Sockets and switches are the main elements of a home electrical network. The question of installing them with your own hands is relevant for many. The comfort and reliability of all electrical appliances in the house depend on the preparation of the correct connection diagram for switches and sockets and installation.
When laying the mains, the main factors are the safety and convenience of using sockets and switches.
Standards for installation
To determine the number of outlets and choose their location, you should know the installation standards for the PUE:
- The presence of a grounding contact with a separate supply, which is not, under normal conditions, a conductor of electric current.
- There should be no outlets above or below sinks, in cabinets, or other uncomfortable places.
- Sockets in living quarters and in the kitchen should be powered from separate lines. Kitchen elements and lighting can be connected in one group.
- In residential premises, it is possible to connect sockets in rooms of high humidity (bath, toilet, bath) only through an RCD.
- It is recommended to place the connection points of electrical appliances away from grounded elements: metal pipelines, sinks and other engineering networks.
Switch Installation Standards
- Circuit breakers are always installed in a phase wire break.
- In rooms of high humidity and in the attic, their presence is not allowed.
- Above the floor level, the switches are located at a height of 1.5 m. At the entrance to the room they are installed on the side of the door handle.
- With simultaneous switching of more than 20 lamps, only automatic machines can be installed.
- The external socket or switch on the external wall of the house must have a design with at least IP44 protection.
Wiring Methods
After drawing up the connection diagram of the switches and sockets, their parameters and the required cross-section of the conductors should be calculated. Then you need to lay the wire and install the switching equipment in place.
- Wiring is made open and hidden. The first method is done mainly in the utility rooms and outside the house. For hidden wiring, it is necessary to do a dusty and time-consuming job of shredding grooves for wires with recesses for socket boxes and junction boxes.
- The process of wall chipping is not a problem if you have a special tool that is usually not available for personal use. Stroborezka and other devices can be rented.
- A punch with a crown and a special nozzle is used for recesses under the socket and grooves. Laying is easier if you pre-mark the path by drilling holes in the walls. It is much easier to deal with plasterboard partitions if you purchase special round nozzles for a drill.
- Outdoor equipment is open type and must be protected from dust and moisture.
When electrical wiring is introduced into the room, the connection of sockets and switches is done through different lines. There can be from two to four for equipment:
- lighting;
- sockets for a router, computer, TV, charging the phone and other household appliances;
- air conditioning or electric heater.
Cables are connected via terminal or feed-through junction boxes. In the first case, wires connecting with other elements do not come out of them. The pass-through box has such a connection.
Socket Installation
Do-it-yourself sockets and switches are connected according to the rules.
When conducting electrical work, the entire apartment is de-energized. A three-core wire is used for outlets, where the blue core is used to connect the neutral, the yellow-green one is for protective grounding, and the latter can be of any color and is connected to the phase. The wire comes from the control panel machine or from the box. For ordinary outlets, its cross section is 2.5 mm 2 , but here you must take into account the power of the connected device.
Wires are passed through the holes of the socket and mounted on the power clamps of the outlets. For them, the phase is usually located on the left hand of the user, and zero on the right when he is facing the outlet. This does not matter much, although for powerful electrical equipment it can be crucial. The ground wire is connected to a separate contact.
The contacts can be self-locking where screw tightening is not required. The bare ends of the wire are inserted into them, and a built-in spring presses them to the current-carrying terminals. Installation should be done carefully, otherwise the contacts will loosen, and the electrical circuit will be broken, or the conductors will overheat in these places. No more than two conductors are connected to one terminal.
In the box, the socket is attached with clamps. If it is fixed with spacer legs, they hold worse. It is better to use self-tapping screws that are screwed into the holes of the socket. The socket cover should fit snugly against the wall. It is screwed to the inside. The external outlet is mounted on the wall surface and is used for open wiring. Such an installation is simpler, but for aesthetic reasons, they try to make the devices internal.
Connect multiple outlets
Several devices nearby are connected one from another. The circuit should take into account the cross-section of the wires and the load on each outlet. A junction box for sockets and switches of a hidden installation is located in the room, and a power wire from the automatic switch of the control panel is connected to it. The main compounds are made in it.
It is advisable to supply a separate power supply to each outlet in the room. Then, if one of them fails, the rest will remain operational. The method is expensive, but it is often used because of its high reliability. This is especially true for connecting powerful consumers.
Parallel connection of all outlets to one line saves installation costs and labor. The disadvantage in the connections of devices by a loop is the disconnection of an entire group in case of failure of one. Therefore, they try to connect the middle outlet first, and the rest from it.
The connection diagrams of switches and sockets are made through junction boxes, where the wires are connected using terminal blocks, soldering, welding, crimping, screw clamps. Twisting is not recommended. According to the rules of the PUE, in all places where the conductors are connected and branches are made, a reserve is created along the length of the wire so that it can later be used again to update the connection. Boxes are recommended to be indented 10-20 cm from the ceiling, where there will be no accidental touches to them. They can be easily hidden and, if necessary, have access to repair wiring.
Connection of switches
Switches are used to connect power to the fixtures. Usually they close the phase wire. Protective and neutral wires do not pass through them. One terminal of the luminaire is connected to the zero wire, and the input of the switch to the phase wire. On the opposite side is the terminal from which the wire goes to the second contact of the device.
Two-gang switch
The rules showing how to connect a two-key light switch are the same as for a simple device. The only difference is that the device has two outputs, which are usually connected to the chandelier. Each of them is associated with a key that enables the inclusion of a separate group of lamps. The two-key model combines two simple devices in one case.
An advantage of the method is the possibility of simultaneous or separate inclusion of two groups of fixtures from a single device. A large number of switching requires additional laying of phase wires to the switch and lamps. A diagram showing how to connect a two-key light switch is always on the back of the switch. It can also be found in the accompanying instructions.
Socket switch in one housing: how to connect?
The switch is connected from the outlet if they are combined in a common housing. The method is used to unload the junction box, save wire and connect a nearby lamp, for example near a bed in the bedroom.
Connection is done as follows:
- power is supplied to the outlet in the usual way;
- the phase is connected to the input of the switch;
- the protective wire can also be connected from the outlet;
- from the outlet of the switch and the zero of the socket, the lamp is connected.
The reverse connection of the outlet from the switch is not done, since no neutral wire is connected to it. The socket can be turned on or off only from the circuit breaker located in the control cabinet.
Conclusion
The connection diagrams of switches and sockets are not difficult, but must be performed correctly. First of all, it is connected with electrical safety. By gradually following all the installation recommendations and assembling the circuit correctly, you can avoid many problems and ensure the reliability of your home electrical network.