Thorfun

hello boffins, I'm hoping someone much cleverer than me can answer me what a value of 1000N/10 cm of crush resistance equates to? i.e. if a cable with that crush resistance was buried in the ground (clay) how far down would it need to be to not be subjected to that level of force?

I've quite enjoyed this data gathering mission but I've decided to be sensible and stick some 50mm ducting in and be done with it for now. chances are by the time we get around to building the pool house cable prices will have dropped enough to have paid for the ducting in savings over today's cable prices! even if they haven't it's £250 or more in cable that I don't have to buy now and it's not like I haven't got enough other stuff to think about and organise and get done! not sure why I want to keep adding stuff to my already full plate. must be a self-builder.

cheers. and great info. but I'm happy to leave that sort of stuff to my electrician who I trust!

already got one of those as we've got a TT system. but I presume another rod wouldn't hurt and they're dirt cheap!

wouldn't I need 3-core? one for earth?

yeah, that Tescon Profil tape does make it very easy. although I believe it's a 12mm split so if you're using 9mm plasterboard in your reveals there's not a lot of room for error before the tape is visible over the skim! luckily I'll be using 12mm plasterboard and a 3mm skim so even with my dodgy taping skills I should be ok. 😉

and I have considered this but I've only dug a narrow 70mm trench using a tooth on my digger. so I 'could' fit a 54mm ducting in there if I really wanted to and maybe I should and this is most likely the best idea but it seems to be spending money of duct when I could just lay the cable underground now. although, I guess if I get the cable wrong now I've wasted money on that anyway!

the problem is I don't have any details. tbh, we'll probably never build the pool but I'm currently digging a trench for a different cable and am just looking to try and future proof as much as possible. so, whatever cable I choose to bury now may not end up being enough but it also might! and so it could save much disruption further down the line. so I just kinda wanted a ball-park figure rather than doing tons of research. but, in answer to your questions, I would hazard a guess at the following: Lighting: Minimal as it'll be LED. maybe 100W - 200W all in with a few spots and LED strips? Heating: Shouldn't be any in the pool house as it'll be well insulated and mostly used in the summer months anyway. Small power: small drinks fridge, LED TV (maybe), Sonos speakers or stereo, maybe a fan or two if it's really hot in the summer. Ventilation: Doubt much will be needed Other electrical loads: ASHP for pool (3kW), filter (800W as per @billt), electric pool cover (small motor would presume) anyone think of anything else? we're not talking a big building here! permission is for a 5m x 3m pool house. distance will be approx 50m from CU in the plant room in the basement and SWA cable will be run underground. so, that can't be more than 5kW. even if we put 7.5kW load into this voltage drop calc (https://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Technical/Charts/VoltageDrop.html) it comes out at 6mm and 40A max cable load. a 10mm cable will give me up to 11kW (51A max cable load). that's gotta be plenty!? if I'm going to build something that needs more than that then I'll just dig up the garden and run a new cable but will I really need more than 11kW to run a 5m x 3m pool house and pool designed and permission granted at 9m x 4m?

I used this video as my guide for airtightnessing. it goes through sealing around windows at approximately 28 mins in. our windows now look like this it's time consuming work but very satisfying to see once completed.

thanks guys. great information and I definitely agree with you @AliG that 50A (so a 10mm cable) will be sufficient for all our pool needs. Will run it by the electrician and get it ordered and laid!

thanks. very useful information. 👍

I have previously! but his pool is indoors and also substantially bigger than I think we'd ever build. 😉 but, I will re-read it to refresh my memory as I'm pretty goldfish these days

thinking ahead here...... ....we have planning permission for a pool house and swimming pool. I'm currently digging a trench for an SWA cable for the new chicken house and figured I should probably run a cable now in the same trench for the potential pool house and pool. After speaking to our electrician he said he needs to know the requirements before he can recommend a size of SWA cable. so, does anyone have a rough ball-park figure for power requirements for a swimming pool equipment (including ASHP) and pool house (fridge, lights, tv and whatever would go in a pool house!) sparky has said 10mm cable should give us 50A but wasn't sure if that would be enough for a heated pool. anyone any experience on this please?

we have a 3-phase supply to the head in an external cabinet but could only get a single phase smart meter installed and that was hard enough to find let alone a 3-phase meter! but, that doesn't bother me as I'd always wanted just a single phase to run our entire house with the option of getting a 3-phase meter at a later date so I could charge EVs if required using 3-phase. I had our solar PV designed as a single phase inverter system and got the 10kW G99 application approved so all Solar PV can be used on any appliance in the house. I never really liked the idea of running different phases in the house for safety reasons. I'm not an electrician but I read enough posts about arcing to put me off for life! We installed a TP&N switched fused isolator in the external cabinet and ran a 25mm 5 core cable from the cabinet to the comms room where it terminates in another TP&N isolator and the single phase in use is being fed to our CU. that way, if we want to add 3-phase usage in the house at a later date we can take the feeds from the isolator in the comms room.

Welcome! Sounds like a challenge and I look forward to reading about your journey.

I think the guys mistake on the Canterbury episode (which we enjoyed watching) was that he didn't engage the architect who designed the house. I think the costs of hiring the architect would've meant someone would be on-site to oversee the progress and you can guarantee that the architect would've ensured it was done properly from the start to make their vision come to life how they dreamt it would. I think that would've been worth £50k if not more. could've ended up saving them a small fortune as well.

In a basement? With MVHR extract? Nah. 😉

Probably coz there’s no cables at the moment! 😂

so I've gone against the advice and have installed them in the basement. After speaking to the suppliers who've stated they have never had a battery catch fire and have also said that I can fit a DC breaker (80V/125A) which will reduce the risk of cable fire I am confident that they're safe in the basement. there's probably more chance of our washing machine causing a fire!** so, today I fitted the Squirrel Pod and the 2 x 3.2kWh batteries and it looks very nice and neat with plenty of space below for more batteries should the need arise. now just waiting on the Solar PV inverter to be installed and commissioned next week and then I can get the electrician back in to wire the batteries up and can start making use of our free energy! ** I have no data to back that statement up

we've all been there. my point was a +1 for building a retaining wall and filling in to create a shallower drive as my friend's drive would be very steep without the retaining wall and steps down to the front door.

yeah, just a bit of a logistical nightmare. will think upon it some more and decide on one of the 3 options I have.

my neighbour is a plumber so I plan to speak to him soon on the subject. tbh, I'm not fussed about BCO sign off but I do want it to be safe!

but does that conform to G3 regulations?

there is a potential place but it's in a cupboard off the garage (but within the insulated envelope of the building). but it's in a far corner so definitely not central whereas the plant room is central to the house just one floor down. so would actually be longer runs in the only cupboard that could accommodate it on the ground floor.

so it's approx 20m with 2 x bends and a hole through a 250mm reinforced concrete wall. I'm definitely leaning towards the pump solution even though it's the most costly. 😞