I have a small property in Spain. At the moment I have one radial circuit that does the sockets (and some lighting) for the whole house and one lighting circuit. Its way over the UK standard of 2.5m for 50sq. Because they use double pole MCB/RCBO's over there and my existing CU is very small I only have space to fit one more RCBO. I will use it to put in a separate circuit to the kitchen (which uses the most power) but want I want to know is whether I can safely run two radial Circuits off the same RCBO. Its not ideal i know but you would not believe the hassle involved in getting another CU fitted
Can I run 2 Radial circuits from one RCBO
- Thread starter martin d
- Start date
Jonny Foreigner laughs at rings, UK is really the only place that has them as a vanilla offering.
Don't know about Spanish regs but here it is recommended that u should have one breaker for each circuit.
HOWEVER
With a radial (or two radials) there should be no technical or safety problem with doing this. Just remember that the total load on both radials will be limited by teh trip current rating of the RCBO.
HOWEVER
With a radial (or two radials) there should be no technical or safety problem with doing this. Just remember that the total load on both radials will be limited by teh trip current rating of the RCBO.
Thanks Taylortwocities.
From what you are telling me it seems that there is little benefit in running two radials (except for ease of cable runs) as, in effect, taking two radials from the same RCBO is pretty much the same as branching.
What I need to do then is look at my total load and see if I am over. If so, its accept tripping now and again (a lot of people do in remoter parts of Spain) or try and get it upgraded and/or get another CU put on (I wish it was a simple as it sounds).
If anyone has any clever ideas to get around the problem i would be happy to hear it
From what you are telling me it seems that there is little benefit in running two radials (except for ease of cable runs) as, in effect, taking two radials from the same RCBO is pretty much the same as branching.
What I need to do then is look at my total load and see if I am over. If so, its accept tripping now and again (a lot of people do in remoter parts of Spain) or try and get it upgraded and/or get another CU put on (I wish it was a simple as it sounds).
If anyone has any clever ideas to get around the problem i would be happy to hear it
The other advantage is you can split it later if and when the CU is upgraded.