How is the electrical panel arranged in an old apartment? How to assemble a distribution board for electrical wiring in an apartment and a private house. Electrical panel diagrams - we make it ourselves
As you know, repairs are akin to a small-scale natural disaster, and one of its integral components is the electrification of residential or business premises. How much important role We remember the electricity playing in the house when it suddenly disappears due to an accident. Providing an apartment or private house with power supply, as a rule, includes two basic components: installation of electrical wiring and assembly of an electrical panel.
Each of these components involves the sequential implementation of a number of steps, which at first glance are quite simple, however, as practice shows, in the vast majority of cases, requiring the participation of a professional electrician. If the owner of the premises intends to independently solve the problem of supplying electricity to a house or apartment, it is necessary, at a minimum, to carefully study the hardware, that is, prepare theoretically, before assembling the electrical panel with your own hands.
The electrical panel is the heart of the home electrical system
We will not be mistaken if we say that the main function of an electrical panel installed at home, in an office, a cafe or any other room is to distribute electricity to consumers and ensure safety when using electrical appliances. Every owner of a residential or business premises at some point is forced to deal with the problem of how to assemble an electrical panel. Long-term uninterrupted operation of the huge number of household appliances that fill any home or office today largely depends on how correctly the electrical panel is assembled.
The shield itself is a plastic or metal box in which components (or modules) are placed, each of which performs a specific function. There are so-called internal electrical panels, that is, recessed into the wall, and external ones - placed on the wall.
In a private home, the electrical panel is often installed outdoors; in this case, a waterproof design of the device will be required (protection level IP65). Considering the fact that it is unlikely that the electrical panel will be changed annually or even once every five years (as a rule, the device lasts much longer), it would be advisable when choosing a device to give preference to a more expensive, but high-quality panel famous brand with a supply of seats.
Where to start?
Every experienced electrician will confirm that it is much easier to begin work on installing an electrical panel and wiring, having before your eyes a floor plan indicating the intended placement of household appliances, lighting fixtures, as well as sockets and distribution boxes. Having decided on the number and power of consumers, it is necessary to draw up a diagram of the electrical panel itself. A single line diagram might look like this:
In this diagram, all consumers are divided into 20 groups, for each of which the following is indicated:
- wire grade and core cross-section, mm²;
- power;
- current consumption;
- type of circuit breaker indicating the rated current.
For the uninitiated, such a diagram looks quite complicated, so you can use a simplified schematic representation of the location of the electrical panel components.
For greater clarity, the electrical panel diagram can be depicted as follows:
Or even like this:
- 1 - introductory AB;
- 2 - counter;
- 3 - zero bus;
- 4 - grounding bus;
- 5–10 - AV consumers.
Having such a diagram in hand, it is much easier to figure out how to properly assemble an electrical panel.
How to properly form consumer groups
When distributing electricity consumers into groups, you should adhere to certain rules:
- powerful consumers (2 kW or more), which usually include a hob, oven, water heater, washing machine, etc., should be powered by a separate switch. The cable must go from the panel to the consumer, bypassing the distribution boxes;
- two-kilowatt consumers are connected with a copper cable with a cross-section of 2.5 mm² and a 16 A circuit breaker. If you are guided by the tabular data, then for a 2 kW device a 1.5 mm² wire, as well as a 10 A circuit breaker, is sufficient, but to create some reserve, as a rule, the components of the following are installed level;
- in some cases (if the consumer power exceeds 2 kW), a 4 mm² wire with AB 25A or a 6 mm² wire with AB 32 A may be required - such components are sometimes used when connecting hob, oven or instantaneous water heater;
- for each room you should make a separate socket line, which will branch out from the distribution box into the required number of sockets;
- the same applies to the lighting line - each of them is connected, as a rule, by a 10 A automatic machine and a 1.5 mm² wire.
It is this approach to the distribution of consumer groups that can ensure uninterrupted and safe operation of home and office electrical appliances. It is extremely undesirable to use components and materials of dubious origin, even if they are an order of magnitude cheaper than “branded” ones: with a high degree of probability, such parts will have to be replaced in the near future.
The socket line is usually equipped with a 16 A circuit breaker.
