Electrical Design

DESIGN

When commissioning any electrical installation, it is worth spending some time to think in detail about the purpose of the dwelling and its intended use. The design of the installation is key to this stage. To avoid disruptive and costly consequences the plan of the extent of the work to be carried out should be considered and where possible “future proofed”. The modern standard when wiring properties is to conceal cable in the walls. This is done by cutting the wall (chasing) to provide a channel for the cable to be routed within. This must only be routed in very specific areas as defined by the wiring regulations (BS7671). The cable is then usually capped with a metallic or PVC layer and the wall is repaired and made good by a plasterer and or tiler.

KITCHENS

For example a customer may decide to renovate a kitchen with new units, worktops and tiles and install a new ring final circuit with appropriate fused spurs for dishwasher, washing machine and extractor fan. One year after the kitchen is complete the customer may decide that the kitchen units could benefit from extra lighting or that the cooker could benefit from a more powerful cooker requiring copper cable of larger CSA(cross sectional area). However, as these eventualities were not considered during the design stage, no such wiring was put in place.

Tiles must now be removed and walls cut in order to conceal this new wiring. The “chased” walls must be repaired by a plasterer and tiles must be re-matched. In addition, cupboards might need to be removed and reinstated. It is also common for tiles to go out of stock causing further problems.

ALL OF THE ABOVE IS COSTLY AND INCONVENIENT. SAGE ELECTRICAL IS SKILLED AT ADVISING IN KEY AREAS OF THE DESIGN STAGE TO AVOID SUCH PROBLEMS.

Careful cable selection can avoid circuits being underrated for modern ovens and sometimes it is worth concealing cable for future lighting even if it is not being used at this time.

AUDIO VISUAL

In another example a customer commissioned SAGE electrical to install speaker cable for surround sound speakers into the ceiling void in known mapped areas even though there was no money in the budget for purchase of such speakers at the time of the build. Down lighters were however installed in the ceiling during the build. All speaker cables were routed to a zone on the wall at short cupboard height below a flat screen TV zone. The wiring for the upper TV zone consisted of power, TV aerial and HDMI lead that was routed to the lower zone.

Eventually the flat screen TV was purchased and hung on the wall covering the upper zone. Below a small cupboard unit was installed containing a surround sound amplifier, SKY box and computer games console. Two pairs of surround sound speakers were later purchased and installed into the ceiling and the bass bin was connected to the cable behind the sofa. The surround sound amplifier was connected to the TV via HDMI and the speakers were connected.

This gave the desirable effect of a flat screen on the wall and a unit beneath containing the audio visual equipment with no interconnecting cables to be seen. It looked and sounded great and illustrates the point of forethought and design during a build.

LIGHTING

Very good design in lighting can make such a difference in the home. It really transforms a home from an ordinary dwelling to a very beautiful or highly functional space. There is such a diversity of lighting solutions on the market these days it is easy to get lost in the possibilities. Gone are the days of a single pendant in each room. SAGE electrical has a wealth of experience in lighting design.

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and see what a difference we can make to your property. We are also keen to champion the benefits of LED lighting. Not only in down lighting but also in under cupboard lighting, pendants and floodlighting. Whilst LED fittings have a higher initial purchase cost they offer huge energy savings (sometimes as much as 90%) and offer long term cost savings on energy bills as well as reduced climate impact as a result of energy efficiency.