Wow... fantastic explanation. I have a PhD in electrical engineering, and this guy just hit you all with a hotdog in the bum!!!!

If you're not an electrician and are planning to add any socket, or light switch. Listen to this firstly!!!! It will give you the confidence to add the electrical circuit and be certain you're doing it correctly. The advice he gives is absolutely correctly pitched AND ■(surprisingly)■ is even backed up with mathematical proof. Well done video poster!!!

As an electrician of 44 years and approved NICEIC contractor, you are pretty spot on with this video, but would remind anyone watching that the provision of a new circuit from CCU would require to be Part P notified and an installation certificate issued. But still one of the more accurate diy videos I’ve seen. 👍

Thank you for demystifying the issue of adding sockets. Your explanation was very clear and once again a very beneficial few minutes that sees me a little more knowledgeable and less likely to put me and others in danger!

Very effective and clear explanation here. Genuine depth of knowledge illustrated by ability to provide analytical and critical commentary on regs…Is what I’d say if this was a university assessment submission! 😅 But seriously, it’s this level of understanding our subjects, to which we should all aspire. Kudus!

Great explanation, I will watch this film a few time to make sure I understand the content. Much appreciated, thank you, regards, Chris.

Great video - really clear, well illustrated and not overly wordy. Thank you.

Absolutely the best video / explanation covering virtually every aspect - brilliant learning tool, exactly what I needed, in easy to understand DIY language. Thank you so much.

Brilliant well informed information for diy folks. Thanks very much for this. :)

Very useful and well explained, thanks!

Great information and reassuring, always thinking of myself as a competent DIYer I'm pleased to find my existing understandings fit with your professional explanation.

Working on some electrics now and this has helped, nice clear video! thank you!

Excellent video. Thanks.

Great video, keep them coming

You have a great talent for this. Perfect explanation. Thank you.

Great video, thanks. I liked the tip of inserting a fused switch into a lengthy radial circuit to cap the overall current.

Excellent video young man. Clear and concise. Also made me feel good about all the electrical extensions and other work I did in my 70's house back in the 80's (they really didn't cater for a future power hungry world). It would appear I did it all correctly. House is still here along with me!!

I knew most of that, but I've never come across safe-plates before. Such a simple idea.

This was very informative, i have learned a few things i didn't give a thought about before thanks.

Clear and concise , just in a 100yr old house, great heads up on potential problems, a little knowledge when discussing with electrician really helpful with my understanding

A very concise & informative video 👍

Great advice and well presented. If in doubt about a ring main then replace MCB with 20A which is a good precaution in any event as high power is not usual except for kitchens with many appliances in addition to oven and hobs ( separate 6mm T&E ).

Great explanation and diagrams. Thank you!

Great video, my favourite expression when I don't understand something is 'explain it to me like I'm a 2 year old'. You achieved that in spades, thanks.

Excellent video. I’ve been in the construction industry for over 50 years and this is the clearest explanation of domestic circuitry that I have ever heard, thank you.

Sparky here .. strangely a lot of homes here (Ipswich Suffolk) built 1945-1952 ish have 4mm radials for they're sockets .. I've always thought this strange for the 'after the war period'... you'd think that'd be smack in the saving metal period.... Anyway It's nightmare if you try to fit anything other than MK sockets as a lot of cheap sockets have small cable clamps that just won't take 2 4mm conductors...as for the safe zones .. kitchen fitters I'm looking at you ...the amount of diagonal cables ..or times I find sockets/ cooker switches in the combustion zone is uncountable.....nice video for the homeowners dude ..keep it up.

Excellent informative clip. Clear and to the point! I'm now a follower! 👏✅

This was incredibly informative. Thanks!

Two 13A appliances into a double socket is a bad idea - most are only tested at 20A across both. Washing machines & tumble dryers are a favourite for cooked double sockets.

The explanation for the ring main system given to me many years ago was that it was used in warships for additional resilience, and then adopted after a methodical review of the wiring for homes. Before that, the radial system was used, with 3 sizes of plug and socket for different ratings. He was a physicist who had served in the navy during the war.

Excellent video. Thank you so much for being clear and concise. No faffing about.

Thanks, this is very interesting and very informative!

