Bathrooms and stupidity

[Will__]

Two questions:

a) Why are electrical sockets illegal in bathrooms in the UK? (I presume they are since there never are any) Are people really that stupid that they need to enforce this as law? In Spain where I live now, there are usually several sockets in every bathroom and believe it or not there aren't dozens of spaniards being electrocuted every day.....so why ?

 

b) Basin taps in UK bathrooms. Why on earth, in room in the house where you might possibly most want a warm flow of water, are so many UK taps split into Hot and Cold ? Anyone with half a brain would be able to imagine that instead of burning or freezing or being forced to fill a basin (silly waste of water) it might be nice to enjoy a steady controllable MIXED flow of water? Is it law, or just decades of bovine like stupidity? I'm really curious...

 

Thanks

[ally101]

Hi.. I'm not sure if it is a legal requirement to have the lights as they are are but for obvious safety reasons I guess they make sense, but it's quite a pain when you have to use something electrical and you have to run an extension!

As for the taps... not all taps have the two pipes. I think they were used in old houses. Have you ever seen the gadgets they've come up with to solve the 2 tap problem? It's a hose mixer that looks like something used to milk cows!!!

[commoner]

...you MUST have noticed that after a hot bath or shower, the walls and everything else for that matter are wringing wet with condensation...water and electricity are not good companions so if you imagine the wiring and the tiled walls being covered in condensation.......well, just don't touch the walls then.....to put it simply...water and electricity are too dangerous to be in close proximity with human beings )<G>

...to answer your other question......to open the cold tap (which is open to the main water supply) at the same time as the hot watersupply, which has been in the cold water tank and boiler and could have been in contact with all kinds of contamination eg dead rats or birds (you name it) would be to risk the contaminated hot water backing up into the fresh water supply...might not be a big risk but nevertheless a definate public health issue...hence we keep them apart...hope this helps...commoner

[KebabMeister]

In Germany I have three electical sockets in my bathroom.  Two of them have like a flip hinge cover over them (above the sink!) but the other one is a standard socket (it's low and next to a radiator).  The electric lights and extracter fan are operated by normal switches too - switches in Germany are huge things and far better than the UK ones.  Perhaps the size of the switch prevents water getting into the very centre?  Not sure!

My basin also has a mixer on it too.

[ledow]

Water... electricity... don't take chances.

For the same reasons, bathrooms must have pullcords not switches for the lights. It's also not allowed for a home owner who isn't suitably qualfied to install an external (therefore weatherproof) socket. You need a professional to do it.

It's basically because, firsly it's stupid and unnecessary to have a plug socket in the bathroom unless it's specially designed to be waterproof. Secondly, it's illegal to stop stupid people doing it anyway. You can get electric shaver sockets which have to be properly wired and fused and are very low current even though they use mains voltage. These are used to power most anything you might possibly need in daily use in a bathroom (i.e. a shaver).

For the properly of working in a bathroom, an extension lead is hardly a chore and it also makes you think twice before you start work because you have to ACTUALLY INTRODUCE the electricity into the wet, condensation-filled, bathroom yourself.

Secondly, taps on sinks (basins) are split into hot and cold most probably mainly due to tradition but also that people used to have some water which wasn't suitable for consumption but fine for washing in, water tanks and pigeons and so on.

[KebabMeister]

Do Germany have totally different electrics to the UK?  People with large bathrooms have washers and dryers in there.

[c00ky83]

What's all this about taps?  I have a mixed hot and cold in my kitchen - being where I get drinking water, so it's not contaminated like someone said.  Saying that, it tastes awful.

[commoner]

c00kie...I think if you look very carefully at your MIXER you will find it is actually dvided right up to the point where the water leaves the nozzle and is in fact two taps in one.....the cold water comes out of one half of the nozzle and the cold out of the other side...or cold out of the centre and hot out of the edges ....turn on just one or the other and observe.......Things aren't always as they first appear......the water only MIXES in the bowl. If I am wrong the I would advise you NOT to drink your tap water, it probably has nasties in it...<G>

[woofgang]

I have a mixer tap on my bath, would always want to run cold water alone for teeth cleaning. What is the problem with turning on both taps??

[commoner]

Woofgang..the hot water in your bathroom is a secondary supply filled from a header tank which stores cold water ready to top up the hot water system as required..this tank if it is anything like mine' is in the roof space and open to all kinds of stuff such as dead birds mice etc.....think about it....maybe you have a different set up.....

[woofgang]

my tank is in the roof, kept covered and checked regularly!!

