How to install new electrical wiring in an old apartment. The nuances of replacing electrical wiring in an apartment with your own hands How to change the wiring in an apartment step by step

How to properly repair apartment electrical wiring.

In our long-suffering country, people do not have enough money to buy new housing. Secondary apartment market, i.e. apartments "B.U." is becoming more and more popular. The first thing new residents do after purchasing is to prepare for renovations. But not only the walls, floor, and ceiling need to be repaired, but also the wiring.

The fact is that in the last century, when this housing was built, the apartment’s energy consumption was expected to be 1-2 kW, but now it can easily reach 10 kW. Almost everyone has washing machine, microwave oven, iron, hair dryer, vacuum cleaner, electric toaster, electric grill, etc. Most of these devices easily consume 1-2 kW, and yet they can be turned on at the same time! You'll even have to change it. A modern electric meter is designed for a current of at least 50 A.

But how to start electrical wiring repair? There are certain rules for this. They will help you save time, money and health.

Rule one

Electrical wiring repairs start with a project. Determine what appliances will be in each room. What kind of lighting will there be, where will they be. At what height should they be installed? Previously, it was common to install sockets at a height of 80-90 cm, and switches 150-160 cm from the floor.

Now another fashion has come: sockets are at a height of 30-40 cm, and switches are 80-90 cm. The exception is, where they are placed at a height of 10 cm from the level of the tabletop. Do not skimp on sockets; it is better to place them at a distance of no more than 3 m from each other.

Rule two

During repairs, the wiring must be changed immediately and completely. . Firstly, because previously they used aluminum wires, but they are short-lived and have a lot of very significant disadvantages. Secondly, when repairing electrical wiring, you should not connect aluminum wires and copper wires. Thirdly, the work associated with gating walls. It is better to do it in an apartment without furniture, because... there will be a lot of dirt and inconvenience.

Rule three

Before replacing electrical wiring, calculate the consumption. Add up the power of electrical appliances that will be powered from one line (one machine). It is accepted that no more than 5 sockets were connected from one machine. The total load power of these outlets should be no more than 5 kW. The wire cross-section for sockets is 2.5 square. The machine is installed with a current of no more than 25 A. The cross-section of the wire for lighting is at least 1.5 square. The power of lighting devices is no more than 3 kW. The machine must be installed at a current of no more than 16 A.

Rule four

Don't skimp on materials. It is better to take the cable VVGng 3x2.5, VVGng 3x1.5 or VVP cable 3x2.5. Choose sockets, boxes and switches in the mid-price category. The evaluation criterion should be the quality of contact connections (better chrome-plated or nickel-plated contacts), thermally stable base (better ceramics).

Replacing the electrical wiring in an apartment with your own hands, as a rule, is timed to coincide with a major overhaul. And it is perhaps the most difficult part of it. Accordingly, so does the price. IN regional city V middle lane RF professional wiring replacement costs approximately 1000 rubles. per 1 sq.m of total housing area. You should only attempt to replace the wiring yourself if repairs are necessary and you are short on funds.

Copper, earth and doses

Replacing electrical wiring in a residential area rests on three pillars:

Replacing aluminum wires with copper ones.
Transition from TN–C power supply circuit ( solidly grounded neutral) on TN–C–S (with protective grounding of consumers).
Transition from branching wires to connecting groups with separate branches.

Let's explain in order:

Aluminum electrical wiring, due to its low cost and environmental friendliness (copper mining and smelting were extremely hazardous industries at that time), became widespread throughout the world in the 30s - 60s. However, over time it became clear that aluminum is unsuitable for electrical wires:

Over the course of 20 years, changes occur in metal circuits under current, the essence of which is still not completely clear; First of all, aluminum becomes very brittle, and you literally can’t breathe on the wiring.
At the slightest ingress of moisture, aluminum is susceptible to electrocorrosion, which spreads under the shell; A seemingly intact wire turns out to be thinned down to a hair; hence the sudden failures, the most emergency ones.

Aluminum is a soft metal. It is squeezed out from under the terminal screws, the twists become loose, and soldering aluminum is difficult, expensive and one of the hazardous industries. Therefore, aluminum contacts are unreliable.

Power line wires have a service life of less than 20 years, and the defects of aluminum do not affect them. But aluminum is now prohibited in residential wiring.

The Soviet TN-C power supply scheme was used forcedly, due to the need for mass electrification in conditions of an acute shortage of non-ferrous metals and the large length of communications in a huge country. Since 1997, the TN-C-S power supply system has been adopted in the Russian Federation, ensuring consumer safety regardless of the state of the power grid. There are many ungrounded high-rise buildings left from the USSR, but since there is a problem, it needs to be solved; not “from above”, but on our own.

The branching wiring diagram was also used forcedly, and for the same reasons as TN-C. At the same time, branches to groups were connected to the more powerful apartment input wires along their length. Branches were made in distribution boxes - electrodispensers (doses); The main apartment dose is located next to the counter.

Each branch is stripped of insulation and twisted or terminals: unreliable and sensitive to locking. Nowadays it has not yet been legalized (but it’s a matter of suits him), but branch wiring is common: from the input to each group of connections there is a separate solid piece of cable in double or triple insulation. No twists or clamps, not afraid of moisture.

Stages of work

Electrical wiring installation costs can be reduced by half or more. The fact is that replacing electrical wiring is carried out in five stages:

Development of a power supply diagram for an apartment (house).
Drawing up an electrical wiring plan, its approval and registration together with the power supply diagram.
Construction of a temporary repair shed.
Electrical wiring.
Installation of mechanisms (switches, automatic machines), connection points (sockets) and stationary electrical appliances ( lighting fixtures, heated floor, washing machine, air conditioner, electric oven, etc.).

Before starting work on replacing electrical wiring, protective grounding should be installed, if possible, or protective grounding should be provided. However, its device is .

