EDF are installing a new line and we have 3 phase at the moment. Should we ask for single phase?
We are on tariff bleu with various periods cheaper. Gas hob with an electric oven-we only let the gite during the summer so a lot of cooking is done on the barbecue.
theres no way plug in lan connection will work ...there is no join between the phases, why dont you just run RJ45 around the house and use a router ?
Sorry to bang on, but our system is state of the art as of 8 years ago. The modern equivalent of a fuse box (panneau de déjoncteurs) is designed to deal with short circuits, not the incremental current variations which occur when the neutral is lost - something which CANNOT happen with single phase. We're fully compliant with the regulations and still nearly caught fire. The only point I can agree with you on is that the loss of the neutral is a rare event (once in 8 years in our case).
4Hp motor, quite large, maybe cheaper to take smaller cuts! Didn't you say you had a 3hp 3 phase sure that would do unless you are running production levels.
I don't know if france operates the way the UK does but if you do not balance the load on each of the phases you could for example have 6kw on one phase and very little on the other two but you'll pay for the higher load across the remaining phases (did that make any sense?) A customer of mine re balanced their buildings load and the bill reduced because of it.
We had a very old (but working) and dangerous system with an ancient meter and no fuse box, just 3 old fuses that EDF and ERDF refused to touch. ERDF changed the main cables into the house and then installed a digital meter, then we had an electrician come in and install a new Fusebox and the necessary fuses and also connect the old wires (lights and sockets) into the new fuses, he also laid and connected a new earth cable outside. The Devis for the fusebox (2 days work) was 1,000 Euros.
Not sure of that helps.
Rgds, Mike L
No idea if EDF install Neil, but a qualified electrician will. Be sure to get a couple of quotes though, and be prepared for them telling you the whole box needs updating, and it probably does! If you ever come to sell the electrical installation is part of the survey items.
I'd like that! Would EDF install?
So not at all up to date then Neil.From a safety point of view you should have 30ma differential trips (disjoncteur différentiel) one on each of the three phases. Stops you getting electrocuted!
We have lived here 10 years and the house was updated several years before that, maybe 20. The fuse box has fuses not trips, the 2 meters look old and the wiring looks reasonable - colour coded plastic. Can't work out the standing charge but a recent bill came to 194€ for 2 months May and June with 1127 kWh consumed.
That's fine Neil, I have lived with three phase for over 28 years and so it has become second nature I suppose. When we rewired we spent hours working out what to put on each phase, to avoid the problems. It is an important point because 12Kva is now the maximum on single phase, and a friend recently asked me the same question. When we worked it out, and because he wanted to rewire to a normal modern house standard + a swimming pool with lights etc, and eventually to convert an outbuilding to living accommodation, the ONLY OPTION was to go for three phase (which was already there). In most parts of France, not all though, you can still get up to 3 times 12 Kva in three phase, so a total of 36Kva, but the standing charge is absolutely enormous. As to the safety elements that was raised with everything catching fire I think that is just an unfortunate and extremely rare event which could just a swell happen with single or three phase. If your circuits and controls are up to date and conform to the regulations, then it is almost impossible for that to happen. Voila. Good luck.
Sorry but I'm not the brightest fuse in the box - we switch on what we need on; we only have a problem if we need both electric cookers at the same time. I will have to get EDF to advise me on this due to the conflicting advice!
I think normal domestic x 2 - no electric pool heater. There is one meter with a simple board in the gite (3 fuses) and a very complicated board in the house with 20+, some of which have fuses but appear to do nothing.
Well, when you have 18 Kva in three phase, you also have 3 single phase supplies of 6Kva. Four cables, one is the neutral and three are live. So on each circuit you will max out and trip when you exceed 6Kva of demand. Therefor you have to "balance" your requirements on each phase. Hope that makes more sense?
Not sure what you mean by "balancing" our requirements. According to our bill we have 18kVA on tarif bleu.
Neil,
I haven't had time to read all the other posts, so this point may have been covered already, but it is very important! Under the new system, the maximum available connection in France in single phase will be/is just 12Kw, and that is not much specially if you have electric heating, a swimming pool, etc. In three phase this limit is/will be 18Kw for a domestic installation. You are much better off keeping the three phase. And in the future with the pressure for energy conservation the maximum power per household is more likely to come down, as the prices increase - which they will. You will simply have to continue "balancing" your requirements on each of the three phases, which I guess you have been doing up to now anyway? That is my advice and I ope it may be useful.
Thanks John, I had been in touch with them some time ago over their units for sale on eBay and was told that I will need a 4hp version to power my lathe. Not enough spare pocket money to go for it at the moment though. Probably the best solution although I reckon the single phase feed to that combination will have to be pretty butch: 16A at least, probably.
Cheers and good luck with your Boxford.
Funnily enough I discussed this with EDF for a neighbour only the other day. First question: does it cost more to have 3 phase? The EDF man said no, but worthwhile checking.
I do my own wiring so am familiar with both 3 phase and single phase. You only NEED 3 phase if you have some heavy duty electrical equipment. Thus we needed it in our hotel where we had professional equipment (oven, deep fryer and quick freezer) which had to have three phase. For normal domestic use single phase should be sufficient. But if 3 phase does not cost more, there is no need to change it.
At least that is what I would have said till I read some of the other comments about amoking appliances ...
No idea I'm afraid. We have our suspicions about the previous owners regarding several things that may have been/not been done here. The wiring seems to be incredibly complicated here with wires and small boxes in the walls all over the place.