Urgent help needed with power points/electricity?????

Question

I'm no good with understanding anything to do with electricity

I want to buy a solarium and the lady told me this:

"you need single phase power but it will need 32 amp power point whereever the solarium is plugged in"

"you will need an electrician to come and upgrade your power point power supply where ever u plug the solarium"

so all houses have single phase power I know that.. but what about the "needing an electrician to upgrade the powersupply" part? if it was possible, approx. how much would it cost? (I live in Australia)

A man I rang to ask told me that since we live in units/apartments anything over single phase power we can't get because of how apartments electricity is set up/wired?

i'm really confused

HELP

Answer 1

The lady told you that you need single phase power.  The electrician told you that you already have single phase power.  So, you're set as far as that goes.

Now the "amp" thing is what you need to look at.  32 amps is not all that unheard of.  Of course, I don't know what Australia uses for electric (120V or 240V).  32 amps at 240V is quite high.

You may already have a "dedicated outlet" (point)  rated for this amperage.  The two appliances that immediately come to mind are:

1.  Electric stove/oven

2.  Electric clothes dryer

If you have either one of these already in your apartment, you could simply unplug it when you want to use your solarium.  Just plug the solarium into the vacant outlet.

Be sure to have the circuit checked out first by your electrician before you try this.

Answer 2

The single phase part is OK because the standard 240v supply is single phase already.

The reason you need a modification is because of the 32 Amps.

A standard power point is rated at 10 Amps and will generally have cable running to it capable of supplying 16 Amps and a circuit breaker also rated at around 16 Amps.

Therefore to satisfy the 32 Amp requirement of your solarium you will need an electrician to install an outlet with heavier cable and a larger breaker at the switchboard.

Cost ? Depends on a lot but probably between $ 200 and $ 500 . Good luck and happy tanning.