Washer / Dryer sockets

Discussion in 'Electricians' Talk' started by Booler, Sep 21, 2021.

  1. Booler

    Booler New Member

    Hi,

    I have radial circuits in 1940’s house with spurs etc. At the moment I have a washer and separate dryer running off separate 1.5mm cables and single sockets going to separate 10amp fuses on the CU (it’s old). I want to move the dryer near the washer but the dryer cable currently also has underfloor heating wired in, which we don’t really use, but I need to keep that spur as it is. What is the simplest way to run the washer and dryer? I know I can’t have them both running off a single double socket as it will draw too much. Do I need to pull a new 1.5mm cable to a new 10amp fuse on the CU for the dryer? Or is there a way of having them both wired in a simpler way?

    Thanks in advance.
     
  2. Roys

    Roys Screwfix Select

    Sorry to say I think you are way off the mark on what would be considered a safe install, I would hesitate to comment other than to say please get an electrician in to advise and install.
    Please don’t take this the wrong way but I just want you and your family to be safe.
     
    seneca likes this.
  3. Booler

    Booler New Member


    It was like this when we bought the house, hence the question. I should clarify that I’m I. Sweden so the voltage is 230v and 1.5mm cable seems to be standard here unless you go up to 16amo fuses. At the moment, it is as it is. Could you clarify how it’s unsafe at the moment? The washer and dryer are connected directly to the CU via an RCD both on separate 10 amp fuses and via separate 1.5mm cable. I don’t think that’s particularly unsafe? They can both run at the same time as they’re on separate circuits. And they won’t overload a 10amp fuse each. But ideally I need the equivalent setup of 2 x dryers and a washing machine. So as per the original question, is it better to have another dedicated 1.5mm cable / socket running directly to the CU or is there another way?
     
  4. Roys

    Roys Screwfix Select

    Ahh in Sweden, didn’t know that.
    A lot of washer dryers in UK are 3kW which means they would be drawing about 12A so would not be fed from 1.5mm fixed wiring from a 10A fuse. This is why I was suggesting unsafe wiring, sorry for any confusion.
    Hopefully someone will be along that knows your wiring systems and can answer your questions.
    Good luck
     
  5. Booler

    Booler New Member

    The washer pulls around 2kw and the dryer pulls 2.4kw at full draw.
     
  6. ElecCEng

    ElecCEng Screwfix Select

    Are you able to post a picture of your CU?

    Without knowing the Swedish specific regulations, go with a new dedicated circuit. You seem to imply you have lots of individual radial circuits and in principle a new circuit would avoid overloading an existing one.
     
  7. MGW

    MGW Screwfix Select

    Sweden I think uses German system, however you need to ask on a Swedish forum really, I expect your using this type of fuse [​IMG]there is a special tool to swap bases, and unlike British the fuse is before the switch so always live. It was back in 1980 when I worked on Dutch system, which is likely the same as Sweden, and even the colours were different to UK, line was brown, black and black, I can't remember neutral colour, at that time UK was red, yellow, blue for line feeds.

    So to answer on a UK forum mistakes are likely, so ask on a Swedish forum.
     
  8. Booler

    Booler New Member

    Hi, that’s correct - those are the fuses. All are 10amp. My question though was more general about what the cables and appliances can take. Eg if each appliance takes 2kw and draws around 8 amps max, does each appliance need to be on a separate feed (at the moment 1.5mm cable / 10 amp fuse), or can you have a 2.5mm cable with a 16 amp fuse feeding both off the same socket? Trying to figure out what the options are. I’m check on the Swedish forums as well, but the language is a bit tricky when it’s this technical.
     
  9. ElecCEng

    ElecCEng Screwfix Select

    In the UK 2.5mm is standard for socket circuits, 32A breaker for a ring final, 16A for a radial.
     

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