Wiring to points is carried out at the last stage during the installation of mechanisms, automation, connection points and electrical appliances.

You can save money at each stage of replacing electrical wiring. In general, you can reduce costs by half or more - up to 650-450 rubles per square meter, depending on what you can do on your own and what you will have to entrust to specialists.

Power supply diagram

Take a look at the picture in the section. Just take a look for now. Let's give some explanations. Firstly: kWA – electricity meter; RCD - device protective shutdown. Secondly, the power supply circuit is single-line.

Pay attention to the two slashes that cross out the wire designation. This means that in reality there are two wires - phase L and zero N (neutral), laid together. The PE protective wire is not crossed out, which means it goes separately. If the input is three-phase, then there will be three dashes on the designations of its wires. We do not touch systems with an isolated neutral, which are not used in everyday life.

Now look at the drawing carefully. This is a single-line power supply diagram for an elite apartment of 200 square meters. m. If everything in it is generally clear to you, you will be able to draw your own power supply diagram, even if you do not have an electrical engineering education and do not know how to draw.

At worst, you will end up with a clumsy sketch. But a senior student or a retired electrician looking for a part-time job can use it to draw inexpensively in half an evening correct scheme. And if you entrust the scheme to a practicing specialist with a decent salary, it will cost a pretty penny. The trouble will not decrease for you: after all, he needs the initial data.

Thinking through the power supply

Proper wiring in the house depends primarily on the power consumption. In cottage villages they give a consumption limit of 10-20 kW for housing, but in a city apartment this is unrealistic: either the machine in the entrance will be knocked out all the time, or, even worse, the house wiring will burn out. And in old houses, where replacement of wiring is most often required, the “Khrushchev” limit is set at 1.3 kW; at the limit - 2 kW.

However, no one turns everything on at once. Even in the summer, when the air conditioners are on, they turn on out of step. Here, chance works for the consumer: with an average power consumption of 4.3 kW, the house wiring holds up. This limit is used as the basis for the calculation. True, if in the summer you start washing or ironing, the air conditioner with the boiler will have to be turned off, otherwise the main machine will turn off the entire apartment. But you have to come to terms with this.

Without going into details of the calculation, we will immediately give data for an average city apartment of 40-100 square meters. m of total area:

Main circuit breaker - from 25 to 32 A depending on the area. For the meticulous: the current safety factor is 1.3-1.5. It is impossible to give 2 in apartment buildings: the general wiring is “stunted”.
Apartment RCD – 50 A 30 µA unbalance.
Kitchen - two branches of wiring of 4 sq. mm; on each there is a 25 A automatic circuit breaker and a 30 A 30 µA RCD. Water supply to the bathroom is from the kitchen; not indicated on the diagram, see below.
Air conditioning – branch 2.5 sq.mm; automatic – 16 A, RCD – 20 A 30 µA.
Socket circuits and lighting circuits - one of both in each room, except for the bathroom and toilet; they contain only lighting; We're still talking about the bathroom. The cross-section of the prododes is 2.5 sq. mm; Automatic shutdown is not needed, a general apartment one will suffice.

That's all the source code for a single-line power supply diagram for an apartment. You can draw.

Figure: graphic diagrams for “clarification”:

Drawing a diagram

You can take the diagram given as a basis. Its top, from the exit from the counter, remains unchanged, you only need to change the numerical data. The brand of the RCD does not matter: if you end up installing others instead of the ASTRO-UZO, this does not violate anything.

In case of doubt regarding the designations, see the Appendix to the PUE (Rules for the construction of electrical installations of consumers) or GOST 2.755-87(CT SEV 5720-86). Just follow the GOST number: for some reason, in the search, a lot of references to GOST 2.721-74 and even GOST 7624-55 pop up, which are now no more useful than the Moral Code of the Builder of Communism, at one time personally edited by a dear comrade and unforgettable Secretary General Leonid Ilyich.

When drawing a diagram, observe the dimensions symbols elements: their scaling is not allowed. If, for example, an electric capacitor is indicated by two parallel lines 0.5 mm thick and 10 mm long at a distance of 2 mm from one another, then so be it, even if it is alone on a sheet of Whatman paper A0.

Preparing a plan

Now look at the picture that accompanies this section. This is already a PLAN for the electrical wiring: this is what the diagram turns into when you have to do it by hand. Let's explain the plan:

At least two branches must go to each room from the meter - to the lighting circuit and the socket.
Since an ordinary apartment has one bathroom, a DSU (additional potential equalization system) is not needed. Its branch in the diagram is indicated by a dotted line.
In the bathroom, mark only the moisture-proof ceiling light and the boiler, if installed there. The bathroom is a special and complex case, we will talk about it later.
Designate only branches to connection points (sockets) and stationary electrical installations. Stationary installations are those that are rigidly fixed to load-bearing structures, or not powered through a detachable connection. For example: the boiler and heated floor are stationary, but the washing machine, dishwasher and electric oven are not. The fact that they are connected to other communications does not concern or concern electricians.
Don't clutter the diagram with little things like LED backlight ceiling, extension cord to the balcony, etc. Such things only irritate inspectors, and a completely decent plan can be “cut down.”
Under no circumstances point branches onto a balcony or loggia! For a city apartment, this is a gross violation of the PUE. These rooms must be powered from outlets in other rooms.

Now let’s show you how to simplify the preparation of the plan:

Take a plan of your apartment from the DEZ or BTI.
Scan; if large - in pieces.
In Photoshop, glue the pieces together and remove the old wiring symbols, stationary electrical appliances and connection points.
Apply new ones in accordance with the diagram and the sample wiring plan provided. It’s more convenient to do this not in Photoshop, but in CorelDraw or another vector graphics editor, by importing the original raster file and then exporting ready plan back to raster. Don't forget to save the vector template! Plans made by amateurs are returned for revision with comments in almost 100% of cases.
In Photoshop, divide large image in the required scale into pieces the size of the print area of your printer, print and glue into a large sheet so that the lines match. If they move apart a little, you can draw it by hand.

