Recommendation points
- How to wire
- What power is required by household electrical appliances
- The first signs of damage to electrical wiring
- Self-installation of wiring
- Installation of electrical wiring – the first stage
- Stage two – we hide the wiring
- The final stage in the installation of wiring
- How to wire a wooden building
In this article:power consumption of some household appliances; signs of damaged electrical wiring; what is needed to replace the wiring; stages of wiring installation; which cable to choose; how to make strobes; wiring in a wooden house – nuances.
How to wire
The main reasons prompting the owners of houses and apartments to think about completely replacing the wiring with a new one are the ever-increasing needs of household electrical equipment. Judge for yourself – standard house wiring, built on cheap aluminum wire with poor insulation, is designed for a maximum power of 2 kW. In fact, household appliances in our homes require a lot of power …
What power is required by household electrical appliances
Household appliance Average power consumption, W TV 200 Vacuum cleaner 1000 Refrigerator 400 Washer 700 Computer 550 Electric lamp 120 Electric stove 2500 Iron 1000 Hair dryer 1000 Electric kettle 1200 Microwave (microwave) 1800 Toaster 1200 Electric oven 1200 Electric heater 1400 In other words, when you turn on the washing machine, computer, refrigerator, electric kettle and, say, an electric heater (700 + 550 + 400 + 1200 + 1400 = 4.2 kW) at the same time, the machine in the dashboard on the staircase will work, turning off the power supply.
If this does not happen, there is especially nothing to please – the destruction of the insulation layer on the aluminum wiring begins (the wire overheats), which will inevitably lead to a short circuit with all the ensuing consequences.
The first signs of damage to electrical wiring
The maximum period during which aluminum wires perform their task is 20 years. When was the house in which you live built? Are all sockets powered? You say you changed the chandelier, but the aluminum wire broke like matches? When a household appliance is plugged into an outlet, sparking is noticeable, a smell of melted plastic appears?
If you can relate most of these signs to the wiring in your house or apartment – it’s time to replace it, without especially postponing this event..
Self-installation of wiring
It should be noted that partial replacement of the wiring will not help – if you change, then change it completely. What is required for this: a plan for a new wiring, indicating the connection points; wires and cables of the required section; automatic switches; party-soldering boxes; non-combustible corrugated hose (for wiring in wooden houses and in a suspended ceiling); sockets and switches.
Required tools and materials: perforator; perforator nozzles – long drill and cutters (cut holes for sockets); grinder (for concrete walls); powerful enough soldering iron; phase indicator; control lamp or multimeter; pliers, screwdrivers and side cutters; rag tape; terminal blocks; plastic boxes for installing sockets and switches; Lantern; sharp knife; building level and cord for stripping the strobe route; gypsum-based putty; putty knife.
When planning a new wiring diagram, you must follow a number of rules listed here and here..
Important: take your time and draw up the most accurate plan of new wiring in each room and house (apartment) as a whole, indicating the position of the cable from the floor (ceiling) level. Years after replacing the wiring, you will forget its exact location and cause damage when trying to drill a hole in the wall or hammer in a nail..
To determine the required wire cross-section, you need to summarize the power consumption of all household appliances in the house (apartment), including lighting devices (we add 100 W to the power of each of them “in reserve” – it will come in handy). Divide the total capacity by 220, according to Ohm’s law. As a rule, the resulting figure is in the range of 12-16 amperes, i.e. a cross-section of 1.5 mm copper wire will be sufficient2. If you received a higher value of the current consumption, it will be more convenient to lay several wiring lines from the electrical panel, placing them in parallel and supplying each with a separate residual current device (automatic). Why such a solution is more acceptable – you can lay a cable with a larger cross-section, but this will increase costs and at the same time reduce the reliability of power supply.
When choosing wires and cables for wiring, keep in mind that they should only be copper. According to its characteristics, copper wire is at least one and a half times superior to aluminum. Two types of double-braided copper cable are suitable for wiring in a house or apartment: two or single-core PUNP and VVG, each with a cross section of 1.5 mm2. In my opinion, the second type of cable is more convenient, because consists of several copper strands and therefore more flexible (easier to stack).
Installation of electrical wiring – the first stage
All the necessary materials have been purchased, the tool is in stock – let’s get started. First of all – and this is especially important – de-energize your apartment by turning the switch in the switchboard on the staircase to the off position. Be extremely careful not to touch the wires in the shield with your hands or sleeves! Make sure your apartment is de-energized and not the neighboring ones..