Electrical Panel Components
The assembly of an electrical panel requires the presence of mandatory components, which include circuit breakers, residual current devices (RCDs), electricity meters, buses, as well as additional and auxiliary components that add convenience to the operation of the panel: voltage control relays, indicator lights, digital voltmeters, contactors and so on.
Among the most respected by specialists are the manufacturers of components used in the installation of electrical panels - ABB, Legrand, Shcneider Electric. The prices for devices of these brands are approximately the same. Chinese devices are much cheaper, but practicing electricians claim that once you use Chinese equipment to complete an order, you can lose your reputation for a long time, so they use such components only at the request of a customer who cannot afford branded components.
Everything is ready for installation
So, the diagram has been drawn up and understood, the components have been prepared - nothing prevents you from starting assembling the electrical panel. First of all, the location of the shield is selected, on which the device is attached, as a rule, with self-tapping screws or clamps. The electrical panel housing is usually located near the entrance to the house or apartment - in the vestibule or hallway. If the owner has expressed a desire to hide the panel in the wall, and the wall turns out to be concrete, you can use a false wall or a plasterboard ledge: the area of the room may be slightly reduced.
When choosing a place on the wall to install an electrical panel, you should take into account that the distance from the device to the nearest doorway should be at least 15 cm, the distance to the floor - 1.5–1.7 m. If necessary, the owner of the home or a called electrician should be able to easily reach the panel : It is strictly prohibited to place the device inside cabinets or other furniture. The device should be located away from gas pipes and flammable materials.
To prevent the electrical panel from being too large or small, you can first determine its size by knowing the dimensions of the components that will be located in it. For example, the width of a standard single-pole circuit breaker is 17.5 mm, a two-pole circuit breaker is 35 mm, and a three-pole circuit breaker is 52.5 mm. The remaining components have the following dimensions:
The modules are located on the so-called DIN rail - a special metal plate 35 mm wide. The socket is not one of the required elements, but may be useful during repair work. If, when adding up the number of components, it turns out that a panel with 20 modules is needed, then it would be reasonable to install an electrical panel with 24 or even 32 modules - who knows how many household electrical appliances will be added to the house in a year, two or five?
We run cables into the electrical panel
Having a special cable entry with a removable cover can eliminate problems with wiring cables into the panel. On high-quality panels, such an input is usually provided; low-quality ones are better not to be considered at all. If the electrical panel is installed outside, there are usually no problems with cabling. If the shield is hidden in a niche, there may be nuances: getting to the inlet hole in this case can be quite difficult, so the electrician needs to be patient and persevering.
The design of the cable entry of the electrical panel, as a rule, provides for perforated holes, which are brought to the required size by simply removing excess jumpers. The cables are fed into the shield through a corrugated pipe, standard size which is 16 or 20 mm, respectively, and the holes should be made of this size.
Often an electrician is hampered by the mobility of the wires inside the corrugated tube. To fix the wires and make them stationary, some use alabaster, which is applied to the input hole from the side of the gate. Let us immediately make a reservation that this method of fixation is not convenient and aesthetically pleasing. It is much more efficient to secure the wires using special removable plugs or gland plates.
To avoid future confusion with wires, you should immediately label them. The input cable is supplied, as a rule, in the upper left corner - where the input machine is usually installed.
We cut the cables and mount the modules
Every electrician will confirm that working with a tool specifically designed for a particular operation is easier and more enjoyable. You can cut the cables inside the shield with a regular construction knife, but if you do it with a special knife with a heel, everything turns out faster and better.
After cutting the cables, you should re-label the wires, since there will be quite a lot of them and if you get tangled in them, it will take a lot of time to restore order. When feeding cables into the shield, you should leave a length that is equal to twice the height of the shield, that is, run the cable through the entire shield, and then measure out the same amount. This measure is not wasteful: the wires inside the shield do not go in a straight line, but along an intricate curved line, and it is better to have a little extra wire left than not enough.
There are no strict rules for the arrangement of modules in the electrical panel; however, electricians usually use one of two installation schemes - linear or group. In the first case, all elements are arranged one after another in the order shown on the single-line diagram: automatic input device, RCD, automatic circuit breakers, consumer circuit breakers. Among the advantages of this location option is ease of implementation, the disadvantage is that it is difficult to find the “culprit” of the emergency situation.
