Hello,
First of all, thank you for such forums that allow people to exchange ideas. I hope to ask many questions here and receive meaningful answers. Since I’m new, I also hope this is the right category.
I bought an older house that needs quite a bit of work. Each floor has about 80 sqm (860 sq ft), consisting of a basement, ground floor, first floor, and a converted attic, which totals about 320 sqm (3,440 sq ft) of floor space.
Now, I want—actually, I have to—completely redo the electrical system because it is outdated.
I have an electrical panel that I had planned to install in the basement and run everything from there.
For the past few days, I have been considering whether to install a large main distribution board in the basement and then sub-distribution boards on each floor.
I have listed some advantages I see in advance.
Advantages:
1. Long cable runs could be avoided, since I would only need to install the main riser cable from the basement to each floor.
2. In case of a problem, it would be easier to isolate the fault to a specific floor.
etc.
Disadvantages:
1. It would require more residual current devices (RCDs).
2. Instead of one main electrical panel, I would have a large distribution board with the meter plus three sub-distribution boards for each floor.
etc.
I would appreciate it if you could share your thoughts on whether this makes sense or not. I have to decide myself anyway, but it helps to read other opinions.
Regards,
Markus
First of all, thank you for such forums that allow people to exchange ideas. I hope to ask many questions here and receive meaningful answers. Since I’m new, I also hope this is the right category.
I bought an older house that needs quite a bit of work. Each floor has about 80 sqm (860 sq ft), consisting of a basement, ground floor, first floor, and a converted attic, which totals about 320 sqm (3,440 sq ft) of floor space.
Now, I want—actually, I have to—completely redo the electrical system because it is outdated.
I have an electrical panel that I had planned to install in the basement and run everything from there.
For the past few days, I have been considering whether to install a large main distribution board in the basement and then sub-distribution boards on each floor.
I have listed some advantages I see in advance.
Advantages:
1. Long cable runs could be avoided, since I would only need to install the main riser cable from the basement to each floor.
2. In case of a problem, it would be easier to isolate the fault to a specific floor.
etc.
Disadvantages:
1. It would require more residual current devices (RCDs).
2. Instead of one main electrical panel, I would have a large distribution board with the meter plus three sub-distribution boards for each floor.
etc.
I would appreciate it if you could share your thoughts on whether this makes sense or not. I have to decide myself anyway, but it helps to read other opinions.
Regards,
Markus
Basement/ground floor and upper floor/attic are combined in my case as well. In my single-family house, I have more than 30 circuit breakers. And since the residual-current device trips due to the outdoor lighting on the loggia, I don’t want to have to go downstairs. The panel is flush-mounted in the hallway. It looks fine. Of course, it’s my little luxury. Certainly not necessary.