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Don't be phased

11/4/2013

14 Comments

 
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It is not uncommon to find that you have 3 phase electrical supply in a French property, particularly in farms or buildings with industrial use, where you will need high current.  Most new installations [new builds and rewires] are now supplied in single phase. 

3 phase means that you have 3 live terminals and 1 neutral at the metre supplied by EDF and the fuseboard is a lot bigger. The supply comes in normally at a higher kVA i.e.  15kVA. This actually means that there are 3 lots of 5kVA [25A] on each phase and the current drawn must be balanced on each phase as overloading on one phase will potentially cause nuisance tripping.  

An electric cooker/hob, for example, draws a high current and is available for either 3 phase or single phase.  If your home is 3 phase then your cooker/hob needs to be installed as 3 phase.  Bearing in mind that a cooker/hob is 32A, the installation of the cooker/hob means that the current drawn will need to be balanced across all phases.

Unlike 3 phase, where there is a need to balance the load, with a single phase supply circuits can be freely assigned, ideally by a qualified electrician.  Please bear in mind that you need the right kVA for the size of your dwelling. The most common are:  6kVA,  9kVA,  12kVA and 15kVA and can only be determined and set by EDF.  The unit price of your electricity is affected by the amount of kVA. 

For example when we moved into our rented property it was set at 12kVA and not taking advantage of tariff bleu creuse for the hot water tank.  There are 2 of us at the dwelling with a 200litre water tank, we have very few high drawing appliances  and no electric heating. We asked EDF to reduce the kVA to 6 and apply tariff bleu creuse to heat the hot water tank over night.  Our trimester bills are extremely manageable.

To demonstrate an example of cost differences across kVA, the image below was sourced from www.frenchproperty.com and shows the annual standing charges, base rate and night tariffs of each kVA. Figures shown are as of July 2012. 


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This does not necessarily mean that this will apply to all customers, as is dependent on the size of your house, your electricity tariff [of which there are many], your appliances, size of water tank, if you have electric heating and the general state of your electrical installation. 

We hope this provides some clarity about 3 and single phase and if you have any questions, you know where we are. 

14 Comments
john may
5/8/2016 11:53:44 am

are you allowed to have 2 phases in the same room ie sockets on 1 phase and say washing w/m on another would appreciate your advice

Reply
Paul
5/8/2016 12:24:35 pm

It is important with 3 phase that the phases are balanced. In answer to your question – yes you can. Ideally, you should have an RCD for each of your phases and the rating correct with the power of your input kVa. There are things to take into consideration. As well as having the circuits separated, the correct RCD must be used on that circuit, ie, type A for electronically controlled equipment, and a type AC for any other type of circuit.

Reply
Graham Hope
1/29/2017 03:08:44 am

Hi Paul,

I am in the process of updating the house electrics and also feeding 3 phase into my workshop. Same as most people I have TT earth. I bought a Hager 3 pole isolator and 3 pole MCB's in the UK on the recommendation of an electrician. Looking on he IET site i'm now confused, is it ok to use 3 pole as some say the neutral should be switched and protected too ? Many thanks, Graham

Reply
Paul
1/29/2017 03:25:18 am

Yes, the neutral does need to be switched and protected. You will need a 4 pole disjoncteur. There is a good website for this type of equipment. biselectric.com

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Ian
6/18/2022 05:50:51 am

Hi Paul,
Would appreciate your advice please.
We have just bought a plug-in hybrid car and I am looking to setup an external wall socket for it. I have a Juice Booster 2 portable charging unit which does all the clever stuff.
We have a 3 phase supply and there is a wall socket on the inside wall very close to where I want an external socket for the car. The JB2 comes with a CEE32 red plug and I have ordered an appropriate female wall box to plug it into. My question is two fold: Can I simply run a 3P+N+E cable through the wall from the 3 phase socket to the new CEE32 socket, and what size cable do I need to do this?
I can see no reason logically why this should not work but I would appreciate a knowledgable sanity check please.
Many thanks. 👍
Regards,
Ian

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6/19/2022 09:25:19 pm

Very well explained. This gives clarity about 3 and single phase.

Reply
Nicky Williams
8/18/2022 11:23:48 pm

Many thanks for sharing this clear concise explanation. It is really helpful, as we need to have a new consumer unit fitted.

Reply
Geoff Jankowski link
10/31/2024 01:37:05 am

Hello Paul,

I know I can have two (or even three) phases in a single space but is it acceptable to have two separate phases (properly balanced and protected) going to the same blackbox for lighting circuits? Can they go to the same blackbox or do I need to separate them into different back boxes side by side to avoid future accidental wiring? All cables are correctly coloured (it is a barn renovation so effectively a new install).

Your blog continues to be most helpful.

Geoff

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