If a group layout of modules is implemented in the panel, the components alternate among consumer groups: AV input, RCD, group of switches linked to this RCD. Next, the next RCD and the corresponding group of circuit breakers are installed. Such a circuit is somewhat more difficult to assemble, but the problem line is immediately visible from the triggered RCD.
Assembly Rules
There are certain rules that should be followed when assembling an electrical panel:
- all wires inside the panel must be of the same cross-section as the input wire;
- any module must have an entrance at the top, an exit at the bottom;
- if installation is carried out using stranded wire PV3, the use of NShVI tips is mandatory.
The sequence of steps for an electrician performing the assembly may look like this:
The final stage
The shield is installed in its place after all dirty repair work is completed. The panel body is mounted in a niche, the DIN rails with the assembled modular equipment are fastened with self-tapping screws. The working (N) and protective (PE) zero buses are fixed. Phase and neutral wires are arranged in separate bundles and laid on opposite sides of the shield. The force with which the connections are clamped is 0.8 Nm.
Before starting commissioning work, you should make sure that all sockets, junction boxes, and switches are assembled. All consumer groups should be signed on the external panel of the electrical panel. After about a month of work, all connections of the shield should be tightened.
Video on the topic
Today, almost no facility can do without electricity, since they need sockets for connecting electrical equipment and room lighting. All apartments, houses, offices, garages, warehouses and so on have an extensive power supply network. To protect it, for the electrical safety of people, and to effectively manage the electrical network, it is necessary to install electrical distribution panels. They contain switching protective devices that perform all the functions listed above. The switchboard is divided into groups, which allows for convenient and independent operation of powerful household appliances.
All objects are different and, accordingly, their power supply networks will also be different. Below we will look at a few simple examples, which show five options for single-phase power supply circuits for apartments and private houses.
General principles constructing any shield diagram:
- There must be an input switching device at the input. It could be circuit breaker or switch (load switch).
- All group lines extending from the switchboard must be protected against overload and short-circuit currents.
- All socket groups must have human protection from electric shock. For these purposes, residual current devices (RCDs) or automatic circuit breakers with a leakage current of 10-30 mA are installed.
Option 1
This is the most simple circuit input panel with electricity meter. It shows the system grounding TN-S, that is, when separate independent zero working and zero protective conductors come from the power source. In this single-phase switchboard circuit, there is a two-pole circuit breaker at the input.
Here and in subsequent diagrams, the ratings and characteristics of protective devices are chosen arbitrarily. Yours may differ, but the very essence of the connections between circuit breakers and other protective devices remains the same.
After the opening machine there is a counter. To register it, the input switching device and the electricity meter itself must be sealed. Next come single-pole group circuit breakers. The phase is always supplied to the circuit breakers, and the zero to the zero bus. It turns out that all neutral working conductors of different groups are combined with each other, and phase conductors are switched using automatic machines.
This version of the scheme is the simplest and is very often found at various sites.
Option 2
This version of the shield is similar to the previous scheme. The only thing missing here is an electricity meter. These types of panels are used if the meters are located on the street in metering panels or on the landing in floor panels. The first option is relevant for the private sector, and the second for apartment buildings. Since almost all connections between protective devices are described in the first option, there is nothing special to comment on here.
The only thing that can be noted here is that at the input, instead of installing a circuit breaker, you can select a switch (load switch). It is necessary to manually turn off the entire shield. Installing a machine here will lead to duplication of the rating of the input circuit breaker from the metering panel or from the floor panel. There is no need to do this.
Option 3
As I wrote above, all groups of sockets must have protection against current leakage, that is, they must be protected using an RCD. The third version of the circuit presents an introductory RCD, which is installed after the meter. An RCD cannot be installed before the metering device, since it will need to be sealed, which inspectors do not want to do. That's why they only allow it to be placed after the counter.
To protect people, you need to use an RCD with leakage currents of 10-30mA. This is a safe current for a person, in which he is able to withdraw his hand and not receive any injury. The option using one 30mA RCD at the input has one drawback. When it is triggered, the entire apartment, house, etc. is switched off. Also, if the network is highly branched, then the RCD may trigger falsely due to natural leakage currents that are present in every household appliance.
