Socket for TV in middle of wall - is this allowed?

[kingeri]

Hi everyone. I've just finished installing an HDMI distribution system in my house (so I can watch Sky in all rooms). In one of the bedrooms, I am planning on wall-mounting an LCD TV. I have routed aerial/HDMI/network cables to a self-made faceplate on the wall, and this will be hidden behind the TV. There is a socket directly below where the TV is going, which I was planning on using. However, it seems a shame that I will have a cable running up the wall to the TV (even if it is just one!). So, I was wondering, is it possible (i.e. permissable!) to have a socket put in next to my audio/video faceplate - i.e. in the middle of the wall? I have read about safe-zones for cable routing, and that makes me doubt it is allowed, but then surely if a socket is needed in a specific location, there must be a way around it!

Thanks in advance for any advice!

 

[NozSpark]

So long as the ables are in the safe zones and have RCD protection if they are burried then it should be ok.

 

[kingeri]

Many thanks

 

[betty swollocks]

If it was me I would put fused spur next to your socket beneath tv and run a cable directly to the tv joining tv mains cable to the cable from the fused spur

Putting a socket behind the tv makes reaching it to switch tv off difficult and also a socket with a plug in sometimes sits too far off the wall for your tv to fit your bracket

But that does depend on your tv / bracket set up

Switching tv off by the fused spur is easy and the tv can be unplugged by its mains cable if you need to remove tv

 

[green-hornet]

Have a look at the diagram for safe zones, from that you will deduce that a socket can be placed anywhere.

 

[ProDave]

Your job is made easy by having a socket close to where you want it already.

Just run a new cable up from the existing socket to a new socket behind the tv. You will need RCD protection if the existing circuit does not already have an RCD. Providing the existing cable is on a ring, you can run your new socket as a spur.

I do this frequently for people wanting flat screen tv's wall mounted.

One tip. Mount the bracket first and fit the tv. Then with the tv in place have a good look behind. With many modern ultra slim tv's and ultra slim brackets, it can be hard to find anywhere behind the tv with enough depth to fit a 13A socket and still have room to get a plug into it.

If the wall is a plasterboarded stud wall, you are laughing. Otherwise if a plastered brick wall you have some chasing out to do and re plastering afterwards.

and even on a new build, you are not constrained by minimum and maximum socket heights, those only apply to general purpose sockets. this one will be for a dedicated use so is not constrained by the hight limits.

If in doubt get an electrician, it's not a big job, and it will be so much better to get it done right rather than having a mains cable hanging down.

Re safe zones, it's the socket that defines the safe zone. the important thing is you must run a cable vertically, or horizontally away from a socket, i.e straight up / down, or level. NO running it across the wall at 45 degrees to get from one place to another.

Likewise the existing socket creates a safe zone.

So if the two don't line up, run it horizontally from the first socket, until it is directly below the new one, then from that intersection, straight up into the new socket.

 

[hxsarge]

what i usually do is use brush plates, single plates with brushed exit on the front, and throw some 1.0mm black flex in(which you can put a rewireable iec connecter on), ct100 for I/R control and tv, a patch lead for internet enabled tvs and a hdmi lead . then bellow, or wherever the equipment is have a 2nd brush plate above the sockets/data plates and plug the lot in, usually I try to make sure the hdmi over cat 6/7 receiver is here out of sight too. a lot simpler to mount your screen flusher this way.

dont know if any of this is against regulations or not.

ive done loads of sky distro jobs this way, all boxes in a central location, usualy a cuboard, and using distro amps for I/R control and hdmi over cat 6/7 matrix's for each box and zoning them off eg, one box kitchen and kids room and the other box living room and master bed.

 

[kingeri]

Thanks for the replies. The A/V side of things is sorted, I've used a custom face plate (which I made in the shed!) with HDMI, ethernet, aerial and satellite sockets. I just think that's a lot neater (although with hindsight nobody can actually see it anyway!). It was the electrical socket side of things that I was more concerned about. I got an electrician in to do it....he put a single socket in spurred off the double right below. Took him about 20mins......came back the next day and plastered over the chasing/cable. I had one further question....should he have used a protective conduit? The circuit is RCD protected.

 

[SPECIAL LOCATION]

Thanks for the replies. The A/V side of things is sorted, I've used a custom face plate (which I made in the shed!) with HDMI, ethernet, aerial and satellite sockets. I just think that's a lot neater (although with hindsight nobody can actually see it anyway!). It was the electrical socket side of things that I was more concerned about. I got an electrician in to do it....he put a single socket in spurred off the double right below. Took him about 20mins......came back the next day and plastered over the chasing/cable. I had one further question....should he have used a protective conduit? The circuit is RCD protected.

No need for protective conduit or channeling etc..

Stick us a photo on of the finished set up!

Guinness