Notes:

If the bathroom is located far from the kitchen (as, for example, in Czech apartments), then the group of sockets provided for it, described below in the section on the kitchen, should be placed in the bathroom adjacent to it.

It is advisable to place groups of sockets in adjacent rooms exactly opposite each other across the wall. In this case, by drilling into the wall, you can power both groups with one branch, saving cable and pipe.

In “tram” apartments (enfilade layout) in the room farthest from the meter, groups of sockets, but no more than two, are allowed (in practice, not according to PUE) to be powered sequentially, one from the other. In this case, if the near group is powered through the wall from the living room, another half of the branch is saved.

In practice, sconces and other local lights can also be powered from sockets or in series within the room if it also has a ceiling lamp.

Ceiling lamps must be powered each by a separate branch. It is unacceptable to power them through each other or from sockets: general lighting circuits are considered vital.

The rows are counted and designated on the plan as a chandelier. The branch for them is brought out to the center of the ceiling, and the wiring during installation is done as safer and more convenient.

The finished power supply diagram and wiring plan for the apartment must be registered and approved by the energy service. The verification and registration procedure is free.

Important: The electrical wiring plan should be given the utmost attention. Optimally, a properly drawn up plan saves costs by half or more compared to a sloppy one.

Electrical equipment of rooms

To draw up a power supply plan competently, you first need to decide how many and what connection points and stationary consumers will be in the house. Of course, you are the master of your home, and it is impossible to develop a single methodology for drawing up a plan for all layout options. But the following guidelines may be useful to you.

Bathroom

Bathroom electrical installations are a tough nut to crack. On the one hand, only high humidity makes the bathroom particularly dangerous in terms of the degree of electric shock. Plus, there is a splashed floor and a naked, steamed person in hot water. The resistance of his body drops more than that of a dead drunk: the short circuit current through the body can exceed 5 A (!), and this is between an absolutely fatal blow and charring. The damaging effect of electric current depends on the time of exposure, and with such strength, the response time of the RCD is in no way sufficient to certainly prevent trouble.

On the other hand, there are powerful electrical installations: a washing machine, a boiler, with a large inherent leakage current, operating at elevated temperatures and humidity. In such conditions, exposed live contacts, even under the cover of the socket, will be a source of danger of electric shock.

PUEs allow the installation of sockets in the bathroom through an isolation transformer or RCD, but this decision is even more forced than the TN-C system was at one time. The RCD has already been mentioned, but as for the isolation transformer, this point was simply copied from the section on industrial electrical equipment for lack of a better one.

Installing an isolation transformer is a technically quite complex task and the subject separate description. Recommendations like - push RTR under suspended ceiling in the bathroom - the fruit, if not of ignorance, then of a latent desire for perverted electrosuicide. According to the letter PTB and PUE, a bathroom can only have a ceiling lamp in a waterproof design. But in the spirit and essence of the same PTB and PUE, the power supply to the bathroom can be organized as follows:

Replace the electrical cords of the boiler and fan with long ones so that they are enough to go through the hole in the wall to the sockets in the kitchen or in the room adjacent to the bathroom. The boiler is not equipped with a standard cord, and the loss of the warranty on an inexpensive fan is not a big problem, especially since almost 100% of warranty returns of fans are limited to non-warranty cases. Of course, the cords are three-core, with a protective conductor.
Buy an extension cord without a cord, but with grounding contacts (Euro), for three sockets, with shaped holes in the back for hanging on the wall, and also provide it with a three-core cord.
Lead all three cords through a hole in the wall in the corner above the baseboard into the kitchen or adjacent room, equip them with Euro plugs, and place them in a PVC box: in the corner and below it will not be conspicuous.
The boiler plug is plugged into the socket “permanently” - nowhere in any rules is there a time limit for plugging the plug into the socket. Also the fan plug, if it is “intelligent” and is triggered by temperature and humidity.
The extension cord is hung in the bathroom using self-tapping screws in dowels.
The washing machine is plugged into the extension cord permanently. The remaining two sockets can be used to include a light frame for a mirror and a hair dryer.
The extension cord plug is plugged into an outlet in the adjacent room as needed.

Thus, there will be no exposed live ends in the bathroom all the time, and if basic precautions are taken, the risk of electric shock will be reduced to zero. And according to the PUE and PTB, an extension cord, even with a cord in a box and hung on the wall, is just an extension cord, not a socket.

Toilet

Only one lighting branch for the ceiling lamp will go to the toilet, as well as to the bathroom. Toilet and bathroom fixtures can be powered sequentially using one branch: electricians do not find fault.

Kitchen

For the kitchen, therefore, you will need two branches of wiring: for the bathroom and for your own needs. If the bathroom is located away from the kitchen, then the branch for the bathroom will go into the room adjacent to it, but we will describe it here.

The wire cross-section is 4 sq. mm and the automatic protection for both branches is the same and is described above. But the connection points differ: for your own kitchen branch you need not one, as for the bathroom, but two triple sockets. They will always include a dishwasher, an electric oven, a food processor and spotlights. Powering the halogens on the bottom of a hanging cabinet with a separate branch, as is sometimes recommended, is uneconomical and incorrect according to the PUE.

One of the remaining points will go under the kitchen fan, and the other is constantly connected to an extension cord, hung, like in a bathroom, on a wall or on a cabinet. It can be used to plug in a toaster, a vacuum cleaner when cleaning, etc. The refrigerator is plugged into an additional group socket on the opposite wall.

