Electric socket, off socket, off socket...

[LastButOneSplash]

Just moved into a house that has lots of sockets running off sockets. So a socket in the bedroom is actually connected using one of those multi socket adaptor things into socket on the landing. The bedroom socket then has a multiple block thing running off it. So there's little chains of sockets off sockets everywhere. All beautifully done with wires under carpets, sockets mounted etc. Does this matter? Is it dangerous to have it a like this?

Eek, it doesn't sound safe to me! Hopefully someone else knows more though.

Doesn't sound good to me, I'd be worrying that it's an electrical fire waiting to happen.
I'd get an electrician in to sort it properly which probably won't cost very much especially if you compare it to the costs of a fire.

doesn't sound great. our electrician said new sockets would be between £20-40 each when we asked him today about putting some in. just in case that is useful info for you.

Thanks all. I've made the call to the electrician so will update here for posterity

I know you have already called an electrician but I have just had an extension built and chewed the ear off every workman with my questions my electrician said you can spur off a socket, but never spur off a spur.

It is something to do with splitting the load, and it is dangerous.

And yes please update, it helps anyone looking for advice.

If I understand you right, and wall sockets are wired via extension cables and adapters rather than to the mains circuit, then this is dangerous, inefficient and illegal.

The first problem is potential overload. Each UK mains socket has a rating of 13A or 3000W. Normally, each socket will have just a few appliances connected to it, so if you have, say, a TV (~200W) and a DVD player (~30W) running off one socket, a kettle (~2000W) running off another, a toaster (~1000W) running off a third, a heater (~1000W) and a lamp (60W) running off a fourth, and an electric blanket (~200W) running off a fifth, then the power drain on each socket will be within limits and everything will be fine.

But if several sockets are connected in a chain/as a spur off the mains circuit, then they are effectively all running off ONE socket. The appliances above have a total power requirement of 4490W, which is far too much for one socket, so something will blow! Even a slight overload - i.e. appliances totaling over 3000W running off one socket, or off lots of sockets in a chain - will cause a fuse to blow somewhere.

And if you get a fuse blowing anywhere in the chain, your whole chain will stop working.

This is likely, because of total overload, but also because of 'weak spots' in the chain, where there are individual appliances that have 3A fuses - i.e. generally those that don't use much power (lamps, audio/video equipment). If you have even just one 3A fuse anywhere in your chain of connected sockets, it is as if the whole circuit has just a 3A fuse - and if there are appliances that use more power (e.g. heaters, cookers) anywhere else in this chain, then your 3A fuse is likely to blow.

The other important problem is fire risk. Electric mains cables should never, ever run under carpets. If you are over-loading a circuit, this is even more of an issue, because before fuses blow, wires get hot... And hot wires under carpet are obviously dangerous.

I'm glad you've called the electrician! I think you're going to need a bit of re-wiring...

Yes, this is not good. Our house is a bit like this (and I am ashamed, because my brother is an electrician and I should know better) and we had one week where we blew every fuse in the house repeatedly and then the garage caught fire. We did a bit of emergency remedial work there and then (took my brother a day, so translate that into a daily rate for an electrician who doesn't owe you a favour), running new rings into the fuse box and rewiring the really dodgy garage, but we're going to completely rewire and put new sockets into every room and have the house on several rings instead of three (used to be two, upstairs and downstairs).

Basically we have one double socket per room, apart from the kitchen which is a death trap of spurs left right and centre and junction boxes left on the earth under the foundations, and that's just not sustainable given how many electrical things we use these days.

Have you bought this property? This should've come up on your survey. If you're renting, I'd be on to the landlord ASAP!

Thanks all. Well he said... Blah blah, physics, blah, ask your husband to speak to me, waffle, waffle. Amongst that I think I got... There are various other issues with our wiring that he thought were more problematic, but still not much to worry about. The sockets off sockets he said was a DIY bodge, but if we put 10 amp fuses in the plugs it shouldn't be much of a problem. Fuses could blow, but he didn't think it was a particularly dodgy fire risk. Ideal world of course the whole thing needs rewiring, but he didn't see it as urgent at all.

To answer a few questions, yes it's our house. We only had the mortgage company survey as there's various things we know wrong with the house but we knew we wanted it regardless.

Yes your description is right flow. There's no cables under carpets though. It's all beautifully done going under floorboards and popping back up.

I may well get someone else to take a look as this guy wasn't very good at actually finishing sentences and answering what he was asked and not patronising me for my vagina ownership

Is be tempted to get it rewired. You don't want to decorate and get every room set up, only to have to redo it all again.

I think safety first in this instance.

Please get another electrician to look at it! My general rule of thumb is that if someone can't make themselves understood - and especially if they use my sex as an excuse for their poor communication skills! - then I don't want them doing work for me. But quite apart from that, he sounds a bit dodgy.

He's right that replacing 13A fuses with 10A ones will reduce the fire risk, basically because the fuse will blow more easily and break the circuit. But replacing 3A fuses with 10A is very definitely a bad idea: it will increase the fire risk, and even more likely, could lead to blowing up your appliances! For instance, laptops have 3A or 5A fuses, and if you replace these with 10A ones, then 2-3 times as much current will flow through it as it was designed to take - and bye-bye it will quite possibly destroy the laptop! :(

BTW, if the electrical work was done after 2005, then it legally needs to have been done by a 'competent person', and if it's a DIY job it needs Building Regs sign-off. If it doesn't have that, then your house insurance may be invalidated and you may not be covered if you do have a house fire! :( info here on what needs sign-off

He's talking complete fucking bollocks. What a tool. Get another electrician in, preferably a female one.

Thanks.

It's too late to rewire before decoration now alas.

He was only suggesting 10amps to replace the 13amps, not all round, so no increasing. I think it's pretty likely done before 2005.

Would love to find an electrician who's a woman, I seek out female tradespeople. Any idea where to look?

Look what I found! (I've never used it; just stumbled across it)... www.wamt.org/findatradeswoman/

Thanks. Have you seen how few women there are on there? Very sad.

Hang on, it says on one bit there are 750 of them but I can only see 6. What's that about?

Yes... I'm just looking too... It seems to be of, um, limited use!