In the country it is quite possible to live without plumbing and sewage. However, without a procedure such as connecting a new home to electricity (power lines), its owners, of course, can not do. More recently, no permits from government agencies were required to connect to the public power grid. The owner of a suburban building needed only to establish an accounting meter and register it. Today, the situation has changed radically.
First steps
So, let's talk in more detail about how the electricity is connected to the house. And to begin with, we will deal with what is necessary to obtain permission for this.
When developing a house project, a detailed diagram of its electrification should also be drawn up. In this case, one of the mandatory operations should be the calculation of the total power of all those household appliances that are supposed to be used in the future. This will not only allow you to correctly calculate the cross-section of the wiring cables and the parameters of additional equipment, but also will be useful for obtaining permission to connect to the power line network.
Having determined the required capacity (preferably with some margin), the owner of the house should go to the local energy supply organization and get a technological connection agreement there . The specifications will be attached to it. The latter are executed in a letter addressed to the director of the supplier company. To obtain a contract, among other things, you will need to write a statement and provide the energy supply organization with documents confirming ownership of the house and the plot, as well as the plan of the latter.
Technical specifications
This annex to the contract describes how the electricity will be connected to the house. This can be, for example, the connection of an ordinary new line or reinforced, the replacement of an old one or, possibly, even the installation of a new substation. The latter may be needed if the building is located very far from the power line itself. That is, in fact, this application sets out the requirements that the owner of the house must follow in order to obtain permission.
Collection of documents
Connecting the country house to electricity begins with the installation of a meter, an ASU and a cable to the power line (to the connection point). All these operations, including the selection of equipment, must be carried out in strict accordance with the requirements of TU. Then, the owner of the house will need to contact the local RES to obtain an act of input. This document is handed over to him after checking by specialists of the organization the connection diagram, inspection of the ASU and metering unit (meter) and sealing the latter.
The owner of the house from the RES should be provided with such a document as the “Act on the delineation of the balance sheet property”. It defines the boundaries of operational responsibility with the supplying company.
Compliance check
Connecting a country house to electricity (power lines) is possible only after examining the meter, switchgear and cable by a representative of the energy supply company. In the event that no violations are detected, the owner of the building will receive another document - “Act of performance of technical specifications”. Next, the actual contract for the supply of electricity will be concluded.
Connection Procedure
It is forbidden to connect the supply cable to the power transmission line independently with modern standards. The connection of electricity to the house is carried out exclusively by the employees of the supplying company. Its representatives leave for the place and connect the cable prepared by the owner of the house to the power line.
Connection Methods
Next, we consider what actions may need to be performed according to the technical specifications and how. Electricity can be connected to a private house in two ways - by air and underground. Most often the first method is used. The fact is that underground connection is more expensive and technically considered more complex. This method is chosen only in exceptional cases.
Air connection
In addition to cheapness, such a connection of the house to electricity (to power lines) is also characterized by ease of installation and maintenance. To repair or replace the wiring if necessary will be completely simple. This procedure is performed as follows:
- The wire from the power line is introduced into the ASU. At the same time, an automatic three-pole switch must be installed at the input.
- Next, the wire extends to the electric meter.
- Then connect to a four-pole difavtomat.
- In the same part should be located automatic single-pole house lighting switches that are configured for one phase.
- Separate RCDs must be provided for the lighting and power subsystems.
- For yard lighting and power supply of farm buildings, a separate section is provided in the switchboard.
You can hang the ASU on the wall of the house outside or inside, and on the pole itself. From it, wires are led into the building itself, wiring is carried out in the rooms. The counter can be located both in the ASU itself and in the house on the wall. Choosing this metering device should also be correct.
Counter Requirements
Such a procedure as connecting the country house to electricity should be carried out, as already mentioned, with the selection of equipment that meets the technical conditions. This also applies, of course, to the counter.
According to GOST 6570-96, in residential buildings electricity meters should be installed with an operating current of at least 30 A and an accuracy class of at least 2.0. Otherwise, the choice of meter depends solely on the personal preferences of the owner of the house. Of course, if additional parameters are not separately specified in the technical specifications. Sometimes, for example, supply companies require homeowners to install exclusively electric meters. Of course, in the specifications should be indicated the number of required phases of the device. Typically, for private homes choose devices with a current of more than 50 A.
Requirements for ASU
So, the connection of electricity to a private house is done through an input device. Structurally, it consists of the following elements:
- Input wires, which can be single-phase or three-phase.
- Terminal contacts intended for connecting inlet and outlet cables to consumers.
- Circuit breaker with which you can enable and disable the home network.
- Circuit breakers and RCDs. The latter device is responsible for reducing the resistance in the event of a power surge.
In modern ASU circuit breakers are often replaced by three - pole circuit breakers. The parameters of the latter are calculated depending on the total capacity of all possible consumers with a small margin.
Among other things, it will be necessary to install the main grounding bus, to which the neutral wire from the power transmission line should be connected. If desired, you can connect a zero wire to it and already from the ASU. Re-grounding of the circuit is also carried out to the GZSH. In this device, the neutral wire is divided into ground and the zero that goes into the building.
What should be the input cable
When connecting electricity to a private house, you should correctly select, including the outer wire itself. The requirements for the cable connecting the power transmission line with the building wiring are as follows:
- It should consist of at least four veins. In this case, it is possible to distribute energy in three phases.
- It is best to install a copper cable.
- The minimum input cable thickness is 4 mm.
- The insulation layer on it should be sufficiently thick and, of course, intact.
- The cable is held in a corrugated PVC pipe.
- The wire must have certificates of the Ministry of Emergencies and Rostest.
Rules for conducting wires to the house
To the house itself, the cable should be carried out in compliance with the following recommendations:
- A cross section of a copper cable of 4 mm is designed for a length of not more than 25 m. In the event that the house is located further from the power transmission line, it is best to install intermediate poles.
- The outer wire is pulled so as to exclude its contact with metal elements (parapets of balconies, fences in the courtyard, etc.).
- If the wiring will run along the outer wall of the building, it should be located no closer than 75 cm to the windows and one meter to the balcony. In this case, possible vibration of the wires should be taken into account.
- Through the wall, the cable must be routed in an insulating pipe.
Rules for connecting electricity to the house by laying the cable underground
Next, let's talk a little about this method of connecting the home network to power lines. With an underground connection, the cable runs down a column. At a height of up to three meters from the ground, it must be protected from mechanical damage by a steel pipe. A trench with a depth of 70 cm to 1 m is dug from the post to the house. When laying the cable along the building, a ditch is dug at a distance of at least 70 cm from the foundation of the house. It is strictly forbidden to pull the wire under the buildings. There should be at least 2 m distance from the cable to the trees, and 75 cm to the bushes.
The final stage
After the input cable of the house is connected to the power lines by the employees of the supplying company, commissioning works are carried out aimed at identifying various kinds of malfunctions. If the latter are available, work is being done to eliminate them. Cable insulation is also carefully inspected.
It is in this order that the electricity is connected to the house in Russia. Ukraine has recently introduced similar rules on its territory. The owner of the site will also need to first submit a package of necessary documents to the supplying company. Next, the owner of the house will have to purchase a meter and register it at a local distribution zone. The supplier company will need to review the application within 15 days.
One copy of the contract for the supply of electricity signed by both parties remains in the hands of the owner of the house, the second - in the supply company.