You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more
Stupidly dug a pond at the end of the garden before thinking about the fact that it needs electrics for a pump.
A quick google tells me that you shouldn’t go over 100ft with an extension cable…but given it’s only for a pond pump will it cause any major issues?
Have tried getting an electrician out but it’s taken them 4 weeks to get back to me with a quote as I suspect he’s got bigger projects to work on…
Solar?
Sadly not. Tried one…not enough power to do anything useful
The issue will be voltage drop. You either need to spec very thick cable so it has low resistance or live with the lower voltage. I expect there won't be a huge drop and the pump will cope but it might be a late finding out once everything is installed.
Why not just run some armoured cable down there? Won't be much more money than the extension lead. And you won't have to worry about it getting damaged.
How big is the pump?
I am assuming a regular pump of about 40-50w. As above, use thicker wire and have a isolator switch where you come off the mains, perhaps get it’s own feed off the rcd box for peace of mind.
Hmmm, all sounds sensible but I am pretty incompetent when it comes to DIY electrics. So if I buy 100m of armoured cable and stick a heavy duty plug on each end I’ll be ok?
Why a pump?
Put a pond in over lockdown, only 2mx1m so didn't look into pump etc.
Are they something you need at a certain size?
I was thinking you would wire the extension cable into the pump and reseal it. In the garden I would only connect into a proper outdoor connection.
Where are you?
No, you cant just put a plug onto armoured cable, the armouring acts as a defensive layer and is earthed, so you need the proper terminations.There are ways aroudn it if you just want a plug at the house end.
After checking a few calculations, a 80 metre cable length, in 2.5mm conductors will comply with the wiring regs requirements easily. You can go for a smaller size, but the price difference is minimal, so I'd always advise going for the larger size.
Armoured cable, rather than flex, is the way to go though.
Based in Kent, nr Tonbridge. Pond is about 2.5m by 4.5m and around 1m deep. Dug it a little while ago and it’s got quite stagnant and green now…
Sadly not. Tried one…not enough power to do anything useful
Did you spec the system to the size of your load or buy the cheapest wrong thing off eBay and then disguard the idea ?
... My folks run an 26000l swimming pool filtration system and air-air heatpump standalone off solar so it can definantly do a pond pump if specced correctly.
Get advice from your electrician. Maybe agree to do the routing of the cable yourself, then its a much quicker job for the electrican to sort out each end.
Over that distance, you shouldn't generally be exporting the house earth, but using a local (to the pond) earth spike. 2 core armoured cable, armour earthed at the house end to protect the cable, but unconnected (and insulated from possible contact) at the pond end. You'll need the local earth rod testing, something your electrican will do, but you likely wont have the equipment. RCD protection goes without saying!
Getting advice from an electrician is easier said than done 😉
They came and did a visit but despite multiple chases no quote yet.
Re The supplementary earth spike mentioned above. Check that your house is not PME wired as this changes what you should do with the wiring at the pond end. PME (protective multiple earth) bonds to the neutral at the suppliers terminal end and you will have a large thick earth cable from your sealed supply fuse into the consumer unit. (Usually it is just the live and neutral into the consumer unit).
DO NOT connect the earth from the house to the pump if this is present as there is a danger that you will provide a local earth point for all of the housing locally in an electrical storm.
Some interesting responses above!
Think the reason you’re struggling to get a quote is, and assuming everything at the supply end is satisfactory, this is a £500 job minimum,and people probably don’t think you’ll realistically be prepared to pay that to get a pond pump working.
this is a £500 job minimum,and people probably don’t think you’ll realistically be prepared to pay that to get a pond pump working
Hmm, and the rest!
Just had quotes to reconnect my outbuilding which is about 30-odd metres from the house. Our quote is £2,000+....
I wouldn’t be bothering with exporting mains 80m down the garden just for a pond pump - as is becoming apparent in the posts above.
Three options strike me -
1. No pump at all
2. SELV (I.e 48V or lower) pump and a power supply in the house.
3. Solar pump
I only know about 1. I run a small pond with no pump. Careful selection of plants to oxygenate it, and the absence of fish, equals a happy pond.
If you want fish, option 2 or 3. But I don’t know anything about these options. Do low voltage pumps exist? If so, this is viable, you can lay a suitably sized low voltage cable yourself. Option 3 - a quick google reveals good quality kits do exist for a few hundred quid. But I don’t know much about what this pump needs to do - a fountain? A filter etc?
Just had quotes to reconnect my outbuilding which is about 30-odd metres from the house. Our quote is £2,000+
I could definitely beat that, unless the 30m is actually half a mile to your shed, and it was 2 storey.
And £500+ for a single supply to a pump? No way would I charge more than £300 for that.
It is one of the simplest installs going. Time consuming clipping the cable, but the terminations at each end should be very simple.
It is a simple install, but for £300 you’ve got to supply the cable (quick google suggests about £150), couple of hundred cleats,screws,washers, glands,ip boxes, a way to feed it, install it test it and cert it. Oh and make some actual profit because you’re running business!
Low voltage pump surely. Dig out a battery box for 2x chunky car batteries and use a 24v one. You could disguise the battery box as a hydro electric power station if you wanted..