ᐅ Is an Additional Circuit Breaker / RCD Really Necessary for a Home Office?

The additional electrical circuit definitely makes sense, as it isolates the office from the rest of the house. Installing another RCD (residual current device) is not necessary. Generally, for personal protection, one RCD per house is sufficient since it will trip in any case. However, usually two are installed so that if one does trip, there is still power in at least part of the house.

I also don’t understand why the RCD would require a larger sub-distribution board. Typically, a sub-distribution board is designed with a 20% installation reserve (precisely for these kinds of reasons). If one circuit overloads and disrupts the entire system, then it was a planning error from the start!

kati1337 schrieb:

They will be installed anyway. We are building a new house and are already getting 2 RCDs (residual current devices).

The electrician wants to install an additional circuit (feeder distribution) specifically for the office space and a third RCD just for the office.

My question is whether this is necessary.

Oh, now I understand. Sorry.

Maybe the other circuits / breakers are already fully loaded with the two RCDs? It’s best to ask the electrician why they want to install an extra circuit and why an additional RCD is needed.

kati1337 schrieb:

I like to invest in (admittedly not cheap) gaming equipment. But only when the investment is really necessary. That’s why I’m asking here if it actually makes sense or not. I don’t want to cut corners in the wrong place, but I’d like to hear others’ opinions on whether what the electrician suggests is really necessary. After all, we can’t be the only ones gaming together, right?

I deliberately added a wink.
I just wanted to point out that you will almost certainly spend more money on your computers in the foreseeable future. Eventually, the 500€ (about $540) will just become background noise.
Our motto when it comes to home electrical work is: better too much than too little. It’s one of those things that is extremely costly to change later on.

To me, this already sounds like "trying to make extra business." A separate circuit breaker is one thing, but an additional residual current device (RCD), meaning a third one, doesn’t offer any advantages in my understanding. However, if the distribution board is so tight that this one office is already pushing its capacity limits, I would want a larger one here as well—who knows what might need to be upgraded later, having some reserves doesn’t hurt. But as mentioned above... how is a little extra capacity supposed to overload the distribution board if it was properly planned from the start? This was either planned incorrectly from the beginning, or the electrician is just trying to charge a bit more.

Vicky Pedia schrieb:

Having a separate circuit for electricity definitely makes sense since it isolates the office from the rest of the house. Installing an additional residual current device (RCD) is unnecessary. Generally, one RCD per house is sufficient for personal protection because it will trip in any case. However, two are usually installed so that if one does trip, at least part of the house still has power.
I also don’t understand why an RCD would require a larger sub-distribution board. Usually, a sub-board is planned with a 20% installation reserve (precisely for reasons like this). If an additional circuit disrupts the entire setup, it was a planning mistake from the start!

Thanks, that helps me a lot. I had a similar feeling and was skeptical about the office circuit causing a trip, but I wasn’t sure.
I’ve also forwarded this to the general contractor (GC) for clarification. We have a air-to-water heat pump with a ventilation system and photovoltaic installation, also commissioned through the GC. Naturally, these take up space in the distribution panel. These systems are included in the offer with full installation.
Now our office comes with 8-10 additional sockets, and throughout the house, there are still a few more—one socket per bedroom, two in the living area, and four in the kitchen.
Combined with the photovoltaic system and air-to-water heat pump, our sockets might already require a larger distribution board. The question is, of course, whose responsibility that is. If the distribution board was just barely sufficient for the GC’s offer, but we have to pay a surcharge of 1000€ instead of 500€ for 15 sockets, that doesn’t feel like a fair distribution of costs. We didn’t pay small extras for the heat pump or photovoltaic system. The GC is currently clarifying this, so they didn’t simply say, “That’s your problem.” We’ll just wait and see.

Tarnari schrieb:

I purposely added a wink.
I just wanted to point out that you will almost certainly spend more money on your computers in the foreseeable future.
Those 500€ will eventually become insignificant noise.
Our motto for home electrical work is: better too much than too little. It’s one of those things that are very costly to change later.

Yes, better safe than sorry is definitely good advice, especially when you consider how expensive it likely is to upgrade afterward.

Tego12 schrieb:

To me, this already sounds like an attempt to make extra money. A separate fuse (circuit breaker) is one thing, but an additional third RCD makes no sense in my opinion. If the panel is so tight that this one office circuit reaches its capacity limit, I would also prefer to have a larger panel—who knows what else might be added later, it’s good to have some reserves. But as already mentioned above... with proper planning, this small increase shouldn’t cause the panel to be oversize... either the planning was wrong from the start, or the electrician is just trying to charge more.

Thanks. Yes, my husband would also like to have room for an electric vehicle one day. Regarding the original plan, see above. I assume, or rather hope, that the distribution board issue simply got overlooked by the GC. The electrician also charged us for the second RCD (which now needs to be installed according to regulations). But the GC said the electrical installation is done according to code, and if that’s mandatory, we don’t have to pay extra for it (they will sort that out internally).

Our first point of contact was, of course, the electrician. Some things were explained well, for example why the CAT cables must go into the wall without conduit. Other things were not really explained, for example why we should pay an additional 600€ to have a patch panel and switch installed by them, supposedly because the CAT cables can’t be tested without it. When we asked, they only said it takes a lot of work time (lol?), and we could do it ourselves if we wanted.

Regarding the office / extra circuit / RCD, we received this answer:
“If you reduce the sockets by 15
and the office doesn’t get a separate feed
and also no separate RCD, which is unfortunately necessary with PCs,
then the larger distribution board can be omitted.

However, please do not use power strips there.
That would pose a major fire risk.”

I still don’t quite know what to make of that. I have used power strips my whole life and never have seen one catch fire.

Once again, with a wink.
I’m not sure how familiar you are with hardware. But I hope your computers require a (good) 700-watt power supply and not some generic cheap one from China that ends up delivering only 500 watts with terrible efficiency. SLI or Crossfire? Intel 28-core processor?
I hope so; otherwise, a 700-watt power supply doesn’t make much sense.
Just pointing this out to show how quickly you might be spending unnecessary money.