How to conduct wiring in the apartment with your own hands from the shield: basic schemes and rules + installation steps

Electricity is an integral energy resource of modern construction projects intended, in particular, for housing. It is hard to imagine a modern house without electrics.

Traditionally, a home network is arranged by default by electricians in the process of building an object. However, in some situations, you have to do electrification yourself. Is it possible to carry out work without relevant experience?

We will tell you how to do the wiring in the apartment with your own hands from the dashboard, what schemes and arrangement options it is better to adhere to, we outline the rules and requirements for wiring. In addition, we describe the stages of the work - from selecting and pulling the wire, and ending with the installation of sockets, switches and meters.

How to conduct apartment wiring?

Suppose there is a private house built or a new apartment with a rough finish, where engineering equipment is required - electrical wiring and all the attributes included in the kit.

To part an electric network inside a private house (apartment), of course, it is desirable to entrust to professional performers.

However, professional service is comparable to the inevitable serious costs. In addition, there are regions where electricians are a real shortage.

The construction of a residential electrical network with the help of professional electricians is not cheap. However, this approach removes a lot of problems in wiring

Here the way out is unequivocal - independent electrification of your own apartment / house. But how to conduct electrical wiring in the apartment with your own hands, without having the accumulated experience?

Perhaps, only with the help of the necessary information - understandable, in accordance with current norms and rules.

Consideration of schemes and mounting options

Serious construction always starts with a plan. Electrification of your own apartment (house) also initially involves the creation of a circuit solution.

Urban apartments are usually built in a standard way. That is, in fact, a typical power supply scheme should already be attached to a standard project.

An example of a circuit option for apartment wiring. This is the standard design of the scheme, provided for most classic urban buildings (+)

Rough finishing of apartments includes laying channels for the electrical circuit. The channels are supplied with traction wire, especially for pulling wires.

This is seen as a definite advantage for the potential owner of the living space, who plans to conduct electrical wiring in a new apartment on his own.

It will only be necessary to study the layout of the channels, and then proceed to the laying (broaching) of the conductors.

The problem of laying electrical wiring in an apartment is more difficult when the system channels are absent in the structure of the building.

In this option, an apartment (home) project will have to perform additional work:

• punching channels in the walls - prepare strobes;
• mount protective boxes;
• install mounting fittings;
• Cook landing points for sockets, switches, fixtures, etc.

True, an exclusive version of the scheme is not excluded - Open wiring. This option is technologically and technically obsolete, but from the point of view of “retro” design today has a certain level of popularity, especially in suburban homes.

Fragment of the installation of an open-type electric line with a "retro" bias in terms of design. As a rule, such solutions are more often used for conditions of suburban real estate.

So, we will assume that the potential owner of the apartment encountered the usual scheme of closed (made inside the walls) installation of boxes for electrical conductors and decided to do the wiring independently.

Then at the next stage, you should definitely study the rules and requirements.

Compliance with PES rules and requirements

Electricity does not forgive mistakes. This truth should become commonplace for himself an electrician.

The rules and requirements of wiring affect a lot of work execution details, starting from the correct conductor cross-section and ending with the device of grounding structures.

An example showing conductors based on aluminum insulated with a polymeric material. This is an economical option for apartment wiring, but does not guarantee high reliability and safety.

It is not necessary to save on security and if possible, it is always recommended to opt for a copper wire relative to an aluminum wire.

Copper for apartment wiring is usually selected stranded, soft. Depending on the expected load, the cross section of the conductors is calculated (not the diameter!).

The total load (kW) for the apartment option is calculated by a simple addition of the power of all electrical appliances that are supposed to be used in everyday life, taking into account the coefficient:

P = (P1 + P2 + ... Pn) * 0.8,

Where:

• P1 ... Pn - the power of each of the consumers of electricity in the apartment (electrical appliances);
• 0,8 - correction factor - it is believed that only 80% of all equipment can work in an apartment at a time.

Knowing the total power, according to the table for the household version, it is easy to choose the desired cross-section (wire diameter).

Since the power of household electrical appliances is relatively small, the diameter of the wires without taking into account the insulation for the installation of an eyeliner from the shield is on average no more than 2.5-3 mm for aluminum, and 2.0-2.5 mm for copper.

The exception is apartments equipped with electric stoves and other powerful equipment.In any case, you need to accurately calculate the cross-section for the load with a small margin.

The table clearly shows the difference in the cross section of the cores with respect to the type of conductor (copper / aluminum), which again is noted by the advantage of choosing a copper wire. The smaller the cross section, the thinner the conductor, the easier it is to stretch it in the channel.

Additional information on the choice of cable and wire for the organization of wiring in the apartment is presented in this article.

How to extend the wire in the channel?

Each section of the channel for wiring by default contains a traction thread - a metal wire with a diameter of 0.5-1 mm. The ends of this thread are brought out through the inlet and outlet openings of the channel.