[commoner]

...mmm..it is nevertheless still an "open" system and not fresh drinking water IMHO. I would NEVER use water from my hot water system for consumption unless it was because the fresh main supply was off for some reason, then only if it was boiled first.....still, your choice........;-)

[commoner]

...further to my last post....if you have a "combi" boiler, then ok as this heats water on demand and takes it straight from the mains..........I just tried Googling  "Drinking from the hot tap".......some interesting reading resulted.

[joko]

just get a mixer tap fitted if its bothering you!

and while the average grown up can be trusted with electricity in the bathroom, bathrooms are not only used by grownups - children, elderly and infirm, mentally ill, drunk or drugged people, even animals could knock something that has been left plugged in -into your bath! there might even be a rise in murders - people faking 'accidents' who knows? - there is always a bigger picture.

[KARL]

There is a DIY advice site which actually states that all advice given applies to UK only and may be dangerous if applied to non-UK situations. Quite simply, judging by the regulations and practices, the UK often appears to exist in a world of different laws of physics from those governing matters in other countries. The water regulations are (in my experience) utterly unique and appear laughably bizarre to other nations. The fears expressed (see replies above) reflect primitive housing (chronic dampness) and an apparent discomfort with this new fangled concept of electricity and piped water. There is actually a regulation requiring each pipeline in a bathroom (heating, hot and cold) to be individually earthed along with everything else, including bath, radiator, etc. Anywhere else this is seen as hilariously comical because if you wanted to test one of the pipes separately before earthing you would discover that it is inexorably electrically connected to everything else through the water in them and mechanical connections - apart from the possible exception of the cold water being separate because of the unique open hot water system. The regulation falls completely flat when plastic pipes are involved. As for the "idiot proofing" generally, the British must know something awful about the levels of intelligence to be found among the public (or else take an arrogantly negative view of "them"). Things are slowly changing and practices previously banned in the UK but common since the dawn of modern housing elsewhere are being adopted in the UK. Currently, in these matters the UK is approaching the mid 20th century and, at present rates, will catch up with the rest of the world by 2125. Until then it will continue to be a case of "our standards are the best" being stated in general ignorance of what can be achieved, and is routinely achieved elsewhere.

[simsfreq]

When I was studying GCSE physics, I was taught this about light switches:

Electricity will always take the path of least resistance to get to the earth. A light switch works by connecting one wire to another to make the circuit of the lightbulb complete.
The plastic casing of the lightswitch insulates the wire from our bodies, because the electricity prefers to go through the copper wire than "jump" through the plastic (electricity does jump - it happens all the time in thunderstorms) to get to the earth through our bodies.
When the human body is wet, it lowers the resistance considerably, so much that occasionally the resistance might be lowered enough that the electricity would jump through the plastic to our bodies and to earth.

Obviously this is still very unlikely. I would assume the same is true for powerpoint switches, but I'm not stupid enough to go poking around in sockets with dripping wet hands.
I think the UK is a bit health-and-safety mad, to be honest. I recently went to Holland on a trip with college and saw a lot of things which simply would have been declared unsafe had they been in the UK, and I idn't see anybody die from then either.

[Jay70]

Just thought I'd point out to commoner that in most upstairs bathrooms the cold water supply is also from the same coldwater tank that feeds the hotwater tank (and not the mains)  So therefore having a mixer tap wont cause a problem.    

[Luvknowledge]

I also have a house in Spain and I must agree that having sockets in the bathroom are extremely useful.  Due to the higher temperatures generally in the atmosphere in the house coupled with the need for a lower water temperature, (because of the increased body heat), the walls of the bathroom don't get steamed up!  Where placing wet hands on sockets is concerned we do have sockets and water in our kitchens and we are trusted to dry our hands BEFORE plugging in the kettle! I think that good old "Nanny state" is still looking after us!

[commoner]

......sorry jay70 ...missed your post....but that is usually for the SHOWER (not electricshower) where you need the same pressure as the hot to get a decent control of temperature....my own shower is like that.

If you have water to the washbasin and bath coming from the header then all I can say is .....clean your teeth downstairs......I would never drink water directly from the header tank..NEVER NEVER....be like drinking from puddles!

[netibiza]

luvknowledge where on earth in Spain do you live?? I live in Ibiza and our walls get terribly steamy, have to wipe them after a shower.  We also have sockets in the bathroom.

[UKcit]

The UK electrical socket in the bathroom regulations are mainly centred around the bath and/or shower. There are safety zones around these features where sockets and electrical equipment are restricted. Hence if you had a big enough bathroom the restrictions wouldn't apply a certain distance away from the bath or shower.
I believe the regulatory zones around water basins and toilets are less restrictive.

There is a psychological element, imposing a restriction emphasises the potential danger and makes people think about what they are doing.