Power to the Shed

Goldberg

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No this is not a campaign to give shed's a vote etc.. ;)

I need (well would like) to run power to the shed at the bottom of the garden. I reckon 15m would do it.

I am looking at 2.5mm 3 core Armoured Cable. The intention is to plug this into an outside weather proof box I have on the back of the house (soon to be in a conservatory), dig a trench and run the cable to the shed where I will put the necessary spurs/switches in place etc..

Any advice, things I should and should not do ?
 
You want something like this.For 15 meters its around £30 delivered.
 

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Technically easy enough, but I'm not sure about how this would fit in with new electric certification regs. if you were doing it yourself.
 
What if I just bought a decent extension cable, weatherproof grade, and buried that?
 
You would be better off running it through some wavin pipe if putting it underground m8,

And don't use an extension cable as regardless of waterproof/weatherproof claims,it wouldn't be good enough for constant exposure to the elements :)
 
Technically easy enough, but I'm not sure about how this would fit in with new electric certification regs. if you were doing it yourself.

Only asking- would it fall foul of reg's if it were simply 'plugged in' as opposed to hard-wired? I seem to remember you can get RCD's built in to 13A plugs, just for a bit of added safety...
 
what if i just bought a decent extension cable, weatherproof grade, and buried that?

NO!

As wiz suggests, an extension is not sufficiently robust. A steel wire, as you described could be buried but would be better tubed for maintenance.

As for regs, the wording is "any work in a garden" would be notifiable but I reckon you could stretch a point. Assuming the outside socket is already protected by an RCD I would terminate the SWA in a waterproof box adjacent to the socket and use a weatherproof fly lead with a plug to connect it. SWA is too rigid for use with a plug. You could probably argue this was a 'temporary' installation and not covered!

Terminate similarly at the shed end, then use one on more fused spurs to fuse down accordingly i.e. use a spur with a 5A fuse for lights etc.

Test before connecting and take care.

Installation note:

Please mark the cables according to the following convention:

Brown - Live
Grey - Neutral, marked/sleeved blue
Black - Earth, marked/sleeved green & yellow

Attach a bonding clip to the armour at ONE end and connect to earth.
 
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I hope you don't mind me weighing in on this convo, but I might be able to help you with regard to testing & certification if your going to run an armoured cable or a tubed cable & are going to supply the shed via a 13a plugtop then no testing or certification is required as it could be disconnected without the use of a key or tool so it isn't part of the circuit your plugging into. When I perform NICEIC test ing regardless of the quality of the work if it's on a plugtop it's not my concern and doesn't require a periodic test or certification. secondly if you own the fence in your garden and it's close to your cable run you can cleat it to that rather than digging a trench but it's upto you if you have gone with the trench the depthshould usually be at the depth of a spade & a half to protects against mechanical damage if you are going to bury the cable and it's under flagging the trench can bit a little shallower, last but not least if you are supplying lights & sockets off the same feed remember to fuse down the lighting circ with a switched spur with a 3a fuse as it provides discrimination between the two "accessories". I hope this provides some help.
 
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