Great topic. I’m an electrician myself. I agree ring circuits are no longer needed. Most equipment in homes nowadays would happily run on 2.5 radial circuits. 60 years ago 2.5 radial circuits might not have been the perfect solution with alot more resistive loads drawing more current but nowadays everything is much more efficient.

Interesting, here in Hungary we usually use 1.5 for general sockets (phones chargers, hoover etc) with a 13A mcb, and about 5-10sockets per radial circuits/ 2.5 in kitchens mostly 16A mcb, radial/ hob, washing machine, water heater, towel dryer, oven, all separate circuits. Never seen a ring circuit being used over here

I've never heard an explanation for ring circuits before! The war makes perfect sense. Thank you! Never legal in the US. Ring configurations were used in some communications systems, though, and with the same issue. Without a failure detect mechanism, you wouldn't know you lost your redundancy.

Brilliant! Concise and authoratitive.

I am an electrician and I can prove that ring mains should be banned. If one is supposed to test without dismantling a circuit how can one test a ring main. On the standard test one has to reassemble the circuit once the test is complete which means the test one has just done is null and void because there is no proof that one assembled the tested circuit correctly.

I found that very interesting but one thought on safety plates, as most builders and some do it yourself people are now using cordless impact drill drivers you can easily drive a screw through those plates without knowing. cheers Les

Thanks buddy . I'm a new learner loved the video. I didn't know about the safety plates. Cool

A lot of good information there, thank you

It's worth noting that a 32A breaker, for example, doesn't just trip at 32 amps. They have very well defined over-current to time characteristics. This means that the breaker will not trigger until 10 seconds at three times the rated current. Even at double the rated current the breaker could take 100 seconds to hit its thermal trigger.

I am an electrician and your explanation is brilliant. The only thing I would add is that you are allowed to have up to 3 circuit per MCB and that mean you can keep broken ring without adding new MCB as long as you downgrade it to let's say 16 amp. But this shenanigans should be checked by electrician as no dyiers know how to check for Ze and Zs which are crucial for safety in electrical installation.

very useful, and easy to understand, thanks

Excellent! Thanks for this!

Great video. Got a theoretical question however with regards to unfused spurs off a ring main. If using 4mm which has a rating of 37A clipped direct, from the ring main via a socket or terminal block, why can’t you spur more than one? Using a FCU of 13A protects the 2.5mm you would typically use, but the 32A MCB of the ring main would protect the 4mm spurs of multiple sockets no? Curious to others thoughts really…

Worth mentioning that most people think a twin socket outlet is made to work with 2x appliances both running at 13amps. The BS that they are made too only requires the socket to be capable of carrying 13amps in total & if you look on the back you will see they are marked as 13amp & not 2x 13amp or 26amp. MK Electric tell me their twin socket outlets have been independently tested & will run at 19amps for a short period without any damage to the socket but if you go any higher thermal damage will start to occur quite rapidly

Here in Malta we used to use ring cables and i always wondered how exactly they save less cable. Really informative thank you

Thanks. good advice and cleared up a few questions.

I learnt quite a few things from that, thanks !

Thank you for a clear explanation.

Fascinating and well described.

Very clearly and simply explained. 👍🏻

Great info, well delivered.

All very useful thank you.

Just what I was looking for, I tend to investigate before I add an addition socket, in my garage Thanks

Excellent video, thanks for sharing! 👍🏾

This saved me a lot of time, thank you!

Very concise summary.

Excellent video, clear and concise 😊

Great video. Thank you

Very helpful for rewiring the garage.

Excellent explanations!

Nice job and good idea. Thanks for letting us know 🎉🎉🎉🎉❤❤❤❤❤

Thanks,very informative!

Very informative video - thank you.

Brilliant video. Well done you.

Thanks for the info, especially the safe plates which I have never seen before. I know there are none of these anywhere in my house, at the moment!

Excellent video. Thank you

Excellent delivery. Subscribed.

Excellent video thank you so much

I'm a canadian and I just find this very interesting. Definitely prefer our code to yours :) Good video. Thanks

One of the best explanations I’ve seen👍 surely plugging a 4 gang plug extension on a double spur has a risk of overload also?

Thank you for a very informative video.

