Armoured Cable

[Normal for Norfolk]

I'm about to build a new patio, and one day have some lights in the garden.

I've dug the sub base for patio so I'm thinking I should run a cable for any future lights now.

I know it has to be armoured cable, surely it doesn't need one cable per light, does it,
or can I run one cable, then take a connection off each time I want a light?

Also, where does the end have to start, from the distribution board, or from any of the sockets in the house?

Thank you in advance.

 

[mwatsonxx]

Its better to install a plastic duct (50mm min) from the house to some convenient distribution point, garage or shed? The lights can be looped or individually fed. And think about an isolation switch for all the external electrics. This so any external faults can be iolated from the internal electrics.

 

[Normal for Norfolk]

Thanks for your reply.

Does one end of the cable need to be near the distribution board, or can it just come off one of the existing sockets?

 

[aesmith]

Aside from the electrical question, remember to put a cord through the duct before you bury it, so the cable can be pulled through.

 

[mwatsonxx]

Thanks for your reply.

Does one end of the cable need to be near the distribution board, or can it just come off one of the existing sockets?

Depends on the load, are we talking blackpool illuminations or toc H meeting room? And if you do install a duct it must be as straight as possible, but gentle sweeping curves are ok. And as aesmith said install a draw cord.

 

[Normal for Norfolk]

6 small lights, nothing major.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

I'm about to build a new patio, and one day have some lights in the garden.

Where would/might those lights be in relation to the patio?

Might you also one day have a water feature, or a summerhouse, or a shed?

Or socket(s) for garden tools?

The point is that installing a cable for future use requires either certainty about what that future use will be, or a great deal of "just in case" in the size of it.

Then there's the question of how many cables or cores? If you end up needing something permanently powered (e.g. a pond pump) but your cable is switched because of the lights, you'll have problems. Or if you end up with an outbuilding or sockets you wouldn't want to have to have the lights on just to use the shed or mow the lawn.

Putting in a duct (two, actually, in case you want to run anything other than mains voltage cables) will give you flexibility later down the line.

I've dug the sub base for patio so I'm thinking I should run a cable for any future lights now.

And then the question is, "To where?"

I know it has to be armoured cable, surely it doesn't need one cable per light, does it,

No.

or can I run one cable, then take a connection off each time I want a light?

Few, if any, garden lights are designed to accept two SWA glands, and tee-ing off an existing buried SWA cable is not an easy job.

Also, where does the end have to start, from the distribution board, or from any of the sockets in the house?

It depends.

But (apart from cable routing) the former will never be wrong, the latter might be.



I have no idea what the layout/size of your garden is, where the patio is in relation to fences, lawn, beds etc, but generically I'd say identify a location at a wall or fencepost where you could install an external enclosure, and run the ducts to that, from somewhere in the house where cables can be got to it. The external enclosure should be large enough for joints/junction boxes of some type to allow multiple cables to then go off to wherever, for things like timers, photocells, lighting power supplies, and so on.

And if you're going to want an electrician to certify what he installs, take lots of photos of how and where you install the ducts.

Use twinwall ducting, of a decent size, about 450mm deep, with warning tape over the top.

 

[Normal for Norfolk]

Thank you for such a comprehensive answer. I'm going to make some decisions about what I want to end up with.

Thanks.