Fitting an external fusebox

[joeb99]

When fitting an extenal fuse box, how high off the floor should it be?

Im fitting an external fuse box and isolator switch for a hot tub, 32A RCD for the tub, and a 6A RCD for patio heater lights, and a 32A isolator switch for the tub.

Im getting an electriction to do the wiring -- I'm drilling the holes in the wall etc and laying the 6mm T&E through the house to the consumer unit (not connecting it myself!) becuase i currently have all the floors up downstairs.

The external wall will have a separate RCD fuse box and an rotary isolator (both L and N switched) screwed to it, but how high off the floor should it be?


Im not doing *any* of the connections, the electriction is. Im not cutting the boxes in any way, just screwing it to the wall, and drilling a single hole in the rear for the cable (the hole will be ducted and sealed with silicone)

The box will have a small shelter over it for extra protection, but IP65 is weatherproof anyway.

 

[RF Lighting]

6.0mm² seems somewhat undersized for the proposed load, also 6A seems unusually small for a patio heater.

Are you proposing to have the CU in the vicinity of the hot tub?

Why can you not just run a hot tub supply and a heater supply back to your internal CU position?

 

[joeb99]

Thanks for the reply.

The tub heater is 6kW, and the patio heaters are 2kW total so in total 8kW when maxxed out, which is 34 Amps.

So i should use 10mm ? The CU would be IP65, weatherproof.

Running back the 2 supplies is the other option, but either way, i need a isolator 2metres from the tub.

Im gonna call the electriction next week, but dont want him to price up using stupidly oversized cable because its darn expensive!

 

[RF Lighting]

Running the circuits back to your existing CU would be a MUCH better idea.

You need to speak to your electrician BEFORE you start doing anything. He may refuse to connect your cables if he can't see how and where they have been installed.

You'd probably want a 6.0mm² supply to the hot tub isolator, and a 2.5mm² supply for the patio heater.