Can I add a new plug socket in the kitchen by running the cable from a light switch?

Question

I do not want to do the work myself but want to know if that is what an electrician would do to add a socket? And realistically a rough idea of the cost?

Answer 1

All home electrical items require a cable carrying the current ( + or Hot line), and one cable going back to the current source (Common). To be able to turn the light off and on, the hot line is ran through a switch before it is connected to the light socket.

In your light switch box, you have only a +/hot line, you need the common cable if you want to install another wall socket.

Too, all hot lines come from a circuit breaker in your fuse panel.
Each circuit breaker can carry a certain amount of Amperes.
For the lights and wall sockets, normally 16 AMPS. If the number of electrical items you want to use, collectively require more than 16 AMPS of power, you could burn your house down!

So, you cannot just arbitrarily add more sockets to a line.
A waffle iron, toaster, coffee machine and a grill is already too much for one line! Lucky if only the circuit breaker blows, a fire is a reality.

Answer 2

No you cannot.
Plug sockets are on a different circuit. The cost depends on the time it would take to run a cable from an existing plug socket and on how neat and tidy you want the job done.
Get an electrician for a safe and neat job. You should get two estimates before getting the job done and/or get an electrician recommended to you by a friend.

Answer 3

no you should not add a plug socket by running a cable from a light switch, as the lighting runs on a different fuse board,
if you have other sockets in your kitchen you could have an electrician add another socket, as long as your fuse board would support it.Sorry i do not know how much it would cost but it should be less then a hours work.

Answer 4

An electrician can do this if the wiring code in your area allows it. You could then plug in a lamp, or radio, to be activated when the light switch is activated. An estimate of the cost, is difficult as it would depend on the amount of time and work for the electrician, plus the cost of materials.

Answer 5

No ! Is the short answer. Since January 2004 in the UK you can only have additions to your electrical wiring carried out by a qualified and registered electrician. You can run an extention lead from another socket as a temporary measure.

Answer 6

no way should you do that your lights work of a different circuit and breaker and use less power than your sockets will so if you do what you propose your lights will blow when you plug anything into the socket. always get an electrician to do the work and depending on circumstances, position of socket etc,it might cost you anything between £50 to £100.

Answer 7

You cant really do it from a lightswitch no, lights are low power consumption items, that why they have their own sepearate circuit from sockets. Sockets will tend to have high drain appliances used in them - especially in a kitchen, an elecric kettle for instance probably uses more power than the whole of your house lighting.

Sockets are own their own ring main because they are fused and designed to dispense higher current, if you put a socket on a lighting circuit you'll probably overload it, which at best will be constantly be blowing fuses or at worst can cause you overheating/fire problems.

Answer 8

No-A switch just has one of the two wires needed to make a circuit. Electricity goes down the black wire and out the white wire. In a switch the black wire is connected and unconnected to make the light go on and off. In an outlet the plug makes contact with a white wire and a black wire. Get an electrican because it will be cheaper to have it done right than to take the chance it might cause electricution or a fire.

Answer 9

Yes but I wouldn't recommend it.

The lights and sockets are on a separate circuit in your fuse board.

You can run one from an existing socket but get an electrician to do it.

Cables must run vertically and / or horizontally only, no diagonals.

You need a sabre saw (hire one), a multimeter to check for voltage and a cable / pipe sniffer so you don't drill into anl live cables or pipes full of water.

Answer 10

Why dont you plug in a four way strip and fix it to the wall... you cant take power from the light, only another power socket its called a spur, all the best