The future of residential building electrical installations

Well, at the moment the domestic network is sized to take peak load of 5 to 8 amps per house average, sort of enforced by the outbound fuse at the substation, where each phase could  fused at something like 400 to 800  amps depending on size, and then goes off to supply perhaps 50-ish  houses per phase, some streetlights, and then maybe an odd row of corner shops and an occasional large pub with 3 phase.

However, each house is limited by in incoming fuse of 60A or maybe 80A, if not fitted with storage heating, or 100A if economy 7.


Now we all know that to blow the fuse at the house is rare, and to blow the fuse at the substation is rarer.  Of course, some of the time the substation might be running at 150% ('and the rest' muttering at the back) of rated load, but if that occurs during the winter so it is all cold outside, and the oil does not boil and the fuse does not melt, then it is not a real issue. That design approach may  need to change with electric cars becoming popular.  Right now most of the time the whole house could be put on a 13A plug and fed from next door, apart from meal times and instant showers. In such a case the whole lot relies on averaging in time and space to avoid needing a grossly oversized network, but to enforce a current limit makes the network design easier, as demand is managed rather than supply.

Well, at the moment the domestic network is sized to take peak load of 5 to 8 amps per house average, sort of enforced by the outbound fuse at the substation, where each phase could  fused at something like 400 to 800  amps depending on size, and then goes off to supply perhaps 50-ish  houses per phase, some streetlights, and then maybe an odd row of corner shops and an occasional large pub with 3 phase.

However, each house is limited by in incoming fuse of 60A or maybe 80A, if not fitted with storage heating, or 100A if economy 7.


Now we all know that to blow the fuse at the house is rare, and to blow the fuse at the substation is rarer.  Of course, some of the time the substation might be running at 150% ('and the rest' muttering at the back) of rated load, but if that occurs during the winter so it is all cold outside, and the oil does not boil and the fuse does not melt, then it is not a real issue. That design approach may  need to change with electric cars becoming popular.  Right now most of the time the whole house could be put on a 13A plug and fed from next door, apart from meal times and instant showers. In such a case the whole lot relies on averaging in time and space to avoid needing a grossly oversized network, but to enforce a current limit makes the network design easier, as demand is managed rather than supply.