Logixx:
Absolutely zero sign of the bathroom rules on wiring here being relaxed. If anything they’re now even stricter. You can’t use any kind of open light fittings, they all have to IP rated. Also a lot more use of extra low voltage for lighting and fans (under 48V).
In kitchens you can no longer install sockets under sinks either, which means dishwashers are often connected to a fused connection unit with a switch, which must be accessible. Historically, dishwashers would have had a plug and socket which was commonly under the sink.
Considering that RCDs have been mandatory here since the late 70s and the number of people killed by electric shocks per year is basically zero, I never quite understand why our regs keep tightening and tightening relative to the continent. It’s at the stage we’re resolving problems nobody has. We’ve always had mandatory shutters. Non grounded sockets were outlawed in the 1930s and aren’t encountered anywhere. You’ve to ground bond all the plumbing, including metal sinks and connect pipe work together with bonding straps and heavy gauge earth wires, just in case. That’s done even between the hot and cold taps under sinks. We’ve just mandated AFCIs (arc fault interrupters) in houses. Use of plastic distribution boards was banned - has to be metal boxes with a door over the breakers now and must be accessible from a wheelchair position basically - so it’s now a flush unit with a door located in a hallway.
We had some interesting discussions with an architect as you can’t install sockets below a minimum height nor light switches above a minimum. Both must be reachable from a sitting position, so in new build all the outlets are rather high up - used to be about a foot from the ground. Now about a meter. The switches are all about the same height as a door handle would be. They used to get about 1.5m up. The net result was that because sockets were so visible, we went for much more expensive fittings.
I can’t speak for the U.K. but the non-mixer tap tradition has definitely died out. There’s literally no reason whatsoever for it in regulations or standards. It was just a thing because it was a thing.
Interestingly Brexit has made non mixer taps hard to get here. The vast majority of fittings available are continental style. There’s a slight issue as the plumbing systems here are often low pressure, large diameter due to the British inspired approach of using gravity fed hot and cold water other than in the kitchen - also finally dying out!
Houses here have a buffer tank in the attic which is filled by the mains and that supplies the feed to the hot water heater and cold water to the bathrooms and toilets. The logic behind it was when Victorian era water mains were small and demand for showers shot up in the early 20th century those tanks provided a buffer between the mains and peak demand. They are a ludicrously complicated work around though and the mains have long since caught up. However, most houses still have double headed pumps boosting pressure to showers and all of that! Only kitchen taps and washing machines / dishwashers are directly connected to the water main.
One of these Grundfos pumps sits under my house - when you turn on a tap or shower it activates with a flow switch and gives you 4 bar pressure and high flow by simultaneously pumping the hot and cold sides of the supply. You’ve no interaction with the pump, but it kicks in the moment you open the tap. There are about 3 companies do them and most homes have them fitted - big heavy brass centrifugal pumps in either end. They connect to the plumbing using braided, sprung, flexible hoses to avoid noise/vibration, but if there installed somewhere silly, you’ll hear them.
You definitely get a very good flow on the showers though![this post was last edited: 2/28/2022-06:48]
