Any electricians around who can answer this?

[Loueytb3]

We have two sockets in our garden which are run from a lighting socket in the house. We were told when it was installed that they shouldn't be used for power tools etc (the circuit currently runs outdoor lights in the decking). We want to buy an electric patio heater could we use the plugs to power that or do we run the risk of shorting the circuit?

Bumping for the evening crowd...

Dh works in electrics and he says you mustn't have power sockets working off a lighting socket. He says the circuit breaker won't be rated for the current and if your lights pull a lot of power it'll keep tripping the breaker out and trip your fusebox.

Gosh he's clever.

Ok - thanks

I'm pretty certain that would be a bad thing.

I used to know the numbers but I think lighting circuits carry 2 or 3 amps only. I don't know what current a patio heater draws but if it's got anything bigger than a 2 amp fuse you could at best not get it to work and at worst overheat your lighting circuit causing a fire.

X posted

DH agrees with Ilovemydog's DH - it's a bad design. Whether or not it trips continually depends on the wattage of the heater. Much better to put a new circuit in that meets your needs, rather than have a circuit breaker that keeps tripping.

Thanks all. We have another socket which is ok but in a less convenient place.