It is enough to connect the electrical wiring to the traction thread at the inlet and then pull the conductors along the channel carefully by pulling from the opposite end of the channel.

If there is no traction thread in the channel, in fact, it is easy to skip it yourself, given the small diameter and sufficient elasticity of the steel wire.

An example of fixing a cable with a metal string-broach for subsequent pulling inside the cable channel. This is a common method of wiring the apartment wiring - broaches inside the cable channels

In this way, the electrical wiring is “loaded” onto each individual section of the apartment circuit, including the channels for supplying traditional electric points:

• electricity consumption meter;
• electrical outlets;
• light switches;
• house calls, etc.

Then it remains only to mount all the electric points in place with the connection of the output ends of the wire to the corresponding terminals.

It should be noted that the current rules require wiring together with the terminal wires of the ground bus cable. Connection of terminals is recommended to be done in a certain order.

The order of work with electrical wiring

It is recommended that work on installation of wiring products and connection of terminal nodes be started from the point farthest from the central junction box.

As a rule, such a point is the electrical outlet (s) of the farthest room.

Work on connecting apartment electric points traditionally starts from the outlets of the most remote room. Modern installation requirements for such wiring products require a three-wire configuration

Stage # 1 - connecting apartment outlets

The terminals of the sockets are connected to the conductors of the electric line (phase - zero), plus each of the sockets, according to the rules, must be connected to the ground terminal to the ground conductor.

Conductors - phase, zero, grounding, as a rule, differ in color:

• phase - brown;
• zero - blue;
• land - yellow-green.

In addition, the grounding conductor, again according to the rules, always has an increased diameter with respect to the other two conductors.

Having completed the installation and connection, you should check the integrity of the lines of the current section of the apartment wiring using an electrician tester.

Testing connected terminal points using a tester meter. The test is simple - through the function of measuring the resistance to a "short circuit" circuit

To run a test:

1. At the other end of the channel in the junction box, connect the phase and neutral wires together.
2. Plug the probes of the measuring device connected to the resistance measurement into the socket.
3. Verify that the tester indicates “short circuit”.

A similar test is also performed for the grounding line by connecting it to any of the line wires. One of the probes of the device is then moved to the ground bus.

Thus, moving closer to the point of the main input, all socket terminals included in the apartment scheme are sequentially disconnected.

In this case, after testing each of the two sections, the wires are connected inside the junction boxes. Having completed work with sockets, they switch to switches - devices of communication action.

Stage # 2 - installation of switches for apartment lighting

This type of installation as a whole is not much different from work with apartment outlets. However, its technical points at installing a light switch.

So, if the sockets provide for direct parallel connection to the circuit, the circuit breaker forms an open circuit through one wire (phase) - that is, the inclusion in series.

An example of a switching unit device consisting of two switches of the same type (single) design. Usually this arrangement of devices is typical for the bathroom of the apartment

Switches are also mounted in niches of wall panels, but it is taken into account that each communication device works with a specific lighting device. From here the switch design is selected - a single key, two keys.

The operation of switches for apartment wiring is also recommended to be tested. This is done simply. The conductors intended for the lighting device are connected to the tester in the resistance measurement mode, and then the key is manipulated.

In the closed state, the tester will show “short circuit”, in the open state - the absence of contact.

Part of the circuit with switches and fixtures also assumes the presence of junction boxes, where, after testing individual sections, connections are made to the rest of the wiring.

Stage # 3 - work at the installation site of the meter

Most of the installation options include the installation of an electricity meter inside the apartment. Usually this control device is mounted in the immediate vicinity of the entry point of the conductors emanating from the shield.

This requires installation not only of the meter itself, but also installation of circuit breakerscalculated according to the load - theoretically, switching each functional section of the apartment wiring, as in the example below:

Scheme of effectively protected apartment wiring by installing circuit breakers on each individual segment (+)

This scheme ensures reliable functioning of the electrical wiring in the apartment, allows you to eliminate possible malfunctions without removing the voltage across the entire home network.

In addition, it becomes convenient to test the apartment wiring at the first start-up, sequentially including each individual segment.

Conclusions and useful video on the topic

For more complete information regarding the electrical wiring device in the apartment area, it is recommended to view a video-description of the processes.

Familiarization with the video will enrich the existing experience, which will only positively affect the quality of work.

Electrical wiring, made with one's own hand in a city apartment, is a perfectly acceptable option. However, there are some “buts” in resolving the issue in this way.

Firstly, you should not take up this matter if there is not the slightest experience in wiring. Secondly, when plotting independent execution of work, initially you need to think about your own safety and only secondarily about your own benefit.

Share with your readers your experience of independent installation of wiring to the apartment, connecting sockets and switches. Please leave comments, ask questions about the topic of the article and participate in discussions - the feedback form is located below.