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

kati1337 schrieb:

Yes, my husband would also like to have an electric car eventually, so it would be good to have space for that.

Then make sure to install conduits of sufficient thickness to the planned location right away. You can pull the cables for power and network later when you need them.

superzapp schrieb:

I’m really looking forward to THAT explanation now...

Tego12 schrieb:

Why is a separate RCD (residual current device) necessary for the computers? Usually the computer just sits somewhere, plugged into a standard socket... do the hairdryer and toaster each get their own RCD as well? I just don’t understand that. And why does adding 15 more sockets increase the required space in the distribution board so drastically? As I said, either it’s completely wrongly planned from the start, or it’s a rip-off.

As for CAT cable without conduit in the wall: I’m also curious why anyone would do that

And there’s absolutely nothing wrong with good power strips and using them properly. Of course, many people want to avoid the look of that in a new build, but that’s purely an aesthetic issue.

Here I’ve attached his explanation for you. To me, it sounded logical, though my husband was skeptical too.
I don’t know why a separate RCD would be necessary for the computer either, but he insists on it strongly.
I also find the part about the sockets strange. That would mean the distribution board was already completely full before, which somehow doesn’t seem right. But I’m not an expert. :/

rick2018 schrieb:

Sorry, but why would you install CAT cables without conduit in the wall? Total nonsense.
And you can definitely do testing without a patch panel as well.
Of course, you won’t get a certified test report that way.
For 600€ (about $650) you can get a Metz patch panel including keystone jacks and still have money left over.
Is the panel supposed to go in the office? Like a small server cabinet or something?

No, the panel and switch are supposed to go in the utility room. I also thought it was way too expensive; we definitely won’t accept that offer. I don’t trust it, but since we want to live in the house for the next 30 years, we have to figure out now what we really need (for us), and where the electrician is trying to charge extra.

Vicky Pedia schrieb:

Of course, a PC doesn’t need its own dedicated circuit, but the stove and EV charger do. In general, using power strips is not a good solution and should be avoided whenever possible. The number of sockets doesn’t physically matter. You just need to know that you can only draw a maximum current per circuit breaker. A standard breaker is 10A. So you can only draw 10A—that could be 10 devices at 1A each, or 2 devices at 5A each, etc. My PC (please don’t get upset!!! it’s a gaming PC) draws about 1kW.
For explanation: 240 volts x 1 ampere = 240 watts.

And by the way: there’s no fire risk when the system is properly installed. The built-in protection devices reliably prevent that!!!

That’s where I’m lost. Can we still run both our computers on one circuit while also running refrigerator, freezer, etc.—basically, our household is like any other normal household, except that we have two gaming computers.
I can’t imagine that extra cost is necessary since we are currently renting a 30-year-old house with its original electrical circuit and just one RCD, and everything works perfectly fine here.

superzapp schrieb:

For 600€ (about $650) you can get:

19" wall mount cabinet, 8-12U: 100€ (basic) up to 220€ (better quality)
MetzConnect modular patch panel including 24 keystone modules: 180€
Zyxel 24-port manageable gigabit switch: 130€
A handful of CAT6a / PIMF patch cables in various colors with Hirose connectors

And if you buy everything cheaply, you can also include about 2 hours of installation time in that 600€.

So if the electrician bangs those CAT cables into the walls without the mandatory protective conduit, he should pull them out again afterward and clean up the mess from the floor.

I don’t like that either. How do I get them to do it properly without getting into a fight? I don’t want trouble with them; I’m afraid they’ll do shoddy work if I act too much like a nagging customer. :/

blackm88 schrieb:

The house needs a main circuit breaker upstream of the meter, so the main fuses. For a wooden house, a fire protection switch (fire RCD) should (must) be installed. With photovoltaics, a surge protection device is required. Then at least two RCDs. Additional space for expansions (EV charger), extra circuit breakers, energy management, possibly actuators or timers… Sure, a PC draws 700W. Have you ever measured what it really needs? What’s your actual annual electricity consumption? 700W is not always the input power; sometimes it’s output. A normal office PC only draws about 40W, thanks to SSDs and Intel power management. I currently have some ESXi servers for virtual desktops at work that draw 2x1.6kW each, but those Tesla graphics cards really burn a lot in continuous testing…
Back to the topic: I can’t really understand why more sockets means more space in the distribution board. The cables don’t all run in a star pattern, and there are no groups configured. In our setup, each room has its own feed with its own fuse. The stove also has a dedicated circuit... But that’s really a matter for the general contractor and the electrician. We didn’t have to pay extra for a bigger distribution board.

We’ve used about 4000 kWh (kilowatt-hours) per year so far. The electrician already wanted to charge us for the second RCD as well, but the general contractor is handling that now.

I’m not sure exactly what he plans to install, but adding another 3-phase RCD alongside the existing two doesn’t make much sense if that’s the case.

He’s only adding one additional circuit anyway.

I would look for a combination of RCD and circuit breaker if an RCD is absolutely necessary; that would take up 2 slots in the panel instead of 5.

A simple circuit breaker after the existing RCD would probably be sufficient, requiring just 1 slot in the panel. Depending on cable length, installation method, and cable thickness, it could be a B10 (2300W) or B16 (3600W).

Don’t let anyone overcharge you for an extra cable to the gaming room.

kati1337 schrieb:

I’ve attached his explanation here for you. It made sense to me, though my husband was skeptical as well…

ops:

Strange, others can do this?! So it’s nonsense!! (I could write a whole essay about it, but it’s really not necessary. I would have this electrician removed from the construction site.)

superzapp schrieb:

ops:

Strange, others can do it?!? So it’s nonsense!! (I could write a whole novel about it, but it’s actually not necessary. I would have this electrician removed from the construction site (if possible))

The electrician is the one working as a subcontractor for the general contractor. Unfortunately, we don’t have a choice. I don’t find him very likeable either; he wasn’t a great person on site to begin with.

I also asked for a callback regarding several issues, but all I got was an email briefly attempting to explain why we supposedly need the larger distribution board.

Could you give me a somewhat layman-friendly explanation of why this is possible or even a good idea? Maybe I can convince him to run the CAT cables inside conduit within the wall after all...

Try to have a conversation with the general contractor (GC), explain the problems (trust has been lost due to definitive false statements), and ask them to bring in a different electrician?

Otherwise, this could end in a disaster (financially and possibly technically).

However, I am not a construction expert and am not building with a GC. Maybe others have better suggestions?