In this embodiment, phase and zero are supplied to the input contacts of the RCD. Next, from the output contacts, the phase is supplied to the circuit breakers, and the zero is supplied to its zero bus. Remember that the zero before the RCD and the zero after it cannot be combined with each other, that is, connected to one bus. Otherwise, you simply will not arm the residual current device, as it will immediately turn off.
Option 4
In this version of the circuit, there is a 100-300 mA fire protection RCD at the input, and then some groups are protected by individual 10-30 mA RCDs. To prevent simultaneous operation of the input and group devices, it is recommended to install a selective RCD at the input. It has a time delay for operation and is designated on the case by the Latin letter “S”.
In this diagram, you must not get confused with connecting the neutral working conductors. Zeros after different RCDs cannot be combined with each other, otherwise the devices will immediately turn off. Therefore, after each RCD you need to install your own neutral bus if several groups are connected to it, or the neutral working conductor must be immediately connected to the RCD if it protects one group. This is exactly what is shown in the diagram below.
Option 5
In this option, difavtomats and conventional circuit breakers are used to protect groups. Automatic residual current switches (RCBOs) protect the cable from overload, from the action of short circuit current and protects a person from electric shock. Each difavtomat must be supplied with a phase and a zero. After logging out of these devices, you cannot combine zeros either. The neutral working conductors of the remaining groups, which are protected by conventional circuit breakers, are connected to the input common zero bus.
This article presents the simplest options for single-phase electrical panels. They discuss almost all protective devices, show how they need to be connected and contain descriptions of the use of one or another option. Based on your individual situation, you must develop your own scheme. Remember that it must meet all modern electrical safety standards.
How to easily assemble and install an electrical panel in an apartment
In the apartment modern man There are a huge number of electrical appliances running, which create a large load on the network.
To ensure increased electrical safety, you can install an individual electrical panel in an apartment or house, this will allow you to control electrical appliances separately.
You can do this yourself, for example, during repairs or after replacing old wiring.
Electrical panel elements
An ordinary electrical panel for an apartment does not contain many elements, and almost anyone can assemble it. The electrical panel includes:
- Input circuit breaker. As a rule, double, de-energizing two at once electrical cables– zero and phase. The power is selected depending on the total consumption load of all appliances in the apartment.
- Residual current device (RCD). differentiated relay. De-energizes electrical wiring literally in milliseconds after detecting voltage leaks, for example, when the neutral wire is shorted to ground. This is not a required element of the electrical panel, however, it is worth purchasing it to ensure electrical safety.
- Additional circuit breakers. They control high-power electrical appliances such as boilers, electric stoves, air conditioners, washing machines, as well as electrical circuits in separate rooms. The rating is selected depending on the power of the consumer.
Wall-mounted enclosures are easy to install, but they do not always fit well into the interior of the apartment. Built-in ones require more preparation for installation, including construction works, but they are practically invisible.
Requirements for distribution panels
One of the main purposes of installing a switchboard in an apartment is to increase the level of electrical safety, therefore you need to take the requirements for its installation very seriously.
The electrical panel must comply with all the rules of GOST 51778-2001 and PUE
- The shield must be accompanied by technical documentation. which describes the installed equipment, namely the number of devices and their rated current.
- The shield must have electrical safety sign with the specified voltage.
- The materials from which the shield is made must be non-flammable. The shield covering must not allow electric current to pass through. As a rule, it is heat-resistant plastic or metal with a polymer coating.
- The wires must be marked, for example, using tags indicating the connected devices.
- Ground and neutral terminal blocks should have no more than one wire per terminal. When choosing pads, you need to ensure that there are free terminals when connecting. Tires must be marked according to the rules of the PUE .
- The electrical panel must be grounded. this applies to both the body and its doors.
- The doors of the electrical panel must include elements for sealing.
- You should pay attention to Availability of a technical passport indicating certification data and characteristics.
- To connect the machines to each other, you need to use special “comb” busbars.
Following the rules described in the PUE and GOST, you can install the electrical panel yourself; for this you need to develop a connection diagram.
Assembly and connection diagram
To create an electrical panel diagram, you need to determine the type of power supply system in the house, divide electricity consumers into several groups, and based on this data create a diagram, using GOST 21.614 for graphic designation of all elements of the shield.
