Age of wiring 24 years old for main CU. Dedicated radial circuit 7 years old.
No separate CU. Radial circuit.
4mm radial circuit. Standard grey UK cable.
2 double unswitched MK sockets with silver connectors. Adapted and bought on eBay for about £30 each.
Keeping it off ring main is much better as there is no interference from fridge and kitchen aplliances. Very happy with the radial circuit.
Would consider separate CU and thicker cable such as 10mm. When I installed the radial circuit I didn’t know what was best way to do it. Tbh, I think its an improvement on the main ring main and I am pleased with it and feel no need to change it over.
I live in France and we do not have the UK ring-mains arrangement here.
My hi-fi is in my lounge and the mains electricity feed to the room comes from a distribution board which has multiple, separate MCBs for various rooms and appliances (cooker, washing machine, extractor fans, outhouses, garage, etc.). When I am using my hi-fi, there might be a table lamp or a reading lamp also operating on that circuit or line, but nothing else.
Would forum members know if there is any likelihood of electrical interference with this type of arrangement, how would I know and how might I improve it?
If you read the various threads about dedicated radials You will see that people normally install a dedicated consumer unit, use 10 mm square cable, use good quality switchless sockets, attend to the quality And design of the Earthing of the circuit, et cetera.
In the UK the standard recommendation is to use a small separate consumer unit for the dedicated HiFi circuit to effectively isolate it from the rest of the house. Other countries have different arrangements which may make this impractical, or perhaps impossible to achieve within local wiring regulations.
Regarding lighting on the same circuit, all fluorescent, and most LED lights emit interference which was not the case with old fashioned tungsten filament bulbs. The fact that an appliance emits interference doesn’t necessarily mean that it will reach your HiFi and affect the sound. A simple test for this is to get a portable AM or SW radio, tune it away from any station, and point the aerial at the suspect appliance. You’ll hear distortion if there is any RFI being produced. Follow the electrical cable and you’ll hear the distortion fade, hopefully to nothing before you get near the HiFi.
I’m planning to install a dedicated mains cable for my system (my electrician will). I wonder what specific cable people are using and if great care should be spent on this kind of cable too as we often do with the last step of power cable?
I’ve had my eyes on GigaWatt LC-Y EVO 3X4 in-wall cable and wonder if anyone use this? It’s shielded though and I’m not sure if I want that.