Electric supply to boiler

[bewsh]

I've heard different rules from different engineers about the electric supply to boilers. My one mate who's an installer for BG says it has to be supplied via a switchable fuse spur and you can't just have a fused plug socket.

One of the guys I work with reckons that you can either have a switched fuse spur or a plug which goes in to a non-switchable socket so you physically have to pull the plug out to kill the power, rather than just pressing the off button.

Anyone know if these are regs or just good practice?

 

[dancinplumba]

the fella you work with is 100% correct, your BG man is not 🙂

 

[Whyme]

:iagree:

 

[bewsh]

I thought so. And my BG mate made us pay some sparky to put a spur in when we could have used the plug socket!

Is it NCS or is it just electric regs?

 

[kirkgas]

Bewsh
What are you asking is NCS or electric regs, a boiler on a plug top?
Read the MI for the boiler and it will tell you how it should be connected, it might tell you to refer to BS ???? Which you might need a spark to clarify for you
Basically the boiler MI will be looking for complete isolation, which a plug top meets but get a spark to confirm, NOT your BG mate who is quoting THEIR rules not the regs

 

[TBServices]

Can't get much safer than unplugging the boiler in terms of isolation lol.

 

[jfb]

As I understand it a fixed appliance needs to be connected via a switched fused spur and a boiler counts as a fixed appliance.

 

[TBServices]

Should be double pole isolation too

 

[Dannypipe]

As I understand it, a plug/socket is fine....but a lot of engineers sneer at the idea.

I tend to fit a switched, fused spur but I don't mind at all when I see a boiler wired back to a plug!

 

[jfb]

Sorry but I think a fixed appliance needs to be wired via a switched fused spur. I will check wiring reg's and apologise if I am wrong but I don't think a three pin plug complies with 17th edition reg's

 

[lame plumber]

a plug removed fm a socket is sooo safe omho,

 

[nickelarsed]

I'm actually a big enough loser to have looked up the regs on fixed appliances in 17th edition. Since I'm hoping to be doing ACS soon it sounded like the kind of thing I should check. As far as the reg on fixed equipment goes it's number 537.3.2.1 and plug and socket outlet is acceptable. Whether there is something somewhere else in the regs I don't know. I feel like such a geek.

 

[ManchesterGas]

As said, needs to be an unswitched socket or a switched fused spur.

Switched sockets can be switched on the live only so doesn't give enough means of isolation for a lazy engineer that will just switch it off instead of unplugging it.

 

[dancinplumba]

a plug removed fm a socket is sooo safe omho,

Who is an omho ?

 

[TBServices]

Who is an omho ?

Japanese gay man.

 

[AlexGas]

Here it is:

From the current BS 6798:2009

Specification for installation and maintenance of gas-fired boilers of rated input not exceeding 70 kW net

5.6 Electricity supplies and wiring
5.6.1 The electrical installation shall conform to BS 7671.
5.6.3 The point of connection to the mains electricity shall be readily accessible and the method of connection shall provide electrical isolation of the boiler and all ancillary electrical controls by either:
a) a double-pole switched fused connection unit; or
b) a fused three-pin plug and an unswitched shuttered socket outlet (refer to 5.3.5.4 if the boiler is going to be installed in a bathroom).

COMMENTARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS ON 5.6.3
The Institution of Electrical Engineers Electrician’s Guide to the Building Regulations [17] advises that a minimum of 300 mm should be allowed from the edge of kitchen sinks and draining boards to the boiler’s point of connection to the mains electricity to reduce the risk of being splashed.
5.6.4 All fuses shall be in accordance with the boiler and component manufacturer’s instructions.

 

[AlexGas]

b) a fused three-pin plug and an unswitched shuttered socket
outlet (refer to 5.3.5.4 if the boiler is going to be installed in a
bathroom).

As we know from the 17th – you could have a socket-outlets it a bathroom but it has to be 3m away (horizontally) from the boundary of zone 1.

 

[AlexGas]

From the current BS 6798:2009

Specification for installation and maintenance of gas-fired boilers of rated input not exceeding 70 kW net

5.3.5 Bathroom and shower room installations

5.3.5.4 The electrical supply to the boiler shall be provided via a switched fused connection unit; however, socket-outlets are allowed in rooms containing a bath or shower as long as they are 3 m from the edge of Zone 1 and RCD protected.