The electrical wiring of a modern home must comply with existing safety requirements and ensure the performance of the functions assigned to it. Since the number of household electrical appliances has increased many times over compared to the past, there is a need to reconsider the quality of electrical wiring in your home. By approaching this issue responsibly and competently, you can make your home not only as safe as possible, but also comfortable. In this article we will tell you how modern electrical wiring can be arranged in an apartment or private house.
Where to begin
The first step is to replace the aluminum wire with copper. Since aluminum becomes brittle over time, and the insulation on such conductors is destroyed, these factors lead to a loss of electricity in the apartment or to spontaneous fire in emergency areas. In addition, a copper conductor has lower internal resistance compared to the same one made of aluminum. That is, a copper wire is capable of passing more current through itself, and therefore powering a more powerful load.
It is worth considering that for lighting you need to take a wire with a smaller cross-section of 1-1.5 mm, for powering sockets you need to choose a 2.5 mm wire, and to connect an electric oven and oven you will have to choose a cross-section of 4-6 mm.
By the way, by combining wires in this way, you can save a lot of money when purchasing material. It is best to take a copper cable for electrical wiring - VVGng, single-core insulation that does not support combustion. If your budget allows, you can use an NYM cable for the electrical network; this conductor is made using German technology and has double insulation that does not support combustion and smoke. Important properties of these cables are that they do not support combustion, which is very important for the safety of modern housing.
Before you begin replacing the wiring, you need to draw up a wiring diagram. It will take into account the nuances and number of sockets, lamps, switches, sensors, and their location in the apartment. Cable TV wire, Internet and telephone cables are also part of the electrical wiring. At the same time, when designing a smart home, it is also necessary to provide communication wires with all possible alarm sensors, in particular their relative position.
Important! A modern wiring diagram is drawn up in a special program, which can be either paid or free. We reviewed the best programs for drawing electrical circuits in a separate publication to which we referred.
For convenience in repairing or maintaining electrical wiring, you need to distribute the lines into groups of consumers and protect each with a separate machine. In simple words, run more than one wire to the entire apartment, as was done before, but extend cables from the switchboard into each room, one for sockets (from 2.5 sq. mm) and one for lighting fixtures. Connect the sockets in the room according to a star pattern. Therefore, in the panel of a modern cottage you can see several automatic devices for lighting, sockets, a separate automatic switch for an electric stove, outbuildings, etc. We talked about how to divide electrical wiring into groups.
Important: If three phases enter the house, you also need to distribute the load among the phases, as evenly as possible.
Strict forms
The current trend is maximum simplicity and conciseness. All kinds of delights and excessive decor are a thing of the past. Therefore, you should choose sockets and switches of strict shapes, with straight lines - they will always look advantageous and set the “correct” rhythm to the interior.
Gira electrics in the interior. Design: @nadezgda.rado
Gira electrics in the interior. Design: @nadezgda.rado
Modern protection of apartments and houses
The electrical panel also undergoes changes when installing modern wiring. Now the household electrical network is divided into zones and protection is installed for each zone:
- voltage relay;
- automatic switch (to protect the consumer from short circuits);
- spark protection device UZIS;
- differential switch or RCD (devices that monitor the state of insulation on the line and turn off the voltage when the insulation resistance changes).
Many electrical appliances do not tolerate power surges well, and even minor voltage surges can cause significant damage in the form of burnt household appliances. To combat this destructive phenomenon, voltage monitoring devices have been developed. When changing parameters, the voltage relay turns off consumers, thereby protecting their functionality. Based on the set voltage parameters, the relay constantly measures the external voltage of the network. If there is a deviation (usually the default is set to 170 Volts lower and 250 Volts upper threshold), the entire network after the LV is disconnected. After a few minutes, the device re-monitors the voltage parameters and, if everything is in order, makes a connection. Thus, the device helps to avoid electrical breakdowns and spontaneous fires. For a city apartment, a relay with a switching power of 40 Amps - PH40 - is quite suitable.
