AJ564
New member
Hello,
Firstly, I'm not an electrician by trade but I am after advice on a potentially tricky install.
A little background..... I have a 6' diameter portable hot tub made by mSpa (similar idea to Lay Z Spa) which, for the past 5 years, I have plugged into an RCD protected waterproof outside socket by the patio. So far so good! For information, the data label for the hot tub quotes a maximum current of 10A.
Now to the problem.... I recently built a 12' x 10' wooden summerhouse with the intention of using half of it for the portable hot tub and the other half as a sort of conservatory. I am trying to get an electrical supply installed.
My thoughts (based on the little bit I know) were to run an SWA cable (approx 40m) from a dedicated MCB on the house consumer unit to a separate RCD protected garage style consumer unit in the summer house positioned at the top of the wall above where the hot tub will be.
I was thinking of having a 16A MCB feeding a single waterproof socket mounted next to the consumer unit to plug the hot tub into.
I was also going to have a second 16A MCB feeding a radial circuit to supply two double sockets in the conservatory part for a small 1.5Kw oil filled radiator, table lamp and a radio.
The problem I'm having is, because of mentioning the portable hot tub, of the electricians I've asked to quote so far, I can't get any clear guidance on what regs apply and what is or isn't permissible to install. It's even been suggested it should be regarded as a bathroom!
I now don't know whether all the sockets, if allowed, should be of the waterproof type or not, whether a consumer unit should be installed in the summer house because of steam/condensation, where the consumer unit should be located, what size trip should be fitted in the house consumer unit to supply it or what size SWA cable would be needed.
All I want is to get a tested and certified supply to my summerhouse but with so much differing opinion, I don't know who to trust!
Any help or advice would be gratefully received.
Thank you.
Firstly, I'm not an electrician by trade but I am after advice on a potentially tricky install.
A little background..... I have a 6' diameter portable hot tub made by mSpa (similar idea to Lay Z Spa) which, for the past 5 years, I have plugged into an RCD protected waterproof outside socket by the patio. So far so good! For information, the data label for the hot tub quotes a maximum current of 10A.
Now to the problem.... I recently built a 12' x 10' wooden summerhouse with the intention of using half of it for the portable hot tub and the other half as a sort of conservatory. I am trying to get an electrical supply installed.
My thoughts (based on the little bit I know) were to run an SWA cable (approx 40m) from a dedicated MCB on the house consumer unit to a separate RCD protected garage style consumer unit in the summer house positioned at the top of the wall above where the hot tub will be.
I was thinking of having a 16A MCB feeding a single waterproof socket mounted next to the consumer unit to plug the hot tub into.
I was also going to have a second 16A MCB feeding a radial circuit to supply two double sockets in the conservatory part for a small 1.5Kw oil filled radiator, table lamp and a radio.
The problem I'm having is, because of mentioning the portable hot tub, of the electricians I've asked to quote so far, I can't get any clear guidance on what regs apply and what is or isn't permissible to install. It's even been suggested it should be regarded as a bathroom!
I now don't know whether all the sockets, if allowed, should be of the waterproof type or not, whether a consumer unit should be installed in the summer house because of steam/condensation, where the consumer unit should be located, what size trip should be fitted in the house consumer unit to supply it or what size SWA cable would be needed.
All I want is to get a tested and certified supply to my summerhouse but with so much differing opinion, I don't know who to trust!
Any help or advice would be gratefully received.
Thank you.
