Blog 22: Wiring the house

The Nga Kereru electrical team, my father Bob and my uncle Geoff, have been regular visitors to our building site throughout the summer.

Bob and Geoff have also done a huge amount of work off-site, designing the power and lighting circuits and organising supply of everything we need from Ideal Electrical.

Our electrical journey began way back in 2016 soon after purchase and phase one, to bring power onto our land and underground up to our building site, was completed in early 2017.

This was followed by an electrical quiet patch while funds were raised, house design was completed and our building consent granted. 

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Phase two started in October 2018 with cabling in the container and caravan sites, and laying cables into and out of the foundations before the slab was poured. 

Then another electrical quiet patch while the house framing was built and the roof put on, and then into phase three in January 2019 for the final electrical design, switchboard build and wire out of the house.

We now have the power wiring and lighting wiring in place, including light switch and power point flush boxes, and the meter board and switchboard have been installed. With car