Anyone out there got specs /advice on how to install electrics in a domestic home in Spain. I've never done this before. I understand that their system is based on radial networks etc.
Help much appreciated. DS
Generally the rule seems to be:
1 Use very thin wire 2 When needing to extend, twist the bare ends of the wire together and push out of sight behind the bed-head or pictureSpain is my favourite country- the bit in the north, the middle and from Tarifa to Cadiz. However there are two things about Spain I don't like. One is the careless or cruel treatment of animals and the other is dodgy electrics particularly in hotels and camp sites.
Any horror stories?
Peter Scott
House wiring for sockets is done on radial circuits, not ring circuits as in the UK. We've heard of new wiring installations based upon ring circuits being condemned by the authorities on inspection. It isn't very likely that they'll inspect your wiring but it could be an expensive error if they do! Don't fit 3-pin, UK style sockets (or sockets from any other country for that matter) either. It may seem a good idea for your electrical equipment from the UK, but if you decide to sell your house they'll all need to be changed - what Spaniard wants a house with UK sockets?
In Spain they use individual, sheathed cables for Live, Neutral and Earth, not the standard "twin and earth" that we use in the UK. These cables are then run through plastic conduit to their various destinations.
That usually means that the offer to pay an 'on the spot fine' will be gratefully accepted and the wiring passed. :-)
Leastways that seems to be how Mexico works...
No harm in using a star wired system and doing it properly. I always fel the benefits of the 'ring' were a bit subtle.
Not really, just a "why?".
When my sister had finished her year teaching English in Lugo, Galicia, I went to collect her (many years ago now). The flat where she'd been renting a room was basic, but ok. An open flued gas water heater above the bath and the local power cables an arm's reach below her bedroom window were the obvious exceptions.
It was the kitchen which intrigued me. Newly refurbished, it had a lovely tiled floor, new appliances, perfect plastering and tiling on walls, a polished stone worktop (they're big on their pastry, so laminate isn't much good) and balcony seating area...
...and in the otherwise flawless ceiling, two lengths of bendy conduit poking out, two single core wires from each, and manky ES socket and pearl bulb on the end of the single cores.
Why?
Hwyl!
M/
Spaniards still believe that electrickery is A Work of the Devil. Should it ever be installed neatly, completely, or even vaguely competently, then your house will be colonised by demons.
I was once installed in commissioning work for a whole new car factory, built in the middle of an uninhabited desert. If you think Spanish electrics are bad at the lightbulb level, try them with
3-phase and hundreds of kW.
Having seen lots of dodgy wiring in various spanish costas. I was in Salu once, wandering down a street and happened to look up at a shop awning which had floodlights on the shop wall underneath the awning. It was all done neatly in 25mm steel conduit. I was just about to sing the praises of at least one spanish sparky who knew his business, when a small label on a conduit box caught my eye...
Installed by a firm in Manchester UK.!!!
Dave
Many thanks for the replies.
I could still do with knowing cable ratings / current ratings / fuse ratings, eitc. Anyone out there?
Cheers
Isn't there to be an EU standard of electrical installations? I read the aim was that and they were to be introduced. When I don't know. They attempted to get a Euro socket, but the British said sod off we are not going to an inferior socket to what we already have.
The Europeans know how to deal with regulations. Ignore them. No one oin Itlay sticks to regulations, as they are openly admnitted (as with speed camereas here) merely to be taxes. In Italy tho they got for bueaucratic efficiency. You just pay the policemen direct, in cash, no receipt...
There already is.
Wasn't the British in particular.
Why doesn't anyone take any notice of it then? Is it enforceable.
Yes, via national bodies (BSI for UK). That's why our wiring colours are changing (and has been the driving force behind a number of the wiring regs changes over recent years).
I'm not sure of the details, but I think there's some scheme where you can use the wiring regs from any EU country in any other EU country if the regs you use conform to the EU standard, which I believe the UK ones do. A collegue used this to rewire a french holiday home to UK standards, and the french authorities seemed to know about this and were perfectly happy to approve it (very much to my surprise).
Ok folks, so in conclusion, what would be the best way to wiring plan to install the electrics?
Desperate for ideas
I certainly wasn't suggesting this is a good idea, merely suggesting it might be a possibility. I would suggest you make more enquiries before embarking on this path if it was of any interest anyway.
Do it teh way a spaniard would o it, if he stuck to the local regulations, knew what he ws doing, and liked neat and safe installations.
Get Spanish equivalent of the Collins diy manual, the pictures and tables should be pretty self explanatory. Should be able to pick one up over there, or maybe from a spanish version of Amazon.
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