Drier in Bathroom

[Fredrick Skoog]

Hi Everyone,

I'm looking to buy a drier which I intend, for the foreseeable future, to put in the bathroom - basically as this is the only place I have room for it!! As there is nowhere to vent it out of, I'm going to get one of the condenser types (does anyone know if they're any good?), my problem is getting the juice to run it on.

Obviously there is no plug point directly in the bathroom, however there is a single socket in an airing cupboard in the bathroom which currently powers the pump for the power-shower and which I was hoping to adapt to run the drier as well. My first problem is the actual plug socket itself. At the moment it is a single point which I presume I could convert to a double socket to accommodate both however a colleague of mine suggested that a dual socket extension (with a small lead) plugged into this and then fixed to the wall of the cupboard would be sufficient and a much easier solution. This sounds a bit dodgy to me (like potentially overloading the plug if anyone has a shower whilst drying), am I being stupid and missing something obvious?

The second problem concerns the distance between the machine and the position of the 'new' socket; I'd need a machine with a cable of around 3m long to cover the distance. If-needs-be is it quite straight forward for a suitable trained person to put an extended cable on to the machines? I'm presuming it's a bit dodgy to be having normal extension cables lying around in a bathroom albeit tucked well out of the way (although probably no more dodgy than having the drier in there in the first place?).

Any help and tips much appreciated!!

Thanks

[Christian McArdle]

X-No-archive: yes

Next to the existing single socket, install an 13A RCD fused connection unit. If the entire circuit is protected by a 30mA immediate action RCD already, a standard fused connection unit will do (at much lower cost). Run T&E cable from this (i.e. 2.5mm T&E) to a flex outlet in the bathroom, not near to the bath or shower. Cut the plug off the drier's flex and connect to the flex outlet. You mustn't install the drier or flex outlet within 60cm of the bath or shower. You mustn't install a socket instead of a flex outlet. You mustn't run the cable near to the bath or shower.

Christian.

[N. Thornton]

eat less power than non condenser ones, and cost more.

The power eaten by a power shower pump is small, and wont cause overloading. The real issue here is the mixture of the dryer with the damp/wet environment.

right.

I can't suggest you do it since youre putting a drier in a wet bathroom. Others will doubtles comment more on this.

Regards, NT

[Eric Dockum]

Depends what you mean by dodgy.

In Holland it is perfectly acceptable to have a washing machine and condenser dryer in the bathroom wired into wall sockets. Often the washer takes cold water only to munimise the number of water connections. Dodgy? I don't thinks so, unless someone can show differential safety statistics on Dutch washing machine deaths.

Dodgy in terms of the local UK regulations... That I don't know.

Safety unfortunatly is not directly related to standards and regulations.

Eric

[<Barbara]

"Fredrick Skoog" wrote

I've always found them to work well.

Barbara

[Malcolm Race]

We had one which has 'retired' after about 6 years. I was effective as a drier and very effective as a room heater. I uses air drawn from the room passing through a heat exchanger to condense the moisture in the exhaust air, so the cooler the air going in, the more effective it is at condensing the water from the exhaust air. Make sure that you clean the condenser unit (usually removable) regularly as if it becomes obstructed the thermal trip operates - on my example non-resettable and £20 for two!

Malcolm

[stefek.zaba]

Indeed, Christian's already done a fine job of laying out the consequences of the very latest IEE Regs revision about Zones 0,1,2,3 in bathrooms, which relax the older "nothing but shaver-sockets and string-operated switches in British bathrooms, no way, no how" to rather more rational "nothing you can foreseeably put fingers or other sticky-out or dangly bits into when you're dripping wet in the bath", at the expense of some complications which are all about defining what's considered a likely reach distance from a bath/shower.

So, if the OP is happy to comply with all the details Christian summarised, they'll be on a win. If they want to consult the "why", they need to scour the Net for a picture of the new bathroom Zones and figure it all out.

HTH, Stefek