How to properly conduct electrical wiring in the bath and steam room with your own hands

A bathhouse is a room with difficult climatic conditions: high temperatures and a large amount of liquid. This imposes certain conditions on the supply of electricity. Mistakes during installation can lead to fire, therefore, wiring in the bath and steam room should be carried out by a professional electrician or people familiar with the basics of electricity. All work must be carried out in compliance with GOST and PUE.

Power cable routing to the bath

Before conducting the wiring in the bath, you need to find out the number of phases in the network and the method of grounding. For a different number of phases, the wires have a different number of cores. A three-phase cable has 5 cores, a single-phase cable has 3. It should be borne in mind that in some types of cables, the grounding and zero cores can be combined into one wire. It is better not to use such conductors.

Grounding can be not only on the transformer, but also in the bath itself. Usually a deaf-grounded circuit is made in it. If you create a separate circuit for the oven, you need to take care of lightning protection in advance. It is also imperative to do an RCD at the entrance and for certain devices.

Cable routing methods

The power cable is laid in two ways - underground or over the air. The wire cross-section must be selected according to the connected load. It is recommended to take the diameter with a margin of 20%. For overhead installation, it is recommended to use a self-supporting insulated wire cable. It is quite expensive, but it is distinguished by its quality and reliability.

Benefits of underground laying:

• Safety - With the air method, the cable can damage a fallen tree or blow out the wind.
• No influence of ambient temperature.
• Easier to lay wires.
• No one will be hurt in the event of a short circuit.

The negative aspects include the aggressiveness of the soil, in which you will have to dig a trench. Also, groundwater, acidity of the environment, mobility must be taken into account.

Air entry is cheaper, but more dangerous. When installing, you need to take into account several nuances:

• Entry points to the bath must be sealed.
• The rope must have sufficient tension.
• The wires should be laid in places where there are no trees or bushes.
• The distance from the ground to the wire must exceed 3.5 m.

The cable for underground works must be taken armored with a metal braid between the insulation. It fits on a 10 cm sandy pillow. It is also covered with sand from above, and then a protection made of bricks, boards, slate and other building residues is placed. At the entrance to the bath, you need to put a steel sleeve at an angle.

Switchboard

When choosing an installation site, you must follow the following rules:

• There should be a free approach to the switchboard.
• The place should be well ventilated.
• You cannot put shields in fire-hazardous places - it is better in a dressing room or a rest room.
• The presence of an introductory machine and separate switches for power consumption devices.

It is important to choose the right machine for input. It is selected taking into account the total load from all equipment and light sources. The resulting total power must be divided by the voltage (220 V), and the machine must be selected according to the calculated value of the current.Do not take a switch with a too high rating value - there is a risk of missing voltage surges.

Wiring diagram

Before starting the installation, draw a wiring diagram in the bath. All energy consumers are marked on it. If a machine is installed on any device, it must be signed. The wiring diagram must be located on the switchboard door. Also, you need to organize an RCD in the dashboard.

Requirements for sockets and switches

Sauna wiring involves the use of food points. Sockets, switches can only be installed in the dressing room and the rest room. Each element must have its own junction box. Switches are installed at a height of 160 cm, sockets - up to 80 cm from the floor.

Internal wiring requirements

When laying the wiring in the bath and steam room with your own hands, you must follow the following rules:

• Installation from the shield is performed with solid conductors.
• Do not put cables in a metal sheath.
• In the bathhouse from the log house, only open-type electrical wiring is installed.
• You cannot mount wires, lamps above the stove.
• Protective grounding must be used.
• All wires are only laid in a straight way.
• The cores are connected only by soldering or welding. Twisting is prohibited!
• Do not place wires near doors or window openings, or near metal pipes and radiators.
• Switches, sockets, junction boxes are not installed in the steam room and other rooms with high humidity.

It is important to correctly choose lamps for the bathhouse on electricity. In the dressing room and the rest room, you can put an ordinary lamp. In the shower, the degree of protection must be at least IP44. The steam room is equipped with heat-resistant light sources with a stainless steel shade. Do not place lamps above the stove and next to a water source. The best option for lamps is 12 V halogen sources.

Installation of electrical wiring in the bath

The proposed method of wiring in the steam room will be the most difficult. It can be simplified depending on the characteristics of the bath and the requirements of the developers.

Correctly conduct the wiring in the bath as follows:

• Connecting the power cable. The marking of the cores must be taken into account. Blue and gray wires - to the machine, yellow-green - ground.
• Power supply to additional consumption groups. It is better to run cables in plastic boxes in a dry room and in a plastic pipe in a damp room.

  

• Laying of electrical wiring for lighting and on the socket group in the washing room.
• Laying cables from the box to the luminaires. Connecting wires to the vending machine (if there is one for the lighting group).
• Installation of sockets and switches.
• Connection of wires of the same color or with the same letter designation in the switchboard in the bath using terminal blocks.
• Checking machines and RCDs.
• Testing the assembled system.

When installing wiring in a bath, you need to get a permit from the energy service. They give it according to a simplified scheme for consumption of no more than 15 kW per section. This must be taken into account when choosing appliances for the bath.

Useful Tips

Making an electrician in a bath with your own hands is a rather difficult task. It is necessary to choose the right materials, create a suitable scheme, correctly calculate the power of all household appliances. When working, it is recommended to follow the tips below:

• Choose materials for saunas and steam rooms with heat-resistant insulation.
• If the section of the line is main, checkpoints with a minimum section of 16 sq.m. are used.
• Sockets and switches are mounted on a metal plate.
• Fireproof insulation is required under the line sections.
• Tubes for laying should be corrugated flexible PVC plastic.
• If the bath is made of logs, beams or lining, it is better to treat it with an antiseptic to increase its water-repellent properties.

The wiring must be checked every 4 years. The service life of aluminum cables will be 15 years, copper cables - 20 years. After this period, the wires must be changed.