It is advisable to place the bathroom and main group sockets behind the lower kitchen cabinet, close under the countertop, but away from the sink. If the bottom cabinet has a back wall, cut an opening in it. To pass the cords, cut off the back corners of the tabletops so that they are not visible, and the cords pass freely.

The lighting branch in the kitchen is the same as everywhere else.

Hallway and corridor

Two branches are needed here: for the socket and for the light. If the corridor is long and two lighting points are needed, then the one closest to the outlet is made in the form of a sconce and is powered from it. And the far point will already be a ceiling lamp, powered by its branch.

Children's

The PUE requires for children's institutions that sockets and switches be located at a height of at least 180 cm from the floor. But this applies only to institutions, and the child will grow up, and the room will remain his.

If your beloved child shows an increased interest in technology from a tender age, the socket in the nursery should be equipped with a protective disk. A socket with a key-locked lid can cause a petty individual to become sulky and suppress inclinations that may later become the key to success in life.

Living rooms

Without going into the intricacies of topology, let’s say right away: for powering ceiling lamps and two groups of sockets in living rooms, 2N+1 branches are enough, where N is the number of rooms. Let us explain using the example of a three-room apartment:

Living room - 1 branch of the main socket group, 1 - additional, 1 - lighting.
Bedroom – 1 branch of the main group, 1 lighting. The additional group is powered through the wall from the additional group in the living room.
Children's - 1 branch of the main group, 1 lighting. The additional group is powered through the wall from the additional bedroom group.
From the bedroom or children's room, depending on the layout, an additional kitchen group is powered through the wall.

In total, for a 2-3 room apartment you will need 12-15 branches, including air conditioning. The branch for the air conditioner must end with a socket, although it is a stationary device. For two reasons: for safety and ease of maintenance, and because the split is equipped with a standard molded cord, cutting which will void the warranty.

At what height will the sockets be?

The optimal height for sockets is 25-35 cm from the floor. It’s quite comfortable to reach for them, they don’t catch your eye, and they don’t interfere with furniture. The exception is the air conditioner outlet. It is placed higher so that its cord can be reached and not dangle in plain sight. Excess cord can be rolled into a coil and placed on top of the wall unit body; The height of the placement of sockets is not regulated anywhere.

Do not try to “over-wire” it beyond measure - this will only reduce the reliability of the wiring. Two groups, one double in each, is quite enough. As a last resort, a triple socket can be placed in one seat, but this cannot be built-in.

Tools and materials

To replace electrical wiring you will need the following tool:

A hammer drill with a 16-20 mm concrete drill, a 90-100 mm core drill, a 25-30 mm concrete chisel and a set of drills, also for concrete.
Grinder with a stone circle.
Soldering iron 40-60 W.
Phase indicator indicator.
Multimeter tester.
Pliers, screwdrivers and side cutters with insulated handles.
Flashlight.
Assembly knife.
Construction level and cord for marking the route of the grooves.
Spatula for putting alabaster.
Portable electric lamp.

We should talk specifically about materials.

Terminal blocks

The described method of replacing electrical wiring eliminates its twisting and soldering along the length, and the wiring is absolutely resistant to jamming. All connections will be made in the input panel (IC) at the terminal blocks and at the end points. Terminal blocks are sold in sections of 10 contacts (5 pairs). You will need 3-4 sections; It’s better to take three at once, and it’s never too late to buy.

When purchasing, pay attention to the material of the case - polyethylene is bad, any other will do. And most importantly, the holes for the wires should accommodate two wires with a diameter of 2.5 mm. It is better to immediately take terminal blocks with rectangular holes, in which the wires are clamped not directly with a screw, but with a special plate.

Socket boxes

Mounting boxes for sockets and switches (socket boxes) can be of any kind, but they must have protrusions on the outside so that they stay in the alabaster.

Cable brand

The “cool” and expensive NYM cable is not so cool at all: according to the manufacturer’s specifications, it cannot be laid in wet concrete (and where is the guarantee that the walls will always be dry?) and on the street. Therefore, the choice is domestic VVG or PUNP cables. The first is more expensive, but its insulation is more reliable. But there are no complaints about the apartment wiring installed by PUNP.

All these cables have single-core wires, and this is one of the ways to save money when replacing wiring: multi-core cables are much more expensive, and are unreliable in the wall. If the wiring is done by hired workers, then they will remember you: the cables are hard, especially PUNP. But it doesn’t suit your pocket. And if you are not touchy and have a sense of humor, then you can listen: good electricians swear masterfully, no worse than aircraft mechanics.

Video: a little about cable types

Old pipe or new corrugation?

It is better to tear out old cable pipes along with the wires without any pity: the gaps of the pipes are not designed for double-insulated cable, they are often clogged, the bends are flattened and wrinkled. It’s better to hand over them and the old wires after replacing them with scrap metal: at current prices for recycled metal, this will pay off, partially or completely, the costs of corrugated hose for cables.

It is better to take metal corrugation: in the event of an accident, PVC, decomposing in the wall without air access, will release toxic gases. And by grounding the metal cables, you will also get shielded wiring, which has a lot of advantages and not a single disadvantage.

Introductory shield

The VSC will be located at the site of the old dose. It needs to be of a suitable size: it will have to fit 4 automatic devices, 4 RCDs, 4 terminal blocks and all the ends of the wires. The ends of all corrugated hoses will need to fit into the installation openings of the VShch.

Other materials you will need are cotton electrical tape (cloth), some conductive paste and alabaster.

Let's start replacing

Repair temporary shed

First of all, you need to provide power to the tool during repairs. To do this, we first attach a double or triple socket and a 16 A circuit breaker with a piece of 4 sq. mm cable to a board or piece of durable plastic. We also stock up on a long extension cord, enough for all rooms.

