The scheme and wiring of electricians in the apartment: drawing up a plan and project implementation

The scheme and wiring of electricians in the apartment

When carrying out repairs in the room or in the event of any malfunction associated with electricity, it is necessary to know the exact location of all the elements of the electrics. When moving into an apartment, a huge disadvantage is that the wiring plan is not handed out to the residents, unlike the private sector, where the executive scheme is a mandatory document when coordinating the project with the relevant authorities. So what to do in this case? Of course, you can try to find it in a REU or a housing department. But a less energy-intensive option, when the wiring diagram in the apartment is made up either by their own efforts, or with the help of specialists. In this article we will talk about what are the options for power supply of various apartments and how to properly draw up an electrician circuit.

Content

• Methods for connecting electrical circuits
• The main types of wiring
• Wiring diagrams
• Requirements, Conditions, Norms
• Electrical Options

• Electrical wiring in a studio apartment
• Electrician of a multi-room apartment

Methods for connecting electrical circuits

In order for the apartment wiring diagram to be drawn up correctly, some luggage of at least basic knowledge is needed. If you can’t boast of their presence, then you shouldn’t even undertake such a rather complicated work..

It is better to seek the help of specialists who will quickly and efficiently not only draw up an electrician plan, but also if necessary eliminate the malfunction or replace the old wiring. For those who at least a little understand what is at stake, we recall the main methods of connecting electrical circuits:

1. Sequential – each element of the chain is located behind the previous one, such a connection has no nodes. The most common example is Christmas tree garland, that is, all consumers are on the same wire. A significant drawback – when one element fails, the entire circuit stops working.
2. Parallel – not a single element is interconnected, but they are connected by two nodes. In this case, even if one of the consumers malfunctions, the rest continue to work..
3. Mixed – when both the first and second type of connections are used in one section of the electrical circuit.

 

The main types of wiring

The selected wiring in the apartment is fully responsible for the entire circuit. There are three main types:

• The most common type of wiring is through junction boxes. In this case, the electrical panel is located on the stairwell, and not in the living room. From it, a power cable enters the apartment, and in the dashboard itself there are a meter and several switches (most often 1-3). In each separate room, power is supplied through a junction box located at the entrance.

• “Star”. In this case, each lighting point or outlet is located on a separate cable line that goes into the electrical panel, and often have their own circuit breaker. Such an electrical wiring in the apartment is good in that it gives you the opportunity to exercise complete control over each element of the power supply circuit, but a significant minus for the owner is a significant increase in the number of necessary wiring and labor costs, as well as the high cost of a fairly large shield, which leads to a significant cost of the project.
• “Plume”. The principle of such wiring is similar to the “star”, but differs in that not one element, but several is placed on one cable. Such a project will cost much cheaper than the previous one..

The most commonly used mixed types of wiring. In this example, it is a “star” and a “train”

It’s rare in which apartment you can find one of the options in a “pure form”. In each case, they are mixed to achieve the most effective result..

Wiring diagrams

Any wiring diagram in an apartment – this is an accurate drawing of the plan of all rooms with an exact indication of distribution groups and each element of power supply. It is best to place it not on one sheet, but on separate ones, on each of which there will be a detailed description of only one group. In the future, such a plan will be easy to read and understand..

All sources of consumption should be divided into several groups. By connecting each of them to a separate machine, in the future it will be possible to avoid a complete blackout in the apartment if it is necessary to repair the wiring in one of the rooms. In addition, when installing only one line, you will need a very powerful cable that can withstand the high loads that occur when all consumers are connected to the network at the same time.

If the electric switchboard is located in the apartment, then it is possible to connect at least every electricity consumer to a separate machine, but this will entail significant costs. The following groups are most often distinguished:

• lighting of living rooms, kitchens and corridors;
• power supply of living rooms;
• power supply to the kitchen and corridors;
• lighting and power supply of the bathroom (this group should be distinguished in any case, since due to increased humidity in the toilet and bathroom special requirements are made to the wiring);
• if the apartment has an electric stove, then it should also be separated from the rest.

