Thorfun

I would add a password even if it's simple like 'cabinguest2022'. it might make your guests feel more secure if the wifi is password protected

Great job! I bet you’re over the moon.

maybe if I go down to 50mm twinwall (or maybe 40mm assuming the 32mm ID will accept the SWA and network cable) I could fit all three through the wall? will measure it tomorrow.

now I've just got to figure out how to get 2 x 63mm twinwall + 1 x 54mm rigid duct through a 150mm duct in to the basement! I'm thinking a nice 3D printed Y-branch should do the trick and I can put the 2 x 63mm twinwalls into the Y-branch and then I can fit them through the duct in to the basement. nothing is easy is it?

ok, ok. you all win. I will disregard the crush resistance and run both the SWA 6mm 3-core and the PE sheathed Cat6a U/FTP cable in a 63mm duct and be dammed about the cost and the ramifications that might ensue! (can you tell that my funds are running out?)

I know, but how much future proofing do chickens need? It’s not like they’ll need to start streaming 8k movies! 😂

it will eventually be under a patio. so I guess there'll be hardcore compacted with a whacker plate at some point and after that it'll just be foot traffic. I wonder then if the question should what depth of clay is required to allow the crush rating to not be exceeding by a load of value x? I'm surprised there isn't some formula to calculate that sort of thing? isn't that what structural engineers do? and I want to believe the blurb! fyi this is the cable I've bought. I was just hoping that maths could give me more assurance than marketing material. yeah, I get this, but the network cable is basically just going to end up at the chicken house for a PoE CCTV camera along with a 6mm SWA cable which I won't be running in ducting as our sparky says it's not worth it. which I agree with as SWA is fine buried! so I doubt I'll ever need to upgrade the network cable. I'm more concerned with potential damage as to dig it up to repair would be tricky. maybe I should've just forked out for the SWA Cat6 cable but it was double the price! I'm thinking of 40mm twin-wall ducting run alongside the SWA 6mm 3-core cable to run the Cat6a cable in. but, as @ProDave says, it says direct burial so maybe I should save myself the £80 and not be so paranoid and just bury the cable.

so, I want to bury PE sheathed Cat6a cable (labelled as direct burial but can anyone blindly believe that). I am just wondering if it's worth spending £80 to 'protect' it in ducting from being crushed or if it will be ok direct buried? it will be about 500mm - 600mm below ground level and be buried under clay. From the reading I've done PE sheathing is suitable for direct burial but I wondered if there was actual science and physics calculations to check at what point in depth the crush rating is exceeded!

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. 😉