Hello everyone,
My wooden house is nearly complete, and I want to handle the wiring myself. I will have the builder’s electrician show me where to run the cables, which beams I am allowed to drill through, etc., but the circuit breaker panel, outlets, and so on will be installed by the electrician.
The challenge starts already with sourcing the materials and choosing the cables.
- Expert 1 (architect and trained electrician): A 5x1.5mm² (with 13A breaker) feed line to each room, then from there 3x1.5mm² cable to lights and outlets. Reason: Less material, smaller breaker panel, less work.
- Expert 2 (master electrician): 3x2.5mm² cable to each room for outlets and 3x1.5mm² to each room for lighting. Outlets protected by a 16A breaker. His reason: If the outlet breaker trips, the lights remain on, and the outlets have a higher load capacity.
- Expert 3 (master electrician): For himself, he would choose expert 2’s option. He could live with expert 1’s option, but then with a 5x2.5mm² feed line and then 3x2.5mm² to outlets and 3x2.5mm² to lighting.
My goal is, of course, to save costs and reduce work. Since I plan to treat each room separately, it seems unlikely that a 1.5mm² line with a 13A breaker would be overloaded. You’d have to run a TV, 2000W vacuum cleaner, hairdryer, lights, and radio all at the same time in one room for something to happen, right? Seems unlikely, doesn’t it? My father used to combine several rooms on one circuit in his old house, and breakers only tripped every few years. Then you just go to the basement with a flashlight and reset the breaker... done!
Of course, major appliances have their own circuits, and the stove has a thicker cable, which is logical.
As a non-expert, I don’t see a need for multiple breakers/circuits in every room. But are there any professionals here who have a different opinion?
Regards,
Tito
My wooden house is nearly complete, and I want to handle the wiring myself. I will have the builder’s electrician show me where to run the cables, which beams I am allowed to drill through, etc., but the circuit breaker panel, outlets, and so on will be installed by the electrician.
The challenge starts already with sourcing the materials and choosing the cables.
- Expert 1 (architect and trained electrician): A 5x1.5mm² (with 13A breaker) feed line to each room, then from there 3x1.5mm² cable to lights and outlets. Reason: Less material, smaller breaker panel, less work.
- Expert 2 (master electrician): 3x2.5mm² cable to each room for outlets and 3x1.5mm² to each room for lighting. Outlets protected by a 16A breaker. His reason: If the outlet breaker trips, the lights remain on, and the outlets have a higher load capacity.
- Expert 3 (master electrician): For himself, he would choose expert 2’s option. He could live with expert 1’s option, but then with a 5x2.5mm² feed line and then 3x2.5mm² to outlets and 3x2.5mm² to lighting.
My goal is, of course, to save costs and reduce work. Since I plan to treat each room separately, it seems unlikely that a 1.5mm² line with a 13A breaker would be overloaded. You’d have to run a TV, 2000W vacuum cleaner, hairdryer, lights, and radio all at the same time in one room for something to happen, right? Seems unlikely, doesn’t it? My father used to combine several rooms on one circuit in his old house, and breakers only tripped every few years. Then you just go to the basement with a flashlight and reset the breaker... done!
Of course, major appliances have their own circuits, and the stove has a thicker cable, which is logical.
As a non-expert, I don’t see a need for multiple breakers/circuits in every room. But are there any professionals here who have a different opinion?
Regards,
Tito
S
Steffen809 May 2017 14:33ONeill schrieb:
No, it’s not ironic. I have about the same amount of wiring as you, just no 1-wire.
Also, while pulling 2.5mm² cables through the conduits in our prefabricated house walls, I’ve thrown the pulling wire around more than once. ^^Ah, okay.
As the homeowner, I naturally wanted everything to be 2.5mm² from the start and tried to convince the electrician. He showed me how it works in practice, and I quickly agreed to 1.5mm² instead, with just a few more supply lines. We only used 2.5mm² cables for distant 24-volt LED runs because of voltage drop.
Best regards, Steffen
P
Peanuts749 May 2017 14:56Steffen80 schrieb:
The reason is, of course, not cost savings (in case you didn’t realize that yourself), but the problems caused by using 2.5mm when clamping. In a junction box with continuous KNX, 1-Wire cables, sensors, and power outlets, it’s very tight even with a deep or double box! That alone is the reason for using 1.5mm.
(You don’t really need a kettle, hairdryers and toasters are only on briefly and don’t draw that much)Ok, it’s clear that a hairdryer isn’t running continuously. But that it doesn’t consume much power or have a high wattage makes me suspect you might be bald.
About 2000 watts is quite a bit...
If it were about saving money, I would have actually been surprised. However, if you terminate the cable directly at the box entry, the wires don’t take up much more space, provided you don’t leave an unnecessary 30cm (12 inches) slack and arrange the wires neatly. It just takes a bit more effort, but hardly any electrician would say, because you have KNX, you can’t use 3x1.5mm² (3x1.5mm²) cable for the outlets.
Aside from that, according to my electrician, depending on length, it is possible to protect 3x1.5mm² cables with a 16A breaker.
I have no idea if the regulations are the same in every federal state, but as far as I know, a light on each floor must still work if the residual current device (RCD) trips.
So, there are definitely quite a few things to consider when wiring, and it’s very frustrating if the walls are already closed or plastered and cables are still missing...
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