The type of power supply system may be indicated in the panel on the landing, otherwise this can be found out by contacting the housing office. There are three types of system, which differ in the way they are powered and grounded: TN-C, TN-S, TN-C-S.
TN-C - old type of power supply. The wiring in the apartment includes a two-core copper or aluminum cable; the cable in the switchboard combines zero and ground.
ТN-S, ТN-С-S are more modern supply systems. They use a three-core cable for wiring in the apartment and a separate cable for neutral and grounding in the switchboard on the floor.
Then you should divide electricity consumers into several groups. For example, you can divide into groups the connection points for sockets in each individual room, switches, large consumers electric current like an air conditioner or boiler. Considering all these characteristics, a separate machine is selected for each group .
After this, they begin to draw a diagram of the electrical panel. It indicates all the elements using graphic symbols according to GOST 21.614. as well as all current consumers that are connected to them.
Scheme for assembling and connecting the electrical panel in the apartment:
Using the connection diagram, you can begin installing the electrical panel.
DIY installation and installation
First you need to select an electrical panel. For this you need to decide on the type of shield. It is recommended to install hidden shields when hidden wiring, if the wiring is open, it is better to install a hinged panel.
If the apartment does not have a special niche for installation built-in shield. then you will have to do it yourself, which creates additional difficulties, but such a shield will be well camouflaged. It is much easier to install a wall-mounted distribution panel in an apartment. all you need to do is secure it with a few screws, but it doesn’t always look good in the interior.
The next stage depends on how many groups all electricity consumers were divided into at the stage of developing the panel diagram. The number of machines used depends on the number of zones. as well as the size of the housing where they will be installed.
The case should be selected with a reserve for the number of installed machines, this will save money if you have to upgrade the power supply system. Before installing the shield, you must select its location in the apartment.
The shield should be located in an easily accessible place at a height of 1.5-1.7 meters from the floor level, so that it is not blocked by furniture or doors. The location for placing the shield is selected only once, so it is worth choosing it responsibly.
You should also consider how other pieces of furniture and interior will be placed. If a hidden type switchboard is installed, then it is necessary to select a place where a niche can be built for it.
The following steps must only be carried out when power supply is off. After turning off the electricity, you should insert the cable into the housing through the cable entries, after removing the plugs.
This completes the installation of the electrical panel. the further task is to install and connect the machines .
Installing an electrical panel is not difficult; it can be done independently. You just need to understand its structure, comply with all GOST and PUE requirements. as well as electrical safety rules. And after installation, check whether all elements work correctly.
DIY distribution panel assembly for an apartment
This article will step by step review the entire process of selecting and installing an electrical panel in an apartment, and will also describe common mistakes made by beginners in order to independently assemble an apartment electrical panel with your own hands, without resorting to the services of an electrician.
Preparatory stage
As a rule, the electrical panel in the apartment is installed after the electrical wiring has been laid, and the necessary cables have been brought together in one place planned for installation of the electrical panel. If for some reason the shield is installed before the wiring, then it will need to be protected from contamination during repairs.
There will be a lot of dust especially when cutting walls for hidden electrical wiring. Regarding the cables to be laid, it is necessary to correctly calculate the cross-section of the wires and divide the electricity consumers in the apartment into groups.
hidden wiring in the apartment to the electrical panel
The installed wiring must include a PE ground wire. It is advisable to do the wiring with cables with multi-colored cores, and it is critically important to label each wire going to the panel.
ground bolt for El. shield
If this is not done (a common mistake for beginners), then, even without having an electrical panel, you can already begin work by checking and marking the wires.
example of the location of automatic circuit breakers and RCDs in a panel with grounding
Choosing a safe distribution panel for an apartment
Many users, when choosing this device, are mistakenly guided primarily by aesthetic considerations, pushing other criteria into the background.
If you use the phrase to search the Internet:
« residential electrical panel“, then the search engine will return many options for elegant products that will organically fit into the interior of the room. But you need to remember that the apartment panel, first of all, must meet fire safety criteria, so it is necessary that it be made of metal or fire-resistant plastic.
installation of metal electrical internal installation panel, lockable with a key
The electrical panel cover should provide not only the aesthetics of the apartment design, but also be quite reliable, because its main function is protection from accidental contact with the current-carrying surfaces of the terminals for connecting modular devices.
