The level of “technical well-being” of a modern Russian is very much dependent on the availability of only one effective source of energy - electricity. Almost all human needs of the twenty-first century are based on this type of energy - lighting housing and streets, processing food, storing meat and fish, heating rooms in winter and getting hot water, cooling rooms and ventilation in the heat, level of communications and other functions, without which it's hard to imagine your life. Therefore, wiring in the apartment or maintaining the old are an integral part of housing construction.
Electric installation work
Nowadays, electricity goes to domestic consumers without much interruption or interruption. The main thing is to pay for the services of suppliers without delay. Another thing is the repair of the home energy network. Companies engaged in the supply of electricity are responsible for the operation of the network only to the consumer meter. In the apartment itself, the owner himself must take care of the proper functioning of electrical appliances. And it can in its own way place all the points of lighting, power and access to the mains in the optimal amount and in a convenient place for use.
There is only one significant problem: will the owner have enough qualifications to carry out such work? If not, it’s best not to argue with the voltage level in the network. This can end very sadly for the owner of the apartment, and for his household. In this case, it is better to hire an electrician to lay the wiring in the apartment and forget about the problems. But if the landlord manages to cope with the electrical work, then the electricity network fell into good hands.
Safety Rules
Before proceeding to electrical work, it must be noted that an electrician needs to know the rules for wiring in an apartment. They don’t joke with electric current, such work is very dangerous if you do not know the basics and safety rules.
Nowadays, in a standard residential apartment there is a significant amount of various consumer electronics and equipment. In this case, the voltage of each element of electrical equipment often varies. The situation with the electric grid is very difficult not only in buildings that were erected a long time ago, but also in some new buildings, since it does not have time to optimally modify and cope with the emergence of new electrical appliances in absolute terms.
To preserve household appliances and your health at hand you constantly need to have a scheme of apartment power supply in any room of housing. With the purchase of another sample of household appliances, you need to measure the change in load.
A separate and serious issue will be the wiring, which is combined with the overhaul of the room. After all, the laying of wires is carried out, as a rule, inside the walls.
In this regard, it is necessary to organize a new project for the power supply of a building or apartment. The difficulty level is professional. The drawing should be a diagram of the electrical wiring of the network and a list of necessary materials. The entry area of the supplying electric wire from the network, the installation of a distribution panel, individual boxes, new outlets, various switches, lamps, electrical appliances is marked. Having made this step, it will be possible to note the calculations of the voltage load and select the cross sections of the working conductors.
Wiring these days is mainly made of cable with high-quality copper conductors. There are several of them with different quality characteristics, recommended application locations and, of course, cost. Any product has its own types and schemes, marking the technical production characteristics.
New wiring
Laying new wiring in an apartment is a fairly common and even massive case. When you have a new apartment, you quickly realize that these are new technical problems with the wiring. And the quality of work is not very high, and the distribution of connection points is not very comfortable, and new electrical appliances require new power lines.
A similar situation arises during major repairs in an old apartment. Then it becomes possible to upgrade the power supply network from the point of entry to the outlet, repair all wiring, re-marking the installation of power connection points so that it is comfortable and safe.
Sometimes it is tempting to save money in the process of wiring in the apartment - to make a “vinaigrette” from scraps of old wires with broken insulation. This is certainly not worth doing. Firstly, it is dangerous, and secondly, such wires can fail at the most inopportune time, and it is good if without a crisis situation.
Three-pin plug
Almost all electrical appliances manufactured recently have a three-pin plastic plug in the kit. Take your time in laying wiring in the apartment in this way. Keeping up with the times, most apartment owners will probably want to install the latest three-pin when installing regular outlets.
These parts themselves, of course, are harmless, of the European standard level, technically ready for operation. However, if your apartment is located in a house built in Soviet times (somewhere in 1950 - 1970), then the power grid is probably organized according to the GOST of those years, and the new one, according to the TN – S or TN – – S schemes, only planned. In this case, it is impossible to make even small jumpers between the technical zero contact and the grounding directly on the outlet. It is very dangerous.
Planning
Having taken care of safety, it is necessary to proceed to the first stage of wiring in the apartment, the basic planning for any work - planning. Usually the wiring diagram is typical, there is nothing difficult in it. The basis in the apartment wiring diagram will be the in-house shield. Electricity goes into the housing through it, and wires must be pulled from it.
The number of power lines created will directly depend on the number of rooms. As a rule, these are several rooms (depending on the size of the apartment), a kitchen, a bathroom, hallways, if you're lucky, additional rooms, for example, a pantry, a dressing room. Also, this amount is affected by the power required for the operation of some devices. They may require an additional leased line. In most cases, there are two wires: the so-called zero and phase, in some cases a third is now added - grounding.
Of course, the wiring in the apartment with your own hands should be done after accurate calculations. Remember the school physics course and the electrodynamics course.
Network location
In a typical prefabricated house, the wiring is usually hidden, tucked away in the recesses in the wall or hidden behind drywall and wallpaper. Therefore, the wiring in the apartment with your own hands can begin with the search for power channels in the apartment.