All good common sense info . Thanks

Nicely explained 👍🏼 very helpfull

very informative excellent 👍many thanks

Amazing explanation

Great video. Subscribed!

good info, also its always worth adding up the current that devices use and plug things in sensibly, on the plus side most things use alot less current these days.

Excellent!

Thanks man!

Thank you.

Good basic explanation of domestic wiring. Newer houses tend to have enough sockets now, so far less likely that you would need to add more or interfere with what has been installed. However, older homes, particularly 50’s/‘60’s/70’s were barely provided for in today’s energy thirsty world. So that’s where the risks start when DIYers get involved. Many are fairly competent to add small modifications, but from my experience non-competent ones are the real risk. Sockets changed with new “USB” integral chargers is the latest risk, because those who don’t really have the necessary knowledge or good working practice can leave the terminals loose or incorrectly wired. My current home had a nightmare of half finished, wrongly completed wiring work, some of it live to the touch if you put your fingers in the wrong place. As they used to say “a little knowledge is a very dangerous thing”…

Learning about the history of typical installations was very interesting. Only yesterday another electrician mentioned the UK as having a weird system of wiring, now I know why!

well explained.

Great video buddy

best explanation of this I have seen

Thanks great vid😃😎🤘👍

You may have answered a number of issues I have with a number of sockets not working as well, when charging drill battery doesn't charge on some sockets, noticed Fuse Spur, now I understand what this box is WOW

What a great video!

Really good videos. Nice clear explanations at a digestible pace and without any bs. Subbed. Do you know of any good sources of info for learning about how many amps to put safely on a circuit, what cables and fuses to use etc? Some software or interactive website would be ideal for testing different wiring combinations etc

Very informative and interesting. My flat was rewired etc before I moved in and they put the kitchen sockets on a separate circuit due to that being where the most high power appliances are used, which is a great idea. Is the not taking a spur from a cooker the reason why you don't see cooker switches with sockets nowadays most of the time.

Thee best video on KZfaq!

Thanks nice well put together video. Happy that I meet all of your comments. Except “safe plates”. Never heard of them? Never seen them, which the plumber and the electrician that did put house had used them. They look like a very good idea. Are they a new thing?

I have never seen or heard of ring installations before (living in Germany). Always interesting to see what is regarded "normal" elswhere.

Excellent 👌 subscribed 👍

Thank you for your video, could you please clarify on a radial circuit do you not have to have a bigger cable like a 4 mm

harika bilgi için teşekkürler..

A friend a few years back bought a one bedroom flat in London, costing a fortune of course. He was stuck for money renovating the place. He focused on the bathroom and kitchen to spend. I told him he could cuts costs on the electrical system. I explained. ... Have *two* circuits with a very small and cheap Consumer Unit box. One circuit serving a 4mm ring and one 1.00mm lighting. Heating and hot water was via a gas combi. I said Induction hobs are now available with 13A plugs. Ovens now have integrated microwaves (saving worktop space) being 3kW maximum (13A plugs). He was to have a dishwasher and washing washing. So, the ring to have: ▪ The induction hob (3kW) and oven (3kW) off 13A fused spur isolation switches in adjacent cupboards. ▪ Dishwasher (2.2kW) and washing machine (2.5kW) off 13A sockets in adjacent cupboards. ▪ The ring fed four heavyish current drawing appliances plus a toaster via the sockets. He used an IKEA kettle on the hob, so no need for an electric kettle taking up worktop space. The rest on the ring was TV, computer, combi and phone charging. If The 4mm cable was cut for any reason the AFDD 32A breaker would protect the two cable legs and also if there was any imbalance on the ring. The ring was a distributed busbar. The likelihood that all four appliances would ever be on full power at the same time was extremely slim (diversity). He bought a reel of 4mm cable on a good deal as well. I suggested at least an RCBO, but ideally an AFDD on the ring with an RCBO on lighting would be far better. He went for the AFDD costing about £55 over the RCBO at the time. Works a treat. Very safe, as *all* the flat is given AFDD protection apart from the LED lighting, which can have an AFDD in the future with a simple swap in and swap out. Never had any problems. It never costed a fortune - saving quite a lot of money. Look at the Continental main boards in one and two bedroom flats - huge and expensive full of radial circuits and breakers - typical in French installations is _three_ RDCs in a small flat. It looks like what you may have in a small school. Unnecessary.

👍clear and useful