Then we de-energize the apartment by unscrewing the plugs or turning off the apartment breaker, manually tapping the dose near the meter, removing it and bringing the wires from the meter outside. We connect a temporary structure to them tightly twisted (twisting during repairs is permissible), carefully isolate the joints, and attach the temporary structure to the wall. We power up the apartment and get to work.

Note: For this work, it is better to hire a DEZ electrician, or work extremely carefully - do not touch the wires with parts of your body or clothing, hold the tool only by the insulated parts not lower than the limiting protrusion. And it is highly advisable to first familiarize yourself with the PTB and PUE. Remember: voltage may appear on a de-energized wire at any time! Those electricians who could not or did not want to understand this are no longer with us.

Grooving and socket boxes

The grooves must be straight, horizontal or vertical. Sloping and crooked grooves lead to accidents and injuries. Horizontal grooves lead half a meter below the ceiling.

Walls need to be hammered and drilled using a sawhorse or a stepladder with side supports, such as those used by outdoor advertisers. An ordinary stepladder can tip over due to lateral force, and you will fall down with a heavy, rapidly rotating tool in your hands.

The boundaries of the groove are first drawn with a grinder to a depth of the diameter of the corrugation and the width of the perforator bit, then a groove is knocked out with a chisel. Inside the corners, an oblique cut is made with a grinder, and a hole is knocked out with a chisel so that the bend of the corrugation is smooth.

Holes for socket boxes in brick walls choose a crown; in concrete - with a chisel. The crown, once it gets on the reinforcement, immediately crumbles all over, and it’s not cheap. The recess for the overhead switch at the meter is also knocked out with a chisel.

Note: Do not choose a double groove for switches. It is much easier to buy a corrugated cable that will accommodate two cables.

Grilling is a very noisy, dusty and dirty job. Therefore, its time must be coordinated with the neighbors. It’s best for the first half of a weekday, when adults are at work and mothers with small children are walking.

Wiring

We measure out the required pieces of cable and corrugation. We tighten the corrugated cable on the floor. Then we place socket boxes in the holes on the alabaster cushion. Then we lay the corrugation to the cable in grooves; We insert the ends of the wires into the socket boxes. Finally, we coat the socket boxes with alabaster to the level of the wall, and grease the grooves with gofor in pieces about half a meter apart.

Note: if the switches are single-pole, then the ends of the zero (blue wire) are immediately twisted, soldered and insulated with three layers of electrical tape with the bottom layer overlapping the wire by 15-20 mm and an overlap of layers of 50%.

To finish laying the wires, we start opening ends corrugations in the VShch, lubricate it with conductive paste, grab it with a tin clamp on the screw, and connect the screw with a piece of PE wire to the ground terminal of the VShch. We put the VSC in place, mark the mounting holes, drill them, and drive in the dowels.

We turn off the power to the apartment and turn off the temporary shelter. We introduce the wires from the meter and the apartment PE into the overhead switchboard; We connect PE to the main switch housing. We put the VSC in place and secure it. We carefully insulate the wires from the meter and place them in the switchboard housing. It's time to plaster; the apartment is without power.

About wire colors

Zero (neutral, N) is always indicated blue or blue color, protective conductor PE – yellow with longitudinal green stripe. Phase wires may be white, red , black, brown. Only wires of the same color can be connected to each other. Transition of phase to zero, phase to phase and switching of the switch into the zero gap are unacceptable.

Plaster interlude

Now it's time for the plasterers, painters and wallpaperers. Or yours, in a new form. But first you need to fill the socket boxes with foam rubber, paper or rags flush with the wall, and cover the power supply with a piece of plastic film, tucking it under the edges of its frame. We also cover the meter with film, but be careful not to break the seal - you won’t have any trouble with the energy service later. If the seal is still damaged, you must immediately inform the power engineers.

Completion

After plastering, painting and wallpaper work, the socket boxes and electrical switchboards will be rubbed and sealed, but it will be easy to feel them and cut the wallpaper along the contour. Having cleaned the remnants of plaster, switches, lamps, from the socket boxes.

Note: In sockets, it is customary to connect the wires so that the zero is closer to the window.

Then we assemble the power supply circuit on the terminal blocks in the VShch, but we do not connect the input from the meter yet. EACH BRANCH SHOULD BE CHECKED FOR SHORT CIRCUIT WITH A SHORT CIRCUIT TESTER BEFORE ENTERING IT INTO THE TERMINAL BAR! Now we power the apartment for a short time, find the phase and zero coming from the meter with an indicator.

We remove the power, connect phase and neutral wires of the corresponding colors to the terminal blocks. AGAIN CHECK FOR SCREEN with the circuit breakers turned on, turn off the main circuit breaker, power the apartment, turn on the main circuit breaker. Didn't it "bang"? We check the lights, voltage in the sockets and continue the repairs.

Is it possible to do without papers?

As you can see, a good share of the work on replacing electrical wiring falls on paperwork. But any handy man experiences a not always justified, but persistent aversion to paperwork. So is it possible to do without papers?

No, you can't. Electricians have a trained eye. The very first check of the meter readings - you will be reported to your own people, and then wait for the visit of the inspector. The result is a large fine and the legalization of the work in fact, which is not at all cheaper.

Replacing wiring in a wooden house

Posting in wooden house- a separate topic. We can only note that the recommendations to lay corrugated cables directly along the walls are completely untenable: open wiring has long been prohibited all over the world.

What can you advise if the house is old and there are no cable channels? Cover cable hoses wooden boxes. Whether it will be a decorative imitation of beams and ribs, or a simple plank in the corner is up to you, but for power engineers it will pass with some difficulty.

If you decide to make repairs in your place of permanent residence, then replacing the old wiring in the apartment should be a must for you. After all, houses that were built back in Soviet times were not designed for modern loads.
Therefore, if, after completing the repair, you did not pay enough attention to the electrical wiring, it can become a serious headache in the future.

