In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
To be safe and legal, an electrician will run wiring back to a dedicated RCD on the consumer unit (fusebox). An RCD stands for 'Residual Current Device' it's like a circuit breaker that will trip automatically at the slightest of problems. They are so sensative that apparently you can touch bare wires and you won't get a shock but don't put it to the test.
New installations now require RCD's throughout the system, for the extra few euros ask the electrician to fit a security light that he recommends then if it goes wrong you can call him back.
If you do decide you want the security light which I presume is halogen, probably 500 or 300 watts, if so fit a 100 watt halogen bulb for less consumption.
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
Thanks for the replies.
The lamp is only a 100 watt.
So I think the two of you are agreeing that you can only fit a fused spur on a ring main and therefore as I won't have a ring main in the house in Italy and dont want to put one in I can buy an Italian fitting or just give the uk one to the man and ask him to fit it which I expect he can do in some other way without a fused spur.
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
[quote=Robert;90473]So I think the two of you are agreeing that you can only fit a fused spur on a ring main and therefore as I won't have a ring main in the house in Italy and dont want to put one in I can buy an Italian fitting or just give the uk one to the man and ask him to fit it which I expect he can do in some other way without a fused spur.[/quote]
Well, that is what [I]I[/I] was suggesting and I [I]suspect[/I] Bobcat agrees, although he did zoom off on what seemed to me a tangent. :bigergrin:
As for RCDs, I'm not sure what the current regulations in Italy require, but I believe our house was rewired in the last seven years or so and there are RCDs in the circuit breaker boxes. Not one on every spur, though; just one in each box (we have three boxes since the house was previously split into three separate flats). They are incredibly sensitive. Sometimes far [I]too[/I] sensitive since fluctuations on the power line have occasionally made them trip.
Al
UK lights in Italy
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 05/28/2008 - 15:38In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
Hi Robert, you have been pretty well served with the answers to your query but I must (and it will probably be seen as nit picking) point out to Alan that the ring main isn't just an unnessary complication. We used to use radial circuits (and still do) in the uk but the ring is a clever way of supplying each floor on one circuit and individualy protecting every appliance and certainly not an over complication. Not so much a safety issue, more a loading issue.
John.
I suspect the caution you cite is in the leaflet because the fitting draws a lot more power than your average 60 watt lightbulb. Connecting it to a lighting circuit would not be a good idea because it could cause repeated tripping of the circuit breaker or overheating of the wiring.
I'm not an electrician (just a DIYer that has done a bit of wiring and managed not to kill anyone or burn down any houses), but I'm sure that - strictly speaking - you can only have a "switched fused spur" coming off a ring circuit. The problem you have is that ring circuits are a peculiarly British thing. To the best of my knowledge, nobody else in the entire world thinks that, in order for a domestic electrical system to be safe, it's necessary to complicate matters by arranging mains cables in a ring layout. :rollingeyes:
I believe you have two options:
First, you could ask your electrician to completely rewire your Italian house to change the electrical system from the normal (and, in my book, entirely sensible) radial layout to a ring circuit and then create a "switched fuse spur" off the ring.
I think this might be a bit over the top.
The alternative is to hand your Italian electrician the light fitting and ask him to connect it. How he makes the connection will doubtless not be a switched fuse spur but, assuming he's competent, it should be completely safe and function normally. If you want to be extra-cautious, you could make a point of making sure he reads the amperage rating on the fitting (that shouldn't require any translation, by the way - amps are amps everywhere) and understands that you're concerned about the power drawn by the light being more than your wiring can cope with. Depending on the current the fitting draws and what the wiring in your place is like, the electrician may decide he needs to run a new set of wires from the installation point to the circuit breaker box. This may not be necessary, but it would be about as close as you could get to a switched fuse spur in an house with a radial wiring system.
Al