This is especially important if children live in the apartment, therefore, even if the panel is installed at a height inaccessible to them, you should take additional precautions and choose an electrical panel with a lid that can be locked with a key.
Selecting a shield by capacity
The housing panel usually comes with a built-in DIN rail. If it is not there, then mounting holes must be provided; in this case, it will be necessary to purchase an additional DIN rail of the required length.
Automatic machine on DIN rail
Also, the electrical panel kit, as a rule, includes distribution buses - zero on insulators (if the shield is metal) and a PE bus for connecting grounding conductors.
installation of a panel with grounding and grounding buses
Some electrical panels for apartments are sold with a built-in electricity meter and have a sealable compartment. In most cases, users choose circuit breakers and residual current devices, called RCDs, independently, based on their own calculations of the load on the electrical wiring.
Shield with built-in electric meter. energies
It is also customary to install a voltage control relay in the apartment electrical panel. power limiters, various signaling devices and modular sockets.
Very often, communications not related to power supply are installed in such panels - distribution boxes for Internet connection cables, cable television, wired radio. 
Therefore, the electrical panel installed in the apartment must be chosen to be capacious enough and with some reserve for the possible future installation of additional modules and devices.
Open panel
There is absolutely no point in using an overhead panel for hidden wiring, and vice versa, so the solution to this issue will be given at the stage of planning the electrical wiring in the apartment. It is worth paying special attention to the choice of the manufacturer of the electrical panel - many apartment owners, trying to save money, buy a product of “nameless” Chinese production, and then, in despair, full of remorse, they do not know what to do.
Concealed distribution panel
For example, you can imagine a situation where, in a renovated apartment, against the background beautiful wallpaper the cover of the electrical panel suddenly falls off, or the internal electronic “stuffing” of the panel tends to fall out due to low-quality plastic that does not hold screws and other fastening devices.
It must be remembered that replacing the shield is equivalent to local repairs, therefore, you should be very careful in your choice, guided by the criteria of quality and reliability.
Draw a wiring diagram for the panel
Many beginners, especially those who already have some experience in electrical installation, feeling like professionals, do electrical installation in an apartment panel, keeping the diagram in their heads, which is a gross mistake that real masters never make.
An example of a switchboard assembly diagram
No matter what skills and memory a professional electrician has, he will always draw up a wiring diagram, if only so that he (or someone else) in the future, when servicing, repairing or upgrading the panel, does not waste time on proceedings tangle of wires.
In addition, wandering in the labyrinths of your own memory, it is easy to make a mistake, which later, without having a diagram of the shield, will be very difficult to detect. There cannot be a universal scheme for an apartment panel due to individual needs, but there are generally accepted principles for combining electrical panels.
The connection of the electric meter and devices before it in the panel must be carried out by official services; we will assume that it has already been done.
After the meter (or before it), there is an input circuit breaker, then they often install an RCD (common for all groups) and from it, using jumpers, connections are made to circuit breakers for individual consumer lines connected to the apartment panel, which can also be protected own RCDs.
Grounding and grounding bus
You should avoid the common mistake with zeros when connecting RCDs and automatic circuit breakers, and provide an individual isolated zero bus in the apartment panel for each such device.
Electrical installation
When installing the external version of the electrical panel, it is screwed onto dowels. When mounting a hidden installation panel, before fixing it, it is necessary to bring all incoming wires inside the housing, and then fix it in a pre-hollowed niche using alabaster mortar.
For electrical installation you will need a minimum set of tools:
- Phillips and straight screwdriver;
- Wire cutters or pliers;
- Assembly knife for removing insulation, or a special tool;
- Multimeter for testing wires.
It would be a good idea to purchase a set of heat shrink tubing for marking. Having arranged the modular devices in the desired order, it is necessary to arrange the wires in the panel rationally and ergonomically, preventing them from intertwining many times.
Heat shrink tube set
You should start by connecting the input line, making sure that there is no voltage on the wires. Having brought the necessary wires to the connection terminals and bending them properly, bite off the excess, taking into account the margin for the wire to fit into the mounting socket of the modular machine.
After this, the insulation is removed from the wire with such a wire that the bare conductor fits entirely into the connection socket, without protruding above the machine. The process of stripping wires should be given special attention, avoiding cuts or breaks in the metal cores, otherwise the cable will overheat in this place.
