French electrics guide
French renewable energy on the plains of Perpignan
This blog will include a number of ‘Guide’ posts which are intended to introduce you to various aspects of French property renovation. This is the first of these guides, a beginners’ guide to French electrics.
French electrics are very different to the electrics in the UK and can be the source of some significant frustration, especially if you don’t get your head around the power supply system in France.
In France a customer’s power supply is regulated by a disjoncteur. This is a mains circuit breaker that limits the amount of electricity you can consume at any particular time. Generally, the lowest rating (the starting point for our house…) is 3Kw/h. This is about enough electricity to run a very small travelling kettle and a light at the same time. If you exceed the power (puissance) rating for your house, your power is cut at the disjoncteur and you have to run around your house turning off power consuming items before resetting it.
Puissance ratings go up in 3Kw/h. For a small house, generally 9Kw/h is sufficient for average use but if you have a lot of modern equipment, electric heating and water heaters, this may not be enough. 12Kw/h is enough for most modern homes but you can go up to about 18Kw/h if you need to. Every time you increase the rating, your standing charge can increase dramatically. It’s important therefore to make sure that the rating for your house is as low as it can be without causing the power to cut out.
In 2006/07, the French equivalent of building standards, Norms changed, making it necessary for EDF or a qualified French electrician to test all circuits before connecting new services or upgrading to higher ratings. This means that changes you make to your system may need to be checked, unless you employ a qualified electrician to install for you. It is worthwhile checking the Norms or asking for advice before starting work.
Electrical installations in France are a little different to the UK, although the basic principles are the same. In France, a ‘circuit’ does not return to the consumer unit, forming a ring like in the UK. In France, the circuit is a spur from the consumer unit and does not return. There are limits to the number of power sockets, lights and heaters that can go on one circuit.
In France, white goods that consume significant power have to go on separate dedicated circuits. These include electric ovens, washing machines and tumble driers. These circuits need higher rated cabling (thicker diameter) and higher rated circuit breakers.
Plugs in France are not fused as they are in the UK. In France, power relies on the effectiveness of fuses or circuit breakers at the main consumer unit. It is important that the system is properly earthed for this reason. An earthing wire is connected throughout the circuit and is connected at the consumer unit to an earthing rod. Metal pipework in the house should also be earthed in this way.
Wiring in France is different. Each of the three wires (earth, live and neutral) are separate. They are not together in a plastic sheath as in the UK. They are usually protected within a hard, ribbed plastic tube that is used to thread the wiring throughout the house. This is often safer than UK wiring as it is pretty difficult to accidentally nail through a tube and into a wire, or drill through it (we know, we tried!). However, it can cause complications threading these larger tubes throughout the house and back to the consumer unit; often you also need to allow plenty of space around the unit for all the tubes to come in to.
Finally, French wiring is available pre-threaded or as separate packages. If you buy the pre-threaded tube and wiring, you can save significant amounts of time trying to thread the tube with the wires, which can be irritating. However, it costs more to purchase. You can save money buying each individual wire and the tube separately and threading it yourself. You will find this more time consuming.
Alternatively, you can pay someone else to do it for you!