Providing power for boiler

[Martin Pentreath]

My room-sealed combi boiler is in the downstairs loo, which I am currently doing up. I'm planning to build a cupboard around it (in compliance with the clearance requirements in the installation manual). At the moment the flex from the boiler goes through a hole in the wall to a nearby 13 amp socket, workable but not very tidy. I want to wire it up properly.

The easiest source of power is the lighting ring which passes through the room - I've got the ceiling down right now, so I have easy access to it. Could I legitimately power it from a spur from this circuit? If so would it be right to put a 13 amp FCU in with a 3 amp fuse in it (on the basis that the boiler would be hard-wired into it and no other appliance would be connected to it), or should I do it via a 5 amp round pin socket/plug (which would be unfused - seems less safe to me)?

If the right way to do it is from the ring main (which is doable, just needs a bit more drilling/chasing) then obviously an FCU is the way to go. Is it within the regs to have an FCU reachable from a wash basin in a WC (there's no bath or shower in there)? Or should I hide the FCU within the cupboard - would that be OK?

[Owain]

Could do.

Lighting circuits need less stringent disconnection times than socket circuits - your lighint circuit might not be suitable for having a socket connected to it (even though the boiler is the only thing likely ever to be connected).

I think it's a more orthodox way than the lighting circuit. The best way is a dedicated circuit from the CU, non-RCD protected, so a tripping RCD doesn't knock off the heating, possibly leading to burst pipes during a winter holiday.

Yes. Obiously it should not be somewhere it can be splashed with water (or worse!)

Yes.

Owain

[Christian McArdle]

I'd prefer doing it from the ring main, especially as MCB lighting circuits are prone to frequent tripping if you have conventional incandescent lightbulbs.

Either is fine, provided the FCU is not in a position where it would be subject to direct splashing.

Christian.