Selecting a wiring option

The chosen version of the electrical wiring diagram for the apartment largely depends on the method of its installation you have chosen. At the moment, there are two main types - open and hidden. A hidden method of laying electrical wiring involves laying the wire inside the walls and then plastering them.
The advantages of this method include:

Saving free space in the apartment
Complete concealment of all live parts that do not spoil the appearance of your room
No need for additional protection of wires from mechanical damage
Higher load and overload tolerances for any hidden wires

The disadvantages of the hidden wiring method include the following parameters:

Difficulty and labor-intensive work on laying wires
Difficulty in identifying faults and repairing hidden wiring

The second way to replace electrical wiring is the open method. Conventionally, it can be divided into wiring in baseboards and wiring in cable ducts.
Of course, there are still other methods of laying open wiring, but they are used very rarely in apartments due to their ugliness.
The advantages of replacing electrical wiring with your own hands using an open method include:

Relative ease of installation
Ease of identifying damaged wiring and repairing it
Ease of installing additional wiring for new power supplies, as well as making changes to the apartment’s power supply circuit

But there are also a lot of disadvantages to the open wiring method:

Stealing the free space of our already small apartments. When installing furniture, additional boxes can get in the way
If the method of laying wiring in baseboards is used, then the number of possible wires is very limited. This introduces significant restrictions on the options for choosing a power supply scheme
When laying wires in an open way, they require additional protection from mechanical damage and their isolation from each other and from flammable surfaces in order to fire safety. Because of this, the price of such electrical wiring is slightly higher.
For open wiring, the maximum permissible load and overload parameters are slightly lower due to their worse cooling.

Choosing an apartment power supply scheme

At the next stage, replacing the wiring in the apartment involves choosing a power supply scheme.
At the moment there are two main options:

The first, which was probably used in your Soviet-built house, is the laying of one main wire from which all the wires of the apartment’s electrical receivers depart. This method does not provide adequate protection electrical network your apartment. After all, if even one area is damaged, your entire apartment will lose power.
It should also be noted that according to paragraph 6.2.2 of the “Rules for Electrical Installations” (PUE), group indoor lighting networks must be equipped with a circuit breaker of no more than 25 A. This imposes certain restrictions on the total power of electrical appliances in the apartment.
Therefore, it is recommended to use such a wiring diagram only for one-room apartments or when open method laying wires in baseboards. After all, laying a large number of wires in the baseboards for power supply according to a different circuit will be extremely problematic.
The so-called “European” power supply scheme is now more common. It implies the presence of a distribution panel and the presence of automatic switches for each individual consumer.
This could be one room or one type of consumer in a room. It all depends on the expected load, your wishes for the safety of the power grid and your financial capabilities.

Sometimes you can find the use of mixed wiring diagrams. This is a fairly rare case, but it also has a right to exist. It all depends on the nature and type of load.

Electrical wiring calculation

Since it is impossible to replace the electrical wiring in an apartment of a panel house or any other place without an accurate calculation, at the next stage we proceed to the calculations.

Attention: First of all, we need to determine the possible loads on each section of the electrical network protected by a circuit breaker. Based on these loads, not only the wire is selected, but also the circuit breaker itself.

So:

To determine the load we use the formula; where P is the rated power of the electrical appliance, and U is the rated voltage of the electrical network. Based on this formula, for a 220V network it can be assumed that 1 kW of electrical appliance power is 5 A of load for the wire.
In this case, it can be simplified to assume that a copper wire with a cross-section of 1 cm2 passes a current of 10A, and an aluminum wire with the same cross-section - 5A. This is, of course, a very simplified calculation, but in most cases it is sufficient.

Let's pay attention! To accurately calculate the required wire cross-section, you should use paragraph 1.3 of the PUE. Here you will find correction factors depending on installation conditions, installation methods, number and cross-section of wires laid nearby, correction temperature and overload factors, as well as design parameters for wires with different insulation structures.

We will immediately warn you against the most common mistakes. First of all, please note that the cross-section of the wire of one of the connections cannot be greater than the cross-section of the input wire. Circuit breakers must comply with the maximum permissible connection current.

Pay attention! When calculating, you should not take into account the operation of all electrical appliances at once, otherwise this will lead to a significant increase in the cost of your electrical network. Remember, any electrical wires allow short-term overload of up to 10 - 15% for 1 hour per day.

Replacement of electrical wiring in an apartment is carried out only in compliance with the PUE standards and basic rules. It is quite difficult to list all of them, so below we will present only the most common mistakes made by non-professionals, which can lead to problems during operation.
So:

It is prohibited to install automatic switches and fuses in neutral working and grounding conductors.
The wiring of the 220V network must be carried out with a three-phase wire, where 1 wire is phase, 1 wire is neutral and 1 wire is ground.
According to clause 7.1.37 of the PUE, the installation of sockets in bathrooms and shower rooms, as well as bathhouses, is not allowed. And, according to paragraph 7.1.39, it is prohibited to install switches in these rooms.
The wires must be connected by soldering, crimping, welding or bolting.
At the places where the wires are connected, it is necessary to provide a reserve to ensure reconnection.
Metal elements of electrical wiring (ducts, trays, corrugated hoses) must be grounded.

In addition, replacing electrical wiring in an apartment requires compliance with basic rules:

Wiring should be done strictly vertically or horizontally. Otherwise, the likelihood of subsequent damage to the wire increases sharply.
Switches and sockets should be located at the same height.
Crossing wires should be avoided.
Avoid placing sockets and wiring too close to heating equipment and water supply systems.

Conclusions

Our simple instructions for carrying out work on replacing electrical wiring will allow you to complete the work in full compliance with the requirements of the PUE. At the same time, having made the right choice of the circuit and method of laying the wire, you will certainly be able to cope with all the work in the shortest possible time and at minimal cost.

