You may have been a little baffled when setting up your first pond pump or filter. Here, we explain why your pump will not arrive with a plug and we also explain how to calculate the total running costs of your pond equipment.
UK Law and building regulations state that anything that is to be installed permanently outside and, in a pond, should be hard wired into the electrical circuit. This means that pumps and filters do not come with plugs fitted!
There is a small part of these regulations (part P), that means an electrical circuit can be installed as a DIY job if it is not permanently wired into the mains. This can be done by using a plug into an RCD plugged into an indoor socket.
Legally we can not give specific electrical advice, but you may find the following information useful when considering your pond set up.
The image below shows how an electrical supply could be taken into a garden using a Circuit Breaker which is plugged into an indoor socket and then run through the house wall to the outside. A circuit breaker will prevent your house electrics tripping should there be any electrical problems with your equipment at any point and we highly recommend using one. It is then connected to armoured cable (cable with a protective casing in case it is dug into when buried in the ground), which is run through the garden until it reaches the location of the switchbox. As you will see in the diagram, red and white tape has been placed on top of the cable when it is underground. This is a useful tip to help you locate the cable once it is buried, to avoid accidently digging it up. The armoured cable is then adapted back to the standard cable above ground and connected into the switch box.
The pond equipment is then hard wired into the outlets on the switch box. The pond equipment can now be switched on and off outside without having to disconnect from the mains.
We are unable to give specific electrical advice in our sales centre because we are not trained in this area, so if you do have a question we would recommend speaking to a qualified electrician.
Below, we have outlined how to calculate the total running costs of your equipment.
What are the running costs of my unit?
When calculating how the stated Wattage for a unit will transfer into £ cost there are a couple of things to note. Firstly energy prices are given in Kilowatt Hours Kwh. 1kw equal 1000 watts. Therefore a 60w item is the equivalent of 0.06 kw.
The average price at the moment is roughly 16p per Kwh. To work out the rough cost of an item (depending on the exact energy tariff) follow the calculation below:
1) Unit Wattage / 1000 = Unit wattage in Kw
2) Unit Wattage in Kw x (average cost per Kwh) = Cost per Hour (in Pence)
3) Cost per Hour x 8760 (number of hours in a year) = Cost for full year in Pence (if run 24/7)
4) Cost for full year in Pence / 100 = Cost for full year in pounds and pence.
For example, a unit using 60w of electricity will cost £84.10 to run per year. As seen below:
1) 60w / 1000 = 0.06 kw
2) 0.06 x 16 = 0.96
3) 0.96 x 8760 = 8410p
4) 8410 / 100 = £84.10
If you would like to discuss anything regarding the above, please email us on info@pondkeeper.co.uk