Important: Do not forget to install a residual current device (RCD), the so-called residual current circuit breakers, for each group of safety devices. Also, they must be supplied with electrical wiring of the bathroom and kitchen.

After the groups are designed, it is necessary to determine the connection places of all the main consumers of electricity. This is a washing machine, electric stove, air conditioning, water heater, oven and dishwasher. Now you can determine the installation location of switches, fixtures, junction boxes and sockets and put them on the draft plan of the electricians of the apartment. We carefully connect all the chains and put down the lengths of the wires.

Tip: Be sure to make an electrician plan for the apartment in duplicate and remove one of them in the family archive with documents. It will come in handy again and again.

Now, a final electric circuit in the apartment is being drawn up. For this, an exact plan of all the rooms on each sheet is shown taking into account all sizes. All electrical points are affixed using conventional designations and are connected by lines indicating the wires. For better readability of the circuit, we recommend lighting, grounding wires and power cables to be marked with different colors.

Be sure to mark all the distances: the linear dimensions of the rooms, the distance from the wires to the walls, ceiling, floor, as well as to heating systems. Such a scheme will not only be more visual, but it will be possible to make all the necessary calculations on it..

Requirements, Conditions, Norms

When drawing up the scheme, you should remember some important requirements for the location of electrical wiring in residential premises:

1. There should be no power outlets in the bathroom, except for an electric shaver outlet connected via a transformer.
2. Do not connect the grounding contacts of outlets to neutral wires, as well as to a water supply or heating system. It is dangerous to human life. For this purpose, there is a protective earth wire.
3. If the apartment is not equipped with a gas, but with an electric stove, the main automatic machine must be rated at least 63A.
4. Wires are laid only vertically and horizontally, located strictly at right angles to each other. You should not change their trajectory, in the future it is fraught with the fact that the probability of breakdown of wires with a nail or a drill increases when performing small repairs.
5. Crossing wires should be avoided. If this is not possible, then the distance between them should be more than 3 mm.
6. When setting dimensions on the plan, it is necessary to ensure that the distance from the cable to the floor or ceiling is at least 150 mm, to window frames, door frames and corners – at least 100 mm.
7. All switches and sockets are best located at the same height. At the same time, the switches are installed to the left of the entrance doors at a height of 800-900 mm, and sockets – 250-300 mm. In some cases, for example in the kitchen, the distance may vary.
8. The gap between the heating pipes and wires must be at least 30 mm.
9. The wires to the outlets are connected from below, and to the switches from above.

Electrical Options

In this part of the article, we will present typical electrical circuits in apartments of various sizes. Of course, each specific plan will depend on the individual preferences of the owners, but in all of them there will be sockets, light sources and a distribution board. Taking the proposed options as a sample, they can easily be supplemented with the necessary electrical points.

Electrical wiring in a studio apartment

In a one-room apartment, wiring is most often divided into two groups:

– a kitchen and a bathroom, where a large number of electrical appliances accumulate;

– living room.

This is done in order to obtain a power reserve by distributing the total load on two circuits, and also so that in the event of a circuit or open circuit, one line remains in working condition.

Electrician of a multi-room apartment

The above diagram of the apartment electrical wiring of the standard courtyard with the location of the electrical panel near the entrance to the apartment is made in a somewhat simplified form. Only the main lighting sources are presented here, that is, chandeliers, simple single-key switches and hidden sockets with a protective contact for grounding.

The electrical wiring diagram in an apartment with a large number of rooms is made similar to this example.

So, as you can see for yourself, the electrical circuit can be made independently. Of course, the specialist will do this work much better, but each landlord is responsible for the safe residence of all members of his family, as well as himself, and therefore he should at least be able to correctly determine the location of the wires to avoid accidental damage with a nail or drill.

Have you made a diagram of the electricians in your own apartment? now you can start implementing your own project.