Anonymous
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Hi,
I am planning to instal a new ring main in the kitchen, but I have no spare connection points on the existing consumer unit. However this consumer unit does have its own dedicated
radial for the cooker.
So my question is will I have to instal a 2-way consumer unit to feed the ring main on which I plan to instal 4 double sockets to feed appliances such as a washing machine, fridge
freezer, kettle, ect? If so will this type of ring main be able to cope with the demand of the above appliances?
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timfoley
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Steve,
Welcome to the forum.
In a nutshell, yes, I would advise a dedicated circuit to feed a new ring main to your kitchen and this will prove acceptable in serving all your appliances unless your cooker
requires it’s own dedicated supply and this is dependent on it’s size and output.
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wintonian
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It is not necessary to complicate matters by wiring the kitchen as a Ring circuit. A radial would probably be much easier to wire up, saving expensive copper cable by using cheap junction boxes instead.
British electricians seem to install rings for no good reason in quite small houses. With copper at its current price, this seems to be illogical since more cable is used than is necessary. Make more use of radials – when did you last see lighting circuits on a ring – and forget the problems of spurs. All the sockets can be spurs.
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timfoley
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Wintonian,
Thanks for this contribution.
I’m all in favour of your suggestion providing it remains in keeping with the standards and capacities required in a kitchen installation.
Perhaps you can enlighten members from a UK electrical regulatory viewpoint.
Tim.
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wintonian
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OK Tim. You guessed it!  My contribution was very much ‘tongue in cheek’ and I was hoping to elicit a response from a "competent person" so that the Regulatory issues could be clarified.
I am not a qualified electrician, but understand that the new regulations do not force ring circuits rather than radials. Each system has its own rules to follow, but in the average small house of around 100 sq m habitable area, a radial circuit is, I believe, perfectly adequate, and can simplify wiring when being updated.
There are clearly some very knowledgeable and helpful people hanging around this excellent forum.
Out of interest, I am just rewiring my sons house and have decided to create a new ring for the kitchen, to keep it separate from the rest of the house. It would probably be simpler to use a radial, but I decided to keep it simple so that the inspector has no problems. Having done the whole house, I do not need problems!
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ban-all-sheds
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Err… radials are simpler than rings – no problems with unbalanced loads, easier to test, and easier to add to in the future.
There is nothing in the regulations which requires socket circuits to be rings.
A 30/32A radial using 4mm² cable can serve a 75m² floor area, and a 20A/2.5mm² one 50m².
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