If suddenly a short circuit occurs in the home network (accidental connection of a phase and neutral conductor), the current in the conductor increases hundreds of times. At this moment, the conductor is heated to a state of melting, which in most cases can lead to fire of nearby objects and damage to electrical devices. To prevent short circuits in the power circuit, automatic switches are installed that react to a sudden surge in current and break the circuit with their contacts. This is not a device you should skimp on when designing modern electrical wiring. Before purchasing any brand of machine, you need to read reviews about this manufacturer. In this case, you need to ask the seller for a certificate for the product. This will protect you from purchasing a counterfeit or substandard item.
In turn, our portal recommends brands of circuit breakers ABB, Schneider Electric, Legrand.
Before installing the machine, you need to determine the load. As a rule, a circuit breaker from 16 to 25 Amps is installed on the sockets, and 6-10 Amps is enough for lighting. You can save money if you correctly calculate the consumer current in the socket group and purchase the necessary machines. The fact is that machines from trusted manufacturers differ significantly in price in different positions.
In order to monitor the insulation status of the network and consumers, it is imperative to install an RCD or a circuit breaker in the panel on each of the controlled zones. The operating principle of such devices is based on comparing two currents, incoming and outgoing, in a special transformer. If current leakage occurs not through the insulation to the ground, but through the human body, when it touches live parts, then the RCD will turn off the voltage, saving his life. For rooms, as a rule, an RCD with a nominal value of 30 mA (milliamps) is installed, and for bathrooms or rooms with high humidity - 10 mA. The general RCD in the panel, for the entire house or cottage, is set with a rating of 100 to 300 mA.
A device that monitors the quality of wire connections in junction boxes and the condition of contacts in sockets and extension cords, preventing overheating in places of poor contact and possible spontaneous fires - ultrasonics. The arc protection device will disconnect the load until the arc and heat damage the wiring. Why is it necessary to install an ultrasonic protection system - neither an automatic machine, nor a differential switch, much less a voltage relay, are able to recognize arc and spark processes in places of poor contact. That is why modern electrical wiring in a wooden house requires the installation of spark protection. In an apartment or an ordinary brick house, you can also play it safe and install this protection option.
Features of electric grid innovations
For efficient operation of electrical networks, it is necessary that they be self-regulating and self-healing.
In the event of emergencies and overloads, the automation itself switches electrical networks in such a way that the supply of electricity to facilities is not disrupted and overloads do not occur. Such innovations are being implemented in Canada, China, Japan, USA, and India. Work is also underway in Russia to develop similar projects.
Such innovations require large financial costs. Energy companies are not very willing to invest in projects that will only begin to pay off over a long period of time. To solve this problem, it is necessary to issue laws that encourage investment in promising projects to modernize the electric power industry. We need clear and coordinated work by all companies that were previously part of RAO UES.
Work on the creation of electrical smart networks (Smart Grid) in Russia was started by the company FSK EU, where the prospects for innovative innovation were appreciated. The company's activities involve significant investments in the development of domestic smart grids.
You can't do without grounding
When assembling an apartment switchboard, a TN-CS grounding circuit is used instead of the outdated two-wire one. In the new system, an additional PE conductor appears - grounding; now three conductors should come to the consumer: L phase, N zero, PE grounding. Each electrical appliance that has a special PE contact must be grounded. If your house or apartment does not have grounding, then this circuit is not difficult to make with your own hands. In a series of articles on the site, the design of a ground loop for self-installation was discussed in detail. All you need to do is study the section: .
What else is important to know is that it is prohibited to carry out zeroing in apartments of old housing stock. Those. use additionally zero N (without upgrading all common house wiring) as a PE grounding wire. The reason for this is that in the event of an accident (break of the neutral wire on the floor below), the wire acquires a dangerous potential and objects connected to such a conductor may receive an electric shock. In such cases, it is better not to connect the PE conductor anywhere until better times, until the home network is modernized.