From which room to start work on replacing the wiring – there are two solutions. In the first, work begins in the hallway (corridor): they install a shield, lay new cables in parallel to the old ones without damaging the latter, connect sockets and switches to the new wiring, leaving other rooms on the old one. So, from room to room, new wiring is being built.
The second option, although not entirely correct, is more suitable for simultaneous repairs and living in an apartment, if there is nowhere to leave it during the work. We choose a room to replace the wiring, as a rule, a complete repair will be carried out in it, then we find the old solder box and connect the new wiring to the old input. In most cases, old wiring is made of aluminum cable, and it is dangerous to twist copper and aluminum, because a short circuit may occur. Therefore, use a terminal block to connect them. Despite the measures taken, such a connection of the old and new wiring is unreliable – it is intended for a short period (no more than two to three months).
When planning and laying new wiring, take care of a high-quality grounding circuit of your apartment (house).
Stage two – we hide the wiring
The new cable is laid “in the wall” – in the old wiring channel, from which the old cable is completely removed. If this cannot be done, a new channel, a groove, is cut 50 mm above or below the existing wiring channel. It is especially difficult to make channels in concrete walls – use a grinder. The strobes must be executed strictly horizontally or vertically, without any deviations.
Before laying in grooves, check the cable lengths “on the floor”, make sure everything is perfect. All cable connections must be made through terminal blocks in tuso-wired boxes (they are installed with a small protrusion equal to the thickness of the future plaster layer). The cable is fixed in strobes on alabaster. Make sure that the colors for the wire per phase and the wire for zero do not coincide with each other, do not confuse them at the joints. Having laid the cable in the grooves, putty them with plaster putty. Installation of switches and sockets is carried out after the putty has completely dried, before connecting the wires to the terminals of the sockets (switches), the bare ends of the wires must be served with a soldering iron.
The final stage in the installation of wiring
At this stage, all new wiring lines have been laid and brought to the switchboard. As a rule, there are at least two such lines – one of them is brought into the kitchen (there are a lot of energy-intensive household appliances), the second – into the rest of the rooms. If an electric stove is installed in your house, it must be powered from an independent cable..
Power cut-off devices are required for each wiring line and can be installed either in the ladder flap or in the internal apartment switchboard (optional). For the second option, you need to bring the input cables to the installation site of the additional shield, if the cable entry to the shield requires passage through the wall, you need to install a metal hose or a piece of corrugated hose (to the wall thickness) in the hole punched through it and only then pull the input cables through it.
This concludes your work, unless you are a professional electrician. Do not try to lead the lead-in cables into the shield yourself, invite an electrician for this work!
How to wire a wooden building
For wooden buildings, the most accessible way of wiring is open. Closed wiring is also possible, but this work is difficult to do and requires the invitation of specialists.
For the simplest wiring method, you will need a single-core VVGng cable, with two (preferably three) layers of non-combustible braid. The cable is attached to a wooden surface with electrical brackets.
A more secure way of open wiring – the cable is packed in an electrical corrugated hose and fastened to special clips. The appearance of such a wiring is not very attractive, however, the cable in the corrugated hose is more protected from various damages, several cables can be hidden in the corrugated hose, it is not flammable, i.e. a short circuit in such a wiring will not cause a fire.
The construction of wiring in cable ducts with covers that snap into the lock requires special care, otherwise straight lines will not be observed. The plastic of the cable ducts, like the plastic of the corrugated hose, is not flammable; you can make changes to the wiring built on it by adding new channels. But – they can only be installed on a completely dry lining, it will lead it on an insufficiently dried lining, the slots from under the latch cover will open.
Final work on the installation of open wiring – inserting cables into the shield, installing an RCD, etc. – should be instructed by a professional electrician.
In conclusion:if you are not sure that you can handle the new wiring yourself – do not do it, hire professionals.
Can replacing wiring on your own be a safe and effective solution, or should I hire a professional electrician for such tasks? What precautions should one take if attempting a DIY wiring replacement? Are there any specific guidelines or advice that should be followed to ensure the job is done correctly and safely? Any personal experiences or tips from those who have done it themselves would be greatly appreciated!
Is it possible for a beginner to safely undertake a do-it-yourself wiring replacement project? What are some key considerations and precautions that one should bear in mind before starting such a task? Are there any specific resources or tools that would be helpful for someone attempting this for the first time?