New central - is this installation okay?

[kisumisu]

I got a new panel installed yesterday and wonder if this installation is okay? I suppose I'll have to put some cabinet or something over it, but I first want to make sure this is correct.

I'm a bit surprised by the placement myself but don't know if it's safe or not from an electrical safety standpoint.

Well, you can probably read other people's comments so I won't add anything there.

But I just have to comment on that electrical outlet! It looks really cool and we should praise the electrician for the choice of outlet!

I once lived in a small apartment that had round outlets but times three. There were also several of them. You never needed to deal with messily placed cords and various power strips.

I talked to a friend about why this isn't a standard today?:


But now I see one with x6 👌

But when the outlets are skimped on, it looks like this

 

[GoGetLost]

No, but the requirement is that a charging station must have its own fuse, either in the box or on the feed. So it can share a residual-current device with other things, although that might be unwise.

No, it should not share an RCD. It should have its own.

"Each connection point must be individually protected by a residual-current device max 30 mA, according to the Electrical Installation Regulations SS 4364000 section 722.531.2.101. This means you cannot use an RCD that protects other parts of the installation to also cover the charging station. The type of existing RCD does not matter."

 

[Demmpa]

Well, you can probably read other comments, so I won't add anything there.

But I just have to comment on that power outlet! It looks really cool, and we should praise the electrician for the choice of outlet!

I once lived in a small apartment that had round outlets but times three. There were also several of them. You never had to deal with extension cords and various power strips.

I just talked to a friend about why this isn't a standard today?:
[image]

But now I see one with x6 👌

The downside of 4-/6-way grounded wall sockets is that they are surface-mounted.

But by installing a double junction box, you can fit a three-way recessed grounded wall socket.

 

[kisumisu]

The disadvantage of 4-/6-way grounded wall outlets is that these are surface-mounted.

But by installing a double junction box, you can have a three-way recessed grounded wall outlet.

Okay.
The old outlets in the apartment were not surface-mounted or I'm remembering wrong...unfortunately, I probably don't have a picture of them.

 

[SueCia]

Probably not with alarm installations, let's hope.

Yep. But no wireless toys like Securitas usually sells

 

[GK100]

Okay.
The old outlets in the apartment were not surface-mounted, or I remember wrong... I probably don't have a picture of them.

What differed was probably that your old ones didn't have the deep sockets that are now there for protection purposes, so they lay tight in a circle of three with very little space between the plugs and with the middle one a bit further out so the plugs splayed away from each other. Additionally, they were ungrounded, so you also gained some space per socket there.

With today's requirements for design, the basis for such a socket simply doesn't fit in a standard socket box, hence, for example, four-way as surface-mounted.

 

[SueCia]

What are the advantages?

Why is it an advantage from a burglary protection viewpoint to have the alarm on the outdoor electricity?

You get an alarm immediately when the power disappears to the outdoor lighting. I'm not saying it's a huge advantage, but it is an advantage

Placing the burglary alarm on the indoor electricity has no advantages at all from a burglary protection perspective.

However, from an operation perspective (fridge/freezer, for example), it can be advantageous to have the alarm on the indoor ground fault circuit interrupter

 

[kisumisu]

The difference was probably that your old ones didn't have the deep sockets, which are now for touch protection, so they were placed tightly in a circle with very little space between the plugs and with the middle one slightly further out, so the plugs spread apart. Additionally, they were ungrounded, so you also saved some space in each outlet.

With today's requirements for design, the foundation for such an outlet simply doesn't fit in a junction box, which is why, for example, four-way outlets are surface-mounted.

Maybe that's the case
A bit of searching found apartment listings with very poor image quality

I'm in one like this, so it maybe counts as surface-mounted.
However, this is an old telephone socket, but the electrical outlets were in boxes like these:

 

[RoTe]

All electrical outlets in my apartment are in baseboard boxes as all the wiring is done in the ceiling/floor.

 

[Peter787]

Yep. But no wireless toys that Securitas usually sells

When I worked at Securitas Teknik / Niscayah, no wireless alarms were sold and basically no home alarms at all.
That was handled by Securitas Direct / Verisure, and that was and is not Securitas.

 

[Demmpa]

Okay.
The old outlets in the apartment were not surface-mounted or maybe I'm remembering wrong... unfortunately, I probably don't have any pictures of them.

Yes, the old round ones from the 60s with three outlets were flush-mounted, but without any actual socket.

 

[Demmpa]

Jopp. But no wireless toys like Securitas usually sells

You must distinguish between Securitas and "Securitas Direct".

The former sells wired alarms, the latter wireless.

 

[Demmpa]

You get an alarm immediately when the power to the outdoor lighting disappears. I'm not saying it's a huge advantage. But it is an advantage.

But if there is a short circuit between phase-neutral so that the fuse trips instead of the GFI, the outdoor lighting goes out without you getting any indication of it on the alarm.

There are auxiliary contacts for both GFIs and circuit breakers so that you can get disturbance alarms via the alarm regardless of which fuse/GFI the alarm is on.

Placing the burglar alarm on the indoor electricity has no advantages at all from a burglary protection perspective.

Is it even "common" for burglars to create a ground fault via outdoor outlets/outdoor lighting to trip the GFI?

 

[SueCia]

But if there is a short circuit between phase-neutral so that the fuse trips instead of the GFCI, the outdoor lighting goes out without you getting any indication on the alarm.

There are auxiliary contacts for both GFCIs and circuit breakers so that you can get disturbance alarms via the alarm regardless of which fuse/GFCI the alarm is on.

Is it even "common" for burglars to create a ground fault via outdoor outlets/outdoor lighting to trip the GFCI?

No, absolutely not common. But it could happen that they smash a spotlight and manage to cause a ground fault. That's why I said I can see an advantage in having the alarm on the outdoor ground fault interrupter.

 

[SueCia]

You need to distinguish between Securitas and "Securitas Direct."

The former sells wired alarms, the latter wireless ones.

Thanks for the clarification