about running some armoured cable whilst the ground was dug for the paving area, but where to run it to? To the existing waterproof sockets (and terminate with a 13A plug)? Or to the nearest wall of the house, where there are numerous sockets inside (the nearest bit of the house is a kitchen). Can I take a spur off of an existing internal socket, through the wall, with an appropriately protected junction box outside, or something?

I want to avoid trailing/tacked cable runs as much as possible, but would be OK with a short amount down into the ground from socket height.

Also, could I create a 'lighting circuit' and 'power circuit' in the shed, from one feed, or should I just install sockets and use plugged lighting?

Additional info: the consumer unit is in the centre of the house and does have one spare location. I could feasibly run cable from here, through the integral garage and out through an external wall, but this would be more disruptive and more cable-traily.
____________________
Yamaha XJ600 | Yamaha YZF600R Thundercat | KTM 990 SMT | BMW F900XR TE

[weasley]

OK, a bit more reading suggests this is one of those things that needs doing properly. It seems a spur off the mains is allowed, but not by me (unless I get the design, plans and installation checked, tested and verified). Think I might get someone in to look at it (no offence to the BCF).
____________________
Yamaha XJ600 | Yamaha YZF600R Thundercat | KTM 990 SMT | BMW F900XR TE

[Ribenapigeon]

I would run the cable the shortest route possible. Armoured cable is pricey and what you would save would probably pay for a sparky to sign off the job. I would run a cable from the spare consumer box to a second box in the shed the make a lighting circuit and socket circuit in the shed. That way if a power tool trips the RCD you wont also have the lights go out. I'm not sure if this is legal though or if the main armoured supply would have to be rcd protected as well which would sort of defeat the point of a second consumer box.

[bugeye_bob]

How far away is your mains board, ideally see if you can run it all the way back.

[robs321]

The cheapest way to do it, is to make sure that the outside socket (presuming its RCD protected) is wired into a switched fuse spur. Then take a 2.5mm 3 core SWA off that (use external glands), if the run is not miles?. Run this to your sockets and another switched fuse spur. Use the spur in the shed with a 3 or 5 amp fuse and take your lights from that.
You will never over load the circuit because everything is wired into the switched fuse spur (13amp) indoors, that the original socket is joined too!
If there is a fault at any time, it can all be isolated from the house via the switched fuse spur.

[Howling TerrorOutOfOffice]

My one tip.
Get a bigger shed. Girth is where it's at with sheds.
____________________
Diabolical homemade music Bandcamp and Soundcloud
Singer songwriter, Artist and allround good bloke Listen to Andrew Susan Johnston here
The Harry Turner Project

[stinkwheel]

It would be better to have a secondary consumer unit in your shed with a lighting and ring RCD. Most of the things you'd be plugging in in a shed wsould warrant that degree of cover.

Either fed from a spare, non-RCD slot in your consumer unit or by adding a new tail from the meter.

Meantime. Conduit is cheap. Lay your conduit from house to shed with a rope through it when you're doing the groundworks and you can then decide at your leisure how you're going to do the electrical install.
____________________
“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[weasley]

Thanks all. So conduit over armoured cable? I like the idea, as it is something I can do easily and then just get a spark in for one day to do the sparky bits.

Conduit; is that ribbed bendy pipe stuff a good idea, or are we talking PVC pipework?
____________________
Yamaha XJ600 | Yamaha YZF600R Thundercat | KTM 990 SMT | BMW F900XR TE

[ws4936]

I've personally done this...twice. I have a garage read: plastic shed on the front driveway and a shed out the back. Both are plastic keter big f'off jobbies, and both have armorured cable going to a junction box, then twin and earth going from the junction box to a consumer unit with light and electric circuits run from that.
Armoured cale isn't that expensive(ok it is compared to normal cable - but not in the grand scheme of things) and if anyone that you meet and haven't instructed not to use a spade in your yard, uses a spade in your yard, they will go throu conduit and cable. Do it right, do it once.

