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Here's some pictures and observations about the electrical installations I saw on my recent visit to Australia.
First of all, we stayed with my Sister in law, in their 100 year old "Queenslander" wooden house out in the bush. Being an old house, it was an old installation, so saying this is typical of an Australian house is probably a bit like finding an old wylex rewireable here and thinking that is typical of a UK house.
Their supply is overhead with a transformer on a pole. The supply comes into a tin shed. Firstly the meter is in it's own galvanised steel box on the outside of the tin shed:
This is a "smart meter" installed when they had solar panels installed. It separately meters imported power and exported power. they only get paid for solar power that's exported, not for all that they generate. So to optimise their solar income, they actively try not to use any electricity in the day, and save all the heavy loads like washing until after the sun has gone down.
Inside the tin shed is the main consumer unit that feeds submains to the house and other outbuildings as well as a few local circuits
Note the hinged lid with all the fuses and mcb's. This means whenever you open the thing to do any work, all the wires are flexed. It probably also means it's a right rats nest of wiring inside, but I never got a look in it.
Note the single pole main switch "MS". As far as I can tell, from the incoming supply the N is strapped to a local earth rod, and they never switch neutral anywhere. I guess it's not too far off our own TNCS system, except we switch the neutral.
Note the RCD is labelled as "Safety Switch" That's pretty much the universal name for them over there, with people being reminded to test their safety switch regularly. That's probably about the only good idea I think they have, rather than confusing joe public with technical terms like RCD that they don't understand, simply refer to it as a safety switch.
In their house (well outside it on the wall under the verandah) id their house consumer unit of similar vintage and type.
Again hinged front so flexed wires when you open it etc.
A lot of surface wiring with a variant of flat t&e. I never got to strip any, but it seems very flexible, so I guess it must be multistrand. That would make sense with the hinged CU door and constant flexing.
It's normal to have your hot water tank outside. Okay I guess as there's no risk of freezing so why waste space inside your house.
Tumble dryer also outside in this instance, though everywhere else we visited it was in the bathroom.
Now on the subject of bathrooms, mains sockets in the bathroom and light switches on the wall inside the bathroom are normal. And it's normal to have your washing machine in the bathroom. Plumbing seems a bit primative as every install we saw, the washing machine drain hose just hangs over the edge of the sink, rather than being connected to a trap or standpipe. I seem to have lost the picture of their bathroom showing this.
So now a little discussion about how they do things. Well rather simply is the quick answer.
In all the installs I saw, the only electrical accessories I saw were 1, 2 and 3 gang light switches, 1 and 2 gang mains sockets and tv aerial sockets. All the same size rectangular plates a bit smaller than our own rectangular 2G accessories. That made 1G mains sockets seem a little pointless if they are the same size as a 2G one? I also saw a combined 2G mains socket and light switch which was a rather odd idea.
So there are no isolator switches for cookers, or for sockets under worktops. No FCU's of any description and no flex outlet plates.
This leads to sockets for "built in" kitchen appliances being in clumsy (not hidden) places etc. And things where you would expect the wiring to be hidden like cooker hoods, just have a flex from it plugging into a socket. Even in a public place, I saw hot air hand dryers hanging on a wall with a flex just hanging down and plugged into a socket on the wall.
All rather crude and basic I thought, and it reminded me of a 15th edition install here or earlier.
Now virtually all supplies seem to be overhead. Even in built up areas. So the average street scene in a town has this sort of mess running down most streets:
Next we had a couple of days away on the Gold coast staying in a rented apartment. This was a much more modern building so perhaps this is more representative of a "modern" installation over there?
First the consumer unit:
Well at least it's all MCB's and rcbo's and a more usual removeable front to the CU. Note the single pole main switch. I also notice Hager stuff is extremely common over there.
This time I did get a picture of the bathroom.
View attachment 4174
Note the mains sockets right next to the shower cubicle.
and the washing machine and dryer:
View attachment 4175
Note the complete lack of any attempt to hide or tidy up the hanging mains leads, and the upside down hung tumble dryer, vented to the room.
On the subject of venting, I did not see any bathroom with an extraction fan. Even in this hot climate where open windows are normal, peeling paint on the ceiling was common, not helped of course if venting the damp air from a tumble dryer to the room is considered normal practice.
We then had another excursion, this time staying in a hotel room.
So the CU in that room:
Sorry it's a poor picture. note the lack of main switch, and the use of Hager gear again.
and here's the bathroom.
View attachment 4177
Note the nice hoteliers have provided a hair dryer for the use of their guests, with a flex long enough to reach round and use in the shower should you be so daft.
So that's it for the pictures, just a few final ramblings.
Firstly I never did determine how their power circuits were wired, ring or radial. But it seemed normal to use 25A (often type C) MCB's for power circuits and more than one socket per MCB so I guess it's radial circuits.
But their mains sockets are rated at 10A, and have no fuse in the plugs. So how do you square having appliances, often with thin flex's, plugged into a 10A rated socket, with an OCPD of 25A?
The lack of fuses in general and FCU's etc creates very "basic" installations, no local isolation for built in appliances etc.
Sockets and switches in bathrooms is so alien to us, but then so is having your washing machine there. When I discussed this with our host, his reply was "if you are stupid enough to stand under the shower while using your hair dryer, you deserve to die"
Having seen how they do things down under, I will never again criticize the way we do things here in the UK.
By comparison we are generations ahead in terms of flexibility of the range of kit we have available to install, and the regulations we install it to.
Perhaps just another example that the UK is a nanny state where we are forced to be safe, and not allowed to choose when and where to take risks?
