In the last post, we figured out all the important things to keep in mind while making our electrical plan. Now we know exactly what electrical points we need and where. But how do you convey this to your electrical contractor? How does he know where you want your lights, fans and plug points? For that, you need to give him an Electrical Plan with all your electrical details marked on it. But how in the world are you going to do that? Here is how I make an electrical plan, and it’s really not that difficult!
Making Your Electrical Plan: Step-by-Step
Let’s take a small bathroom to work on today. Just as you did while planning your electricals, you have to…
1. Use your interior layout as the starting point:
We have our bathroom plan ready. The basin counter is to the left, shower to the right and the WC as you enter.
Pick up some coloured pens/pencils, and let’s start.
2. Put in your ceiling fixtures:
I’ve picked blue for my ceiling fixtures. I want a ceiling light above my shower area and one above the dry area, so I add them in.
3. Put in your wall fixtures:
I’ve picked pink for my wall fixtures. I want a light above the basin mirror and an exhaust fan in the window, so I add them in.
You can specify the height of the wall fixture next to it so that your electrician knows exactly where to put it.
4. Put in your switchboards:
I’ve picked orange for the switchboards. I want one near the door so that I can put the lights on as soon as I enter. The one at the basin counter to put on the mirror light and a point for a hairdryer etc. I will also need a point in the shower area for the geyser. So I add these in.
5. Put in the wires:
I’ve picked green for the wires. I use the wires to connect the switchboards to the the lights and fans they will operate. The ceiling lights and exhaust fan need to come on as soon as I enter the bathroom, so I connect them to switchboard 1. I want to be able to put the mirror light on while standing at the basin, so I connect it to switchboard 2.
Your electrical plan is now ready. But if you hand this over to the electrician as is, it’s not going to make much sense to him. So we need to add a few more details before we’re done.
6. Switchboard schedule:
I then put all the details of each switchboard in tabular form.
For instance, here we’ve got switchboard 1 at a height of 36″ from the floor. It has 3 switches and one 15 Amp plug point. Don’t let all those symbols scare you. You can use whatever symbols you want, like I have just put the letter ‘G’ in a square to symbolise a point for a geyser. If you don’t want to use symbols just write the word ‘geyser’… and that’s fine too! In case you do use symbols, you need to explain those to your electrician. Which gets us to the last step of making the electrical plan.
7. The legend:
Check your plan to see what symbols you’ve used and describe those clearly in your legend. Hand over your plan, schedule and legend to your electrical contractor… and he’s ready to start!
It’s really as simple as that, so give it a try… and let me know how it goes.