/pieceofmind


https://i.share.pho.to/f52c75a3_o.jpeg
____________________
If everything seems under control, you're just not going fast enough.

[kawakid]

I had a similar issue.

I ended up using armoured cabling and putting a consumer unit with 2 rings in it.

The laws have changed since I put it in, as you were allowed to do it by yourself back then.

Saying that, I doubt it would stop me now, though I do know 2 sparks, who I would just get to sign it off anyway.
____________________
I've a twin and a 4.

[drzsta]

Get an electrician to do it. Seeing those inspection elbows on that pvc conduit looks naff.

[weasley]

Food for thought.

If I got some armoured cable and ran some under the paving area, leaving a decent length free at either end, will this satisfy a competent sparky, or would they need to physically see it laid in order to complete the job and certify it?

I am reluctant to get someone out to lay cable, then have to come back to do the shed work.
____________________
Yamaha XJ600 | Yamaha YZF600R Thundercat | KTM 990 SMT | BMW F900XR TE

[stinkwheel]

If you've put the conduit in, you can pull the cable through later and make it the correct length to go to both ends in one run.

I suggested it because I presumed you were already on the groundwork phase but still undecided on how you were running the wires and where to.

Having a nice plastic tube you can just run the cable up through makes the install a piece of piss if and when you decide to do it.

There's two sorts of conduit. One is that simple plastic spiral stuff. If you were using that, I'd use armoured cable through it.

Then there is armoured, waterproof stuff like kopex. Effectively the armour you'd find outside the armoured cable. If it's terminated correctly, you should be able to use standard mains cable inside it. IP67 rated, nothing is getting through that sucker but it's expensive.

If I was doing the job. I'd bung in some cheap, spiral plastic conduit for now while I have the hole in the ground (you can have it coming up through the concrete shed base). I'd pull my armoured cable through once I'd decided exactly where and how I was doing it. You could do a second piece to drag a water pipe through in case you ever decide to put a tap in.

Same thing as I did when I had a new base put down for an oil tank. I had the conduit put in at the same time then pulled the pipework through when the tank was actually fitted.
____________________
“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[drzsta]

Lay it yourself, 450mm would probably suffice under paving out to 500mm/600mm if under lawn. No actual definitive depth in the regs - just that it should be at an adequate depth to prevent from being damaged.

[Chuffin Nora]

Erm.

Might one enquire as for what purpose this shed is intended?

And, on a not unrelated point, who owns the house/wears the trousers?

Because . . .
____________________
There's a fine line between integrity

[Furrybiker]

Hate to hijack this but can I just ask a quick question?

I have a shed that I would like to power from the supply to the garage. It is only for a 150 watt security lamp and is about 15 metres from the garage.

Could I not just run an armoured cable from the RCD protected supply in the garage to the shed?

Or does this put me in breach of the regs?

[janner_10]

[janner_10]

[goto10]

I did this very thing earlier this year - I put armoured cable in directly from the consumer unit and created a radial to the shed - this feeds into the shed's own little consumer unit. I then have the internal shed lights and sockets running on their own MCBs/RCD
I also fitted a remote control/timer thing on the outside of the shed (feeding from the little consumer unit), which runs the garden lights and fountain on a timer/remote control:

https://www.homeeasy.eu/RemoteControl4GangOutdoorSocketKit/HE440%20v2/191/Product/896/
____________________
'12 NC700S & '12 CB600F Hornet [Stolen by some dickless twat] Suzuki GT500 shed

[smegballs]

[Chuffin Nora]

[Ribenapigeon]

[Ribenapigeon]

[Ribenapigeon]

[ScaredyCat]

This stuff is perfectly legal and doesn't require an electrician to wire it up. If you're only using it for lights it's going to be fine.
____________________
Honda CBF125 ➝ NC700X
Honda CBF125 ↳ Speed Triple