First of all, we stayed with my Sister in law, in their 100 year old "Queenslander" wooden house out in the bush. Being an old house, it was an old installation, so saying this is typical of an Australian house is probably a bit like finding an old wylex rewireable here and thinking that is typical of a UK house.
Their supply is overhead with a transformer on a pole. The supply comes into a tin shed. Firstly the meter is in it's own galvanised steel box on the outside of the tin shed:
This is a "smart meter" installed when they had solar panels installed. It separately meters imported power and exported power. they only get paid for solar power that's exported, not for all that they generate. So to optimise their solar income, they actively try not to use any electricity in the day, and save all the heavy loads like washing until after the sun has gone down.
Inside the tin shed is the main consumer unit that feeds submains to the house and other outbuildings as well as a few local circuits
Note the hinged lid with all the fuses and mcb's. This means whenever you open the thing to do any work, all the wires are flexed. It probably also means it's a right rats nest of wiring inside, but I never got a look in it.
Note the single pole main switch "MS". As far as I can tell, from the incoming supply the N is strapped to a local earth rod, and they never switch neutral anywhere. I guess it's not too far off our own TNCS system, except we switch the neutral.
Note the RCD is labelled as "Safety Switch" That's pretty much the universal name for them over there, with people being reminded to test their safety switch regularly. That's probably about the only good idea I think they have, rather than confusing joe public with technical terms like RCD that they don't understand, simply refer to it as a safety switch.
In their house (well outside it on the wall under the verandah) id their house consumer unit of similar vintage and type.
Again hinged front so flexed wires when you open it etc.
A lot of surface wiring with a variant of flat t&e. I never got to strip any, but it seems very flexible, so I guess it must be multistrand. That would make sense with the hinged CU door and constant flexing.
It's normal to have your hot water tank outside. Okay I guess as there's no risk of freezing so why waste space inside your house.
Tumble dryer also outside in this instance, though everywhere else we visited it was in the bathroom.
Now on the subject of bathrooms, mains sockets in the bathroom and light switches on the wall inside the bathroom are normal. And it's normal to have your washing machine in the bathroom. Plumbing seems a bit primative as every install we saw, the washing machine drain hose just hangs over the edge of the sink, rather than being connected to a trap or standpipe. I seem to have lost the picture of their bathroom showing this.
So now a little discussion about how they do things. Well rather simply is the quick answer.
In all the installs I saw, the only electrical accessories I saw were 1, 2 and 3 gang light switches, 1 and 2 gang mains sockets and tv aerial sockets. All the same size rectangular plates a bit smaller than our own rectangular 2G accessories. That made 1G mains sockets seem a little pointless if they are the same size as a 2G one? I also saw a combined 2G mains socket and light switch which was a rather odd idea.
So there are no isolator switches for cookers, or for sockets under worktops. No FCU's of any description and no flex outlet plates.
This leads to sockets for "built in" kitchen appliances being in clumsy (not hidden) places etc. And things where you would expect the wiring to be hidden like cooker hoods, just have a flex from it plugging into a socket. Even in a public place, I saw hot air hand dryers hanging on a wall with a flex just hanging down and plugged into a socket on the wall.
All rather crude and basic I thought, and it reminded me of a 15th edition install here or earlier.
Now virtually all supplies seem to be overhead. Even in built up areas. So the average street scene in a town has this sort of mess running down most streets:
Next we had a couple of days away on the Gold coast staying in a rented apartment. This was a much more modern building so perhaps this is more representative of a "modern" installation over there?
First the consumer unit:
Well at least it's all MCB's and rcbo's and a more usual removeable front to the CU. Note the single pole main switch. I also notice Hager stuff is extremely common over there.
This time I did get a picture of the bathroom.
View attachment 4174
Note the mains sockets right next to the shower cubicle.
and the washing machine and dryer:
View attachment 4175
Note the complete lack of any attempt to hide or tidy up the hanging mains leads, and the upside down hung tumble dryer, vented to the room.
On the subject of venting, I did not see any bathroom with an extraction fan. Even in this hot climate where open windows are normal, peeling paint on the ceiling was common, not helped of course if venting the damp air from a tumble dryer to the room is considered normal practice.
We then had another excursion, this time staying in a hotel room.
So the CU in that room:
Sorry it's a poor picture. note the lack of main switch, and the use of Hager gear again.
and here's the bathroom.
View attachment 4177
Note the nice hoteliers have provided a hair dryer for the use of their guests, with a flex long enough to reach round and use in the shower should you be so daft.
So that's it for the pictures, just a few final ramblings.
Firstly I never did determine how their power circuits were wired, ring or radial. But it seemed normal to use 25A (often type C) MCB's for power circuits and more than one socket per MCB so I guess it's radial circuits.
But their mains sockets are rated at 10A, and have no fuse in the plugs. So how do you square having appliances, often with thin flex's, plugged into a 10A rated socket, with an OCPD of 25A?
The lack of fuses in general and FCU's etc creates very "basic" installations, no local isolation for built in appliances etc.
Sockets and switches in bathrooms is so alien to us, but then so is having your washing machine there. When I discussed this with our host, his reply was "if you are stupid enough to stand under the shower while using your hair dryer, you deserve to die"
Having seen how they do things down under, I will never again criticize the way we do things here in the UK.
By comparison we are generations ahead in terms of flexibility of the range of kit we have available to install, and the regulations we install it to.
Perhaps just another example that the UK is a nanny state where we are forced to be safe, and not allowed to choose when and where to take risks?
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