After that, it is necessary to tackle the location of the outlets. In old apartments of the previous era, electrical outlets were usually located arbitrarily, and now it is quite difficult to find them. In our century, the correct location is considered an indicator of 40 centimeters from the floor. Sometimes this solution may seem unnatural, but there are some reasons for this: the outlets located behind cabinets and tables are almost invisible, when connected, they are closer to the target, you cannot accidentally hook them, and, no less important, such wiring in the apartment requires several less cable. There is only one subtlety: when connecting a household appliance such as a vacuum cleaner or an electric iron, you need to bend rather low.
Wiring location
Self-laying of hidden wiring in an apartment is in some cases a difficult task, even for professionals. But then you will be firmly convinced that the installation is one hundred percent complete according to the instructions. There are three leading methods for wiring:
- to lay under plaster during the construction / overhaul period;
- stretch in a corrugated polymer pipe;
- to lay in a plastic easy box.
All these methods of wiring in the apartment by specialists are considered unequivocally equal and correct, and the specific choice depends on the specifics of the apartment and your preferences. However, it is important to remember where you laid the cable, or rather, not hoping for your memory, sketch it on the apartment plan, otherwise any nail used for its intended purpose can cause damage to household appliances, or even a personal acquaintance with the current strength.
Wiring practice
For external attractiveness and safety, wiring in a new apartment with your own hands is usually carried out by creating a hidden system. It is carried out inside the apartment walls, under decorative dense decoration or other elements. The safest way can be a self-made wiring in the apartment under a hard gypsum board, since in this case the cable is well protected from any mechanical damage. A serious drawback of this repair option is that it is the most difficult and requires the ability to work simultaneously with a number of tools.
The combined installation method of the electric network combines its installation with a cable protected channel. This method allows you to simultaneously use the positive qualities of closed and open wiring - relative safety and good appearance.
Floor
Placement of wiring in the walls still does not happen combined with such difficulties as laying wiring on the floor in the apartment. The method has its positive and negative sides. And in order to minimize negative moments, it is very important to clearly orient the wiring and decide exactly how many electrical points you will have. After all, it will be practically impossible to make changes in the future.
However, the main problem that will become an obstacle during installation is the difficulty in fulfilling one technical rule. It states that all cable connection and branch sections must be free for normal maintenance and simple repairs.
There are several options for overcoming this situation. The simplest is the arrangement of electrical distribution boxes in the wall above the floor. More often, apartment electrical wiring is carried out using ordinary power outlets as junction boxes. True, in this option there is one big potential nuisance. In case of failure of the wire supplying this electrical point, all subsequent supply points will also be inoperative.
It is possible to locate the junction box in a typical place under the ceiling. But this eliminates all the advantages of laying wiring on the floor in the apartment and leads to normal work on hidden wiring.
Ceiling
Finally, another plane of the apartment that you have to deal with is the ceiling. Laying wiring on the ceiling in the apartment has its own subtleties. First of all, you need to determine the type of surface surface. Depending on whether the reinforced concrete, wooden or plastic ceiling is, work with wiring will go.
Usually, the initial stage consists in a set of traditional works and gating the ceiling for electrical wiring so that it is hidden. If it is impossible to do this due to the characteristics of the apartment, then it is recommended to try to lay wires under the suspended ceiling. This method has a lot of its features and difficulties, but in the end it will be possible to maintain the beauty of the finish and safety.
The cost of laying wiring in Russia, Ukraine
Do-it-yourself electrical installation work is an ideal way out of the situation. But if you do not have professional skills, then you can hire an electrician. Specialists can carry out electrical installation of new wiring or replace the old one, repair switchboards, electric meters, etc.
An example of such work can be wiring in an apartment in Krivoy Rog. A free departure of the master is provided for a general assessment of the situation with the operation of the electric network. Masters are able to carry out large-scale work: from replacing a light bulb to a complete replacement of wiring, transferring sockets, switches, upgrading chandeliers, troubleshooting a network, commissioning household appliances and other types of work.
The cost of repair work is relatively small: installation of a socket, a conventional switch will be up to forty hryvnias, sockets for a household electric stove - up to fifty hryvnias, installation of a switch in an old socket with simultaneous connection - up to sixty hryvnias, and so on.
In Russia, the cost of carrying out appropriate work by professionals is also reasonably affordable. In Moscow, the installation of switches or sockets will cost two hundred and fifty rubles apiece, a spotlight - three hundred rubles, a chandelier - five hundred and fifty rubles. Installation of the wire will cost from fifty rubles per linear meter, boxes - from fifty rubles per 1 piece. Connecting an electric stove and oven will cost one and a half thousand rubles. Installation of new wiring in a one-room apartment will cost from fifteen thousand rubles and above.
In the regions, something is cheaper, something is more expensive. Installation of wires and boxes is in the same price range. Installation of sockets and switches - ten to fifteen rubles cheaper. Much depends on whether to hire a craftsman working individually or professionals from a construction company. In the latter case, the cost of work is expected to be higher, but firms, as a rule, give a guarantee, and generally work better. Although it all depends on the master.