Stripper for stripping wires from insulation
The wires should be clamped with care, being careful not to damage the clamps or push through the back wall of the shield.
Repeat this procedure for all wires one by one, one after the other. Jumpers are cut and connected in the same way.
Checking and preventing the shield
After completing the connections, you should load the switchboard circuit breakers by connecting the existing load (electrical equipment) for which the safety switches were designed to the internal electrical lines of the apartment.
Checking the apartment panel
After keeping an eye on the panel for an hour in this operating mode, you should make sure that there is no characteristic smell of burnt insulation and check how hot the machines are.
If there are no complaints about the operation of the electrical panel, then its connection can be considered successful.
Once every six months, preventive maintenance of the connections should be carried out in the panel - tighten the screw terminals of the wires at the terminals of the modular devices.
Installation and assembly of an electrical panel is a complex job that requires a clear sequence, where every action is important and cannot be neglected.
The main qualities of the device are safety and ease of use.
Purpose of the electrical panel:
- accounting for electricity consumption;
- circuit management;
- protection of the circuit from fire due to overload.
Install an electrical panel in a house, apartment or country house on our own it is possible, but for this you need to have basic knowledge and skills as an electrician.
Electrical panel project
For a person who is far from electricity, it is better to start designing an electrical panel when the wiring installation is completely ready and the wires are brought to the location of the future electrical panel. First you need to draw up drawings for the work and select suitable components.
Consumer calculations
Compiled full list consumers. To do this, you need to ignore devices like a fan or table lamp, and write down and number each wire connected to the panel. Sockets must be recorded separately, lighting - separately. High-power appliances (boilers, washing machines, air conditioners, electric stoves) require wiring protection from overload, so they are connected not through distribution boxes, but directly to the panel.
List of consumers for three-room apartment usually looks like this:
- sockets:
- bedroom;
- living room;
- children's;
- kitchen;
- bathroom;
- entrance hall and corridor.
- Washing machine;
- boiler;
- air conditioner;
- electric stove;
- lighting:
- bedroom;
- living room;
- children's;
- kitchen, bathroom;
- hallway, corridor.
All consumers are divided into groups (circuits) in accordance with power consumption: sockets for household appliances in one room such as an iron, sconce, TV and others can be combined into one group (sockets in one room - one group, in another - another), lighting - to the next one, also by room. Each group has its own circuit breaker (or just a circuit breaker) on the panel, and for high-power appliances - washing machine, boiler, electric stove, air conditioner - there is one separately for each. Machines may also be called fuses or bags.
Important! Connection of low-power devices (TV, telephone, Internet, security) is carried out in a separate box!
Drawing up an electrical panel diagram
The electrical panel is a housing - a metal or plastic box - with modules inside. A module is a component that occupies one installation “space” (within one DIN rail). Some devices can take up two or even three “places”.
For clarity, you should create a diagram according to which the shield will be assembled.
Examples of 220 V switchboard circuits:
- introductory machine;
- electric meter;
- RCD (residual current device);
- ground bus;
- "zero" bus;
- automatic sockets for high-power devices at 25 A;
- automatic socket group for household appliances of low and medium power at 25 A;
- automatic lighting 16 A;
- L—phase;
- N - zero;
- PE - grounding.
Each house or apartment will have its own layout in accordance with the preferences of the owners.
Selection of components
Depending on the position on the wall, the electrical panel can be of two types:
- internal - recessed into the wall, slightly protruding;
- external - the body is not recessed, but simply fixed to the wall.
If the wiring in the house is hidden inside the walls, then an internal shield is more suitable. He less space It occupies, and is not particularly noticeable, since it protrudes from the wall minimally. To install such a shield, you must first prepare a niche in the wall for it. The wall thickness must be suitable.
If the wiring goes over the walls, then an external panel is suitable, which does not require preliminary preparation of the site. It is enough to attach the housing to the wall with self-tapping screws or dowel nails.
An external electrical panel can be installed both inside the house and in the yard on a pole.
It is better to choose a case from proven European companies with removable walls. It is desirable that the DIN rails are also easily removed or moved aside. You should not take frankly cheap cases: they are made of low-quality plastic, which dries quickly and becomes brittle, is not self-extinguishing and smokes heavily when ignited. Nice buildings are already ready for wiring inside, but cheap ones will have to be completed.