Replacement of electrical wiring in an apartment is most often carried out during overhaul. The need to replace the old line is due to the fact that it is not designed for modern electrical appliances. During the construction of old-style panel houses (Khrushchev and Stalin buildings), each apartment was allocated a network capable of withstanding a load of 3 kW, which is obviously not enough for modern household needs. Next, we will consider in detail all the stages of work on replacing the wiring, as well as a visual video instruction, which discusses the entire process in detail.

Stage 1 – Deciding on the scope of work

The first thing you need to start with is to find out from the management company or energy sales organization whether it is possible, since replacing the wiring without increasing the allocated power will not solve the problem of the machine knocking out when turning on the washing machine and electric kettle. Even if you were refused to increase the allocated power, still calculate the wiring for the required load and lay out a three-wire circuit in case of reconstruction of your house and replacement of the riser with the organization.

Next, you must determine whether to change the line completely or just certain areas. Here, of course, it’s up to you, but we can say with confidence that buildings of the 60s used a small cross-section aluminum conductor, most likely without grounding, to create an electrical network. This option is extremely dangerous and cannot even be partially restored, so it is better to completely replace the wiring in the apartment with your own hands once and be calm.

If the conductors are in this condition, the apartment electrical wiring must be changed:

You must also evaluate your strengths and decide whether you will replace the wiring in the apartment yourself or whether you will need to call a specialist. This is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, there are no particular difficulties in laying out the line, but on the other hand, you will need a special tool, calculations and certain skills in working with electricity. If you still want to test your strength, then we will consider in detail all stages of work in the form of step-by-step instructions.

A clear example of electrical installation work

Stage 2 – Decide on the design and materials

Now we move directly to the calculation work. To begin with, you need your own, which will indicate the installation locations of new switches, sockets, junction boxes and powerful household appliances, which will be powered directly (for example, an electric stove).

Before starting the replacement, we recommend that you review the information provided. simplest option output of lighting groups and sockets in all rooms. Next, based on the diagram, you need to calculate the number of materials, while simultaneously selecting the most suitable characteristics.

It should immediately be noted that it is used in an apartment, which is associated with many nuances: electrical safety, impact on the interior of rooms, fire safety, etc. At the same time, no one forbids replacing the electrical wiring in the apartment with your own hands, it all depends on your preferences and strengths.

The cable is copper, three-core, with a cross-section of at least 2.5 mm 2 for the socket group, 1.5 mm 2 for lamps and 4 mm 2 for powerful electrical appliances. We recommend doing this to accurately determine the appropriate diameter of the cores. As for the brand, it is better to give preference to an expensive foreign product labeled . Of the domestic ones, which are cheaper, we recommend using or better VVGng-LS.
Protective automation. You can’t do without it, because... When replacing electrical wiring in an apartment, it is imperative to protect the wiring from, and. For this, an RCD and a circuit breaker (or a combined device - a difavtomatic device) are used. The machine and the RCD have different characteristics, which are selected based on the loads on the line. For example, for a three-room apartment, it is customary to install 16A circuit breakers on sockets, 10A for lighting, and 32A for a powerful electric stove. The rating of the input circuit breaker on the distribution panel is indicated in the electricity supply contract, because limited by allocated power. The residual current device is installed at a nominal value higher than the machine. Among manufacturers, we recommend giving preference to leading companies - ABB, Schneider Electric and Legrand.
Distribution boxes for an apartment are selected based on the branching of the groups and the cross-section of all conductors. Rectangular and square boxes are more spacious, but round ones are much easier to install.
Sockets must be grounded; to protect against children, purchase products with special curtains that will prevent foreign objects from getting inside. Pay attention to the product labeling so that the socket can withstand current loads, otherwise problems cannot be avoided in the future when connecting powerful household appliances.
It is forbidden to use twists, the list of permitted connections is given in PUE 2.1.21 (), we listed them in the next paragraph.
Wire and cable cores can be connected using screw and spring clamps and terminal blocks, welding, soldering, bolts, and crimping. Currently, one of the most convenient and popular types of connections are vago terminal blocks; they are perfect for most cases and are easy to use. Sleeve crimping is a good type of connection, but a special tool is required. Nevertheless, the most reliable connection is welding and soldering, but also the most labor-intensive. You can find out more about this issue in the article
There are no special requirements for switches, the main thing is that they are convenient and safe. Among all, keyboards and dimmers are popular.

By counting the amount of all materials for electrical installation and choosing the most suitable models products, with the list, go to the store to shop, and then proceed to replacing the wiring in the apartment.

Stage 3 – Dismantling the old line

Now you can replace the old electrical wiring. To do this, be sure to turn off the electricity at the entrance to the apartment, remove all interfering furniture and begin to destroy the wall decoration.

Replacement of electrical wiring in the apartment is carried out from distribution boxes in each of the rooms. These electrical “points” can be detected by plastic covers in the wall or prominent contours through the wallpaper. The cover is twisted, after which all the twists are separated, and the old cable is carefully released from the putty grooves. You can also find a wire in the wall using, which is created from improvised means in a matter of minutes.

Please note that in some places the line cannot be removed from the wall without significant damage to the structure. In this case, you can do without gating if you cut off the problem area and carefully insulate it, leaving it in the old groove!

Stage 4 – Laying new wiring

Now the most important thing is that you need to independently replace the electrical wiring in the apartment with a new, more reliable one.

We will not dwell in detail at this stage, because... We looked at it in detail in the corresponding article.

When the replacement of apartment wiring is completed, it is imperative to photograph the cable distribution along the walls. This is done so that if problems arise, you can easily find the damaged area using a photo.

Do not rush to cover the grooves with the solution; this should be done after all the wiring has been checked for functionality.