Blue LEDs
Blue light from LEDs has pronounced antibacterial properties. This has been officially proven by scientists from the University of Singapore. If you combine it with refrigeration, then preservatives that are added to food become unnecessary.
The developers are confident that their discovery will become popular in fast food chains. After all, consumers have heard about the dangers of artificial additives, and food without them will definitely be in demand.
The greatest effect can be achieved if you combine blue light with a temperature of +4-+15 degrees and an acidic environment. Bacterial cells contain light-sensitive compounds that absorb light in the visible region of the electromagnetic spectrum. Accordingly, under such conditions, massive death of bacteria occurs.
What else you need to know
For reliable contact, modern wiring is assembled like a construction set, on the spring contacts of WAGO terminal blocks. Their use reduces the installation time of electrical wiring. However, keep in mind that you can use “wags” in cases where the load is small, i.e. when connecting sockets for powering low-power devices and lighting groups. At high loads, we recommend using more reliable methods of connecting current-carrying conductors, for example, crimping with sleeves or welding.
As for sockets, smart Wi-Fi sockets and remotely controlled Wi-Fi light switches with the same principle of operation have appeared on the market. With their help, you can control electrical appliances and lighting in the house from different places. This is smart electrical wiring, which will not be difficult for anyone who is interested in doing it.
Another important point is smart lighting in the house, which can be organized using radio-controlled chandeliers, or, alternatively, smart LED lamps. Speaking of the latter, smart light bulbs can amplify the Wi-Fi signal, turn on and off according to a given schedule (creating the effect of a person’s presence), change color and light level. In general, with a smartphone at hand, you can play with color and light while lying on the sofa.
Speaking about modern methods of installing electrical wiring, recently it has become more and more common to lay cables along the ceiling and vice versa in the floor covering. These methods have their advantages and disadvantages, but the main thing is that an alternative to classic cable laying inside walls is increasingly being developed. If you don’t want to ditch the walls, you can simply lay the cable inside a suspended or suspended ceiling. The main thing is to make the connection points of the cores accessible for inspection and repair.
This is all we wanted to tell you about what modern electrical wiring is like in an apartment and a private house. As you can see, there are quite a lot of new features, and most importantly, more and more attention is being paid to the safety and comfort of using electrical appliances in the home. We hope you found the information provided interesting. The editors of the site Sam Electric will be happy to answer all your questions in the comments!
Finally, we recommend watching a useful video that explains in detail what electrical wiring is like in a modern apartment:
Installation stages
According to modern standards, electrical installation work must be carried out taking into account preliminary planning.
The main stages are drawing up a wiring diagram and calculating the load on the network, without which it is impossible to purchase equipment and begin laying wiring. Installation algorithm:
- development of a scheme taking into account planning decisions, existing standards and the purpose of individual premises;
- calculation of load, quantity and type of materials, fittings and equipment;
- marking, gating and laying cables;
- installation of distribution boxes, sockets, switches;
- assembly, installation of the entrance panel for the apartment;
- checking network functionality.
"E-liquid"
Experimental studies with nanostructures have shown that electrons can “flow” like a liquid. Accordingly, it is possible to create ultra-fast “fluid” electronics.
According to the laws of physics, the highest speed of electrons occurs during their encounter with other particles or atoms. A good example is a complete vacuum environment, in which the trajectory of particles is similar to the flight of projectiles. But to date, no one has been able to simulate such conditions. According to physicists, such media can be carbon nanotubes or graphene sheets. However, for now this is only at the level of guesswork.
Microchip based on the human brain
A unique development of American bioengineers is the NeuroCore microchip. It operates thousands of times faster than a personal computer. Innovation is based on the principle of the human brain.
Bioengineers have created a printed circuit board consisting of 16 microchips. It simulates the work of one million neurons and forms billions of synaptic connections. Energy consumption is minimal.
In the future, the developers plan to reduce the price of the board and create a compiler for the software.
