Electrical — Switches and sockets
Older homes were wired for a lamp and a radio. Adding a socket begins with deciding whether the existing circuit can take it — and if not, running a new one from the consumer unit.
Standard
NF C 15-100, sockets per room
Cable route
Moulding, skirting, conduit or chased wall
Area
Paris 6th, 7th, 14th, 15th, 16th
Five ways to add a socket, from the lightest to the most substantial.
The simplest option, when the circuit is not already loaded: a spur is taken from a nearby junction box and run to the new point. I first check what the circuit already supplies.
For a hob, an oven, a washing machine or a workstation: its own way at the consumer unit, a suitable cable size and correctly rated protection. It is what the standard requires, and what prevents nuisance tripping.
The standard requires at least six sockets in a kitchen, four of them above the worktop, and separate circuits for large appliances. We look at what is missing before adding at random.
They are not forbidden, they are regulated: outside the protected zone around the bath or shower, on a circuit with 30 mA protection. I show you where one can go.
A discreet moulding, a hollow skirting board, an existing conduit or a chased and made-good wall: the choice depends on your walls and on what you are happy to see. We decide together, before any drilling.
Other services
Consumer units · Ceramic kiln installation · Fault-finding and electrical repairs · Switch replacement · Socket replacement · New sockets · Bringing wiring up to standard · Recessed spotlight installation · Recessed spotlight replacement · Appliance installation · Appliance connection · Lamps and light fittings · Doorbells · Radiator and towel rail installation · Radiator and towel rail replacement
From the workshop's other trades
Kitchen worktops · Washing machine and dishwasher connection
An extension lead with four appliances behind a piece of furniture is the most common cause of the overheating I come across. Adding a socket takes an hour's work; replacing a consumer unit after the beginnings of a fire is another matter entirely.
Five arrondissements — the Left Bank, and the 16th just across the river — covered neighbourhood by neighbourhood. Each arrondissement has its own page, as does each neighbourhood.
Paris 6th Luxembourg · Rue de Rennes · Saint Sulpice · Mabillon · Raspail · Notre Dame des Champs · Odéon · Montparnasse · Saint-Germain-des-Prés
Paris 7th Champ-de-Mars · La Tour-Maubourg · Saint-François-Xavier · Rue du Bac · Saint-Germain · Solférino · Saint-Thomas-d'Aquin · Invalides · Ecole Militaire · Gros Caillou
Paris 14th Brune · Didot · Montsouris · Denfert Rochereau · Mouton Duvernet · Plaisance · Pernety · Montparnasse · Alésia
Paris 15th Necker · Saint Lambert · Vaugirard · Croix Nivert · Lecourbe · Convention · Commerce · Javel · Beaugrenelle · Grenelle
Paris 16th Trocadéro · Passy · Auteuil · La Muette · Victor Hugo · Porte Dauphine · Chaillot · Ranelagh · Exelmans · Porte de Saint-Cloud
Beyond these five arrondissements: elsewhere in Paris and the Île-de-France, depending on the project.
Tell me about the situation, with a photo if you have one. I reply the same day.