The video below clearly demonstrates an example of new wiring in an apartment after replacement:

Ready wiring

Stage 5 – Control check

And last but not least, testing the new wiring in the apartment with a multimeter. This device will allow you to determine the functionality of the electrical wiring and the presence short circuit, if suddenly you connected something wrong. If the device shows no errors, then you can connect the finished line to the input panel and check the functionality of all lamps, switches and sockets. We talked about how this is done in a separate article.

If all elements of the circuit work, turn off the power again and go to. At this point, replacing the electrical wiring in the apartment with your own hands is considered complete. As you can see, the event is quite labor-intensive and requires skills, but still, with great desire and care, you can carry out electrical installation yourself. We hope our step-by-step instructions were useful and understandable for you!

Pros and cons of replacing wiring

Material

If the apartment was purchased in a new housing stock, then there is no need to talk about replacing the wiring. But in the case when the purchase of an apartment is carried out from the secondary housing market, in order to reduce the fire hazard situation, it is still recommended to carry out a complete replacement electrical wiring throughout the apartment. Thanks to this, you can safely connect modern household appliances to the network and not be afraid of heavy loads on it.

Where to start replacing old electrical wiring?

First you need to decide on the choice of wires for the main electric cable, that is, what type of wiring will not spoil the interior of the room, and at the same time ensure sufficient reliability of use.

Open wiring in retro style

If the overall interior design of the apartment is made in a rustic style, then modern electrical wiring will be striking and will disrupt the entire composition of the style. Therefore, in this case, preference is given to the open type of wiring. Its essence lies in the fact that the electrical cable is not hidden in the wall, but is placed on its surface.

But the wires are not fixed to the wall itself, but small rollers are installed under them. By appearance the rollers resemble small weights for Soviet scales. These rollers are made of glass or ceramic.

When installing electrical wiring in this style, the cable ends up suspended in a small space from the wall surface. This creates visually additional comfort in the apartment.

Usually, for wiring open type, choose single-core copper wires. These wires are twisted and attached to the rollers, through a small, uniform gap, using thin wire.

Replacement of exposed electrical wiring is carried out without gating, which is convenient and easily accessible.

Installation of wiring in cable channels

For modern interior installation of open type wiring is possible. But so that the wires do not hang in a common heap, they are placed in special cable channels. Cable channels are not a wide plastic box where wires are laid. The top of the box is closed with a lid, which prevents moisture and dirt from getting inside.

The appearance of cable channels is produced in a wide range of colors.

Today, decorative skirting boards are produced for the floor, in which there is space for placing electrical wiring.

This type of wiring makes it easier to access for connecting switches and sockets, as well as for subsequent replacement of wiring in old cable channels.

Installation of hidden wiring

But sometimes the design of the room does not allow open wiring. And then they use hidden wiring, that is, the cable is laid inside the wall.

Inside the concrete slabs from which high-rise buildings are built, special steel pipes and open junction boxes are placed for hidden wiring.
If you decide to replace the hidden wiring yourself and do not know the location of the old wires, then you can drill the channels yourself.
Construction stores sell electric wall chasers that can be used to make these channels.
Wires are laid in the resulting channels. It is better to place them in open cable channels or corrugated plastic tubes. The top is covered with plaster and the surface of the wall is leveled.

Instructions for replacing old wiring

The old wiring is completely replaced: from the circuit breakers in the panel to all sockets and switches. When installing hidden wiring, old cables must be removed. When laying an open-type electrical cable, it is enough to de-energize the previous wires and cover them with plaster.

All upcoming work can be divided into five main stages:

The first step is to develop a diagram of the electrical organization of the apartment.
Then a wiring plan is drawn up, approved and registered along with the power supply diagram.
Organization of temporary repairs.
Installation of electrical wiring.
Connecting electrical levers, sockets, and large electrical appliances.

Before starting all work, you need to install a grounding wire.

Drawing up a project to replace electrical wiring

Before starting all work, it is necessary to develop a wiring restoration project. It is usually applied to the apartment plan.

On this project, the location of electrical components is noted, and the required cable length is also calculated. The choice of wire type is based on the total load on the electrical network. To do this, take into account that when turning on household appliances with motors, the load on the network may increase for a short time. Therefore, machines should be selected taking into account voltage surges.

Incoming switches are installed taking into account the summed power of the total number of electrical devices that are supposed to be used in the apartment.

The general set of cables and switches for an individual operating circuit is selected separately, depending on the expected load on it.

The working design must include 2 neutral cables. Functional neutral cable and safety neutral cable (for connecting metal lighting fixtures and neutral contact of sockets). Approximate projects for replacing electrical wiring can be found in photographs from the Internet.

Distinctive points when replacing open wiring

The initial steps when replacing this type of wiring are overhead electrical components. The beginning of all nodes is attached to the wall using dowel nails. Then cable channels are laid along the electrical network.

The wire for the electric stove must be complete, without connecting nodes. An exception is possible if you plan to transport the slab over a long distance.

The connection must be made securely and closed using a sleeve or heat shrink tube. Otherwise, during operation of the stove, the joint may heat up and lead to a fire hazard. The 3rd wire goes to connect the plate to the apartment's grounding wire.

Special points when replacing closed-type wiring

If it is necessary to replace closed-type wiring, no matter wholly or partially, work begins with preparing new channels for laying hidden electrical components.

The chipping is carried out using a hammer drill and a set of round concrete drills. You can use a special wall chaser, but it will result in cramped channels. If wider channels are needed, then a hammer drill with a chisel is used.

Distribution boxes are fixed in the resulting channels. For fixation, it is better to use quick-drying solutions. The same solutions are used to fix the cable in the channels that are laid to the connection points.

Inside distribution box the supplied wires are fastened with any type of twisting. Then they are either soldered or crimped, and always covered with insulating tape.

As a result, if the process of replacing the wiring is correctly divided into stages and carried out step by step, then the procedure for installing a new electrical cable will be successful.