Electrical installation - Facing a decision-making problem

Hello,

first of all, thank you for such forums to exchange ideas and I hope to be able to ask many questions here with meaningful answers. Since I am new here, I also hope that this is in the right category.

I have bought a house, somewhat older, where I still have quite a bit to do. The house has about 80 sqm per floor, it consists of a basement, ground floor, first floor and a converted attic, which makes about 320 sqm of floor area. Now, I want, no, I have to redo all the electrical wiring, because it has become outdated.

I have a control cabinet, which I would place in the basement and run everything from there, at least that was my first plan.

For several days now I have been considering whether to install a large distribution board in the basement and then a sub-distribution on each floor.

I would consider some things upfront that I see as advantages.

Advantage:
1. Long cable runs would be avoided, since I would only have to lay the riser cable from the basement to the respective floors.
2. In case of a problem, the fault could be limited to the respective floor.
etc.

Disadvantage:
1. Would require more RCDs.
2. Instead of the control cabinet, a large distribution board with meter and the 3 sub-distributions for the respective floors.
etc.

It would be nice if you could share your thoughts on whether this makes sense or is nonsense. I have to decide anyway, but it makes the decision easier if I can also read other opinions.

Regards Markus

Both ways actually lead to Rome. So however you do it, it will be right. Ultimately, it is simply a matter of personal preference.

By the way, you can also strictly separate everything by levels in a large cabinet to fix errors later, but as an E-installer you should know that too. Who am I telling this.

Long cable runs are of course already suboptimal. Thus, one inevitably ends up with 2.5 sqmm for the distant sockets, etc., which means more investment. On the other hand, you then don’t need a riser cable.

Also, the large consumer unit will probably mean more investment than three small ones.

But you can control and monitor everything from one point. Both approaches have pros and cons that more or less balance each other out.

I had a large one in the HAR because I simply found it more practical. Everything in one place and if something trips, you don’t have to search for long but can immediately see what’s going on.

I had a UV installed on the upper floor. For me, the decisive advantage was that I don't have to go down to the basement if a fuse blows on the upper floor. I think the price is about the same, or it doesn't make much of a difference.

FIs don't cost the earth. I will probably make a large one in the basement for the basement/ground floor and a distribution board for the upper floor.

Hello,

thank you for the comments.

MyCraft, thank you for the detailed one and I also find your arguments very good.

Joedreck, I had exactly the same thought because of the long distances.

MIA_SAN_MIA_, the thing with the FIs is true, but these days it’s not that bad anymore.

Since I am very tech-savvy, new thoughts and ideas come to me again and again that I could implement.
Regarding what I asked and after your comments, I think I now feel better about the idea of installing a UV on each floor. I will put that together with my new ideas and see if I can combine that.

Best regards
Markus

Here comes a dissenting voice: I would depend on how many circuits are planned per floor. In a "normal" single-family home with only one residential unit, it doesn't make sense to put a sub-distribution board on every floor in my opinion. So there would have to be significantly more than 6-7 circuits on a floor before a sub-distribution board makes sense. Also, in terms of cost, despite the longer cable runs, there is no difference. Additional costs are the cabinet itself, riser cable, RCD, possibly wiring materials. Besides, you have to find a place on each floor to hang the cabinet (which is not necessarily nice looking). And honestly, how often does a fuse blow in a new electrical installation with new devices in the household? Once a year? And usually, you immediately know which device is responsible because it happened when switching on/plugging in. However, if you lay a lot of circuits, then it (!) can make sense. But even then, I would combine two floors each (basement + ground floor / upper floor + attic).