Important! It is better if there are free spaces left in the shield than not enough, so it is worth buying a case with a certain supply of installation spaces.
Modular devices
After installing the housing, you need to select automatic machines, RCDs, difautomatic devices (automatic and RCD in one), a meter, contactors and other devices. Additional modular sockets, buses, power supplies, and control devices can be installed on DIN rails.
When selecting modules, you need to consider the following parameters:
- rated current;
- speed of operation of machines;
- shutdown current of automatic machines, difavtomats, RCDs;
- permissible operating frequency for contactors.
The machines are selected separately for each circuit so that the system is balanced. So, if you allocate a 6-10 A circuit breaker for high-power devices, the latter will automatically turn off, preventing the equipment from working, and, conversely, an overly powerful circuit breaker installed for a low-power consumer will not protect the wiring from overload. For lighting, 6-10 A automatic circuit breakers, ordinary household sockets, boilers, air conditioners, washing machines- 16 A, electric stoves - 20-25 A. An input circuit breaker is needed for 32-60 A, depending on the total current strength of all consumers of the facility.
In the event of a power surge, the circuits should be turned off independently of each other, preferably in order “from lower to higher,” which makes it possible not to de-energize the entire house in case of problems and makes it easier to detect them. Therefore, the machines are equipped with a “set” for the response time: first the lower one is turned off (0.1 s), then the higher one (0.5 s).
A suitable RCD is one whose rated current is higher than the total current of the machines subordinate to it. So, during a surge, the circuit breakers will turn off first, preventing damage to the RCD. For a 16 A machine, a 20-25 A RCD is installed; a 25 A electric stove machine requires a 40 A RCD.
An integral element of the system are the zero and ground buses - copper strips with holes into which wires are inserted and clamped with a bolt. The bar is placed on a dielectric insulator, which is mounted on a DIN rail.
Assembly and connection
Assembly and connection of the electrical panel requires strict adherence to safety regulations! It is better to place the modules in the shield housing according to the drawn up diagram.
Work order:
- 35 mm DIN rails are installed for the meter, machines, zero and grounding buses;
- automatic machines, RCDs and two buses are installed, to which neutral and grounding wires are connected. The input circuit breaker, to which the power cable of the entire system is supplied, must be installed first in the upper left corner of the case. For convenience, it is better to connect the cable to the machine from above. The excess holes remaining in the case for supplying wires are closed with plugs;
- The input machine is connected depending on its type:
- phase and zero are connected to the two-pole;
- to single-pole - only phase;
- in 380 V switchboards, three phases are connected to the input circuit breaker.
- It is better to connect the phases to the machine from below for the convenience of installing jumpers between the machines from above;
- all automatic devices and RCDs are equipped with special copper busbars in insulation or with ordinary wires of sufficient cross-section. Blue wire The zero from the input cable is connected directly to the zero bus. When connecting RCDs and automatic circuit breakers, you need to connect the zero to the bus from each separately;
- route and connect the cables to the machines according to the diagram. Neutral wires are indicated in blue, phase - in red, ground - in black and yellow.
Private homes and offices are often equipped with 380 V electrical panels. A 4 or 5-core cable is supplied to such a panel: two or three phases, neutral and ground.
The 380 V switchboard diagram will be as follows:
Three phases are connected to the input circuit breaker, after which they go to the meter. Then the phases go to a common circuit breaker, after which the wiring is divided into single-phase lines for 220-volt devices and three-phase lines for 380-volt equipment. The voltage between different phases is always 380 V, and between zero and any phase - 220 V.
Household sockets must always be supplied with zero and a phase, 220 V. If you supply two phases, 380 V, the equipment will quickly fail.
The grounding wire always bypasses the machines and goes from the grounding bus to the sockets. Grounding from the input cable also goes directly to the bus. Zero is connected directly from its bus if the sockets are connected through ordinary machines. If they are connected through an RCD or a circuit breaker, zero passes through them.
At the end of the work, the shield is closed and voltage is applied to it.
Important! All work is carried out only when the voltage on the line is turned off! The process is quite complex and requires certain knowledge and skills. If you have doubts, it is better to turn to specialists.
