Spanish Consumer Units and Spanish Electricity bills?

[eveares]

Hi all, I am from the Uk and last week I was over in the Costa Del Sol area of Spain visiting a friend.

Now I noticed both in the hotel room I was staying at (which had a consumer unit) and at my friends apartment, most if not all the circuits were protected by double pole MCB'S versus the single pole MCB's typically found in the UK.

1) Is this a Spanish requirement and if so why?


My friend who looks after several apartments in the Costa Dell Sol area said that if one has too many appliances on and causes a overload (what apparently is rather easy), then the power for the whole of the house/apartment trips out.

My friend also said that they are given a allocated energy ratting from the energy company what is incorporated into the electricity bill, her apartment is rated at 8Kw but some of the apartments that she looks after are only rated 4Kw?

This is a bit confusing for me, I am used to UK bill format as follows: kWhr's used x price per kWhr + any applicable standing charges.


2) Are houses/apartments typically protected by a low rated MCB what covers the whole house and if so why?

I noticed in her apartment, she had one consumer unit with 5 or 6 x DP MCB's, another consumer unit directly above it with 2 x DP MCB's + a 30ma RCD, and a 32A single pole MCB in it's own moulted box next to the upper consumer unit.

Having the whole apartment protected by a 32A MCB if the case just seems absurd to me!

3) What's this thing about a energy level/rating being allocated to the property by the electricity company?

 

[endecotp]

Reminds me of this:

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/01/09/electricity_starvation_rations/

 

[Astra99]

Hi Eveares
I own an apartment in Spain, and to answer your questions:

1. Spain uses the European system of wiring, in which the plugs can be inserted into the socket either way up, i.e. they are not polarised. Thus double-pole breakers are used to ensure simultaneous disconnection of both poles in the event of a fault.
2. All Spanish properties must (should) have what is called an IPC (Interrupter de Control de Potencia) It is used to control the maximum demand available, and the higher the Potencia, the higher your monthly standing charge. The smallest IPC is 16A (3.5kW) and it then goes up in increments. (IIRC the largest domestic is 45A or10.5kW) They are, however, usually "C-curve" breakers, which means they will trip at an overload of 5-10 times their rated current. The more usual "B-curve" breakers tripe at 3-5 times overload.
3. I think this may be a misunderstanding, in that the electricity supplier will by default issue a 3.5kW supply, and if you want more you order it and pay (thought the nose) for it.

Hope this helps

 

[eveares]

1. Spain uses the European system of wiring, in which the plugs can be inserted into the socket either way up, i.e. they are not polarised. Thus double-pole breakers are used to ensure simultaneous disconnection of both poles in the event of a fault.

1) That makes sense in switches/breakers/isolators down stream of a European type plug what can be inserted two ways round resulting in the line conductor always switched despite the orientation of the plug; but in the CU I can't see the absolute need to isolate neutral as well when the neutral and CPC are usually very near the same potential against the line conductor. I suppose it does add a extra element of safety though.

2) So you don't get any 80A/100A domestic supplies in spain, the IPC's may be type C rated but there not intended for continuously exceeding their rating. The purpose of the C-curve is to allow for high start up currents and short periods of were the circuit exceeds it's breakers rating, not for known continuous loads in excess of the breakers rating.

What happens if you have a 8Kw electric shower load, 3Kw AC load, 3Kw Double Oven & hob load, 3Kw kettle load, and 1Kw worth of general house loads. That's 18Kw or 78.2 Amps. Let along if someone has their own hot tub what can in it's self take nearly 50 Amps!

Can people have multiple supplies for very high loads then? And how about 3 Phase domestic supplies?

3) 3.5Kw by default! That's only 15.2 Amps, what a cheek of the Spanish electricity board.

Q. I read somewhere on-line that the number of kWhrs used does not come into play when working the electricity bill. Is this true?
​

Regards: Elliott.

 

[PBC_1966]

The basic maximum-demand rating being very low and the user having to pay increasingly high standing charges for higher rated supplies is very much a Continental thing. EDF has done it in France for years, and on its base tariff still offers a 3kW option as the minimum. The attempts to "get by" with the minimum possible supply rating have resulted in all sorts of load-shedding arrangements, e.g. fixed electric space heating is often shut off automatically for the duration of heavier loads on receptacle outlets.

Re double-pole fusing, although there's probably little if any left these days, remember that for many years some parts of France, Spain, and some other European countries used 127/220V 3-phase local distribution systems with the 220V for each home derived from two of the phases

 

[Astra99]

Re double-pole fusing, although there's probably little if any left these days, remember that for many years some parts of France, Spain, and some other European countries used 127/220V 3-phase local distribution systems with the 220V for each home derived from two of the phases

Going back before the war (and maybe just after) it was common in this country (UK) to have large cast-iron fuse boxes with porcelain rewireable fuses in both phase and neutral for each circuit. There was very often one lighting circuit (in a small 10A rated fuse-box) and a separate large fuse-box for the one (or if you were "posh") two 15A sockets in the house, each on its own circuit. The cooker supply (if you had one) also had its own 25A/30A rated fuse-box and main switch. The fuse-boxes were designed in such a way that the front could not be opened if the isolator was in the "on" position.

 

[PBC_1966]

Double-pole fusing lasted into the early 1950's. My grandparents' house in north London still had a vast array of the old cast-iron units in the cellar into the 1970's, along with later additions such as the porcelain & bakelite MEM switchfuse units which also had the cover interlocked with the switch (in a completely different way from the old cast-iron side-handle units, of course). As I recall, there was still a 1920's glass-fronted wooden fuse box high on a wall in one hallway with double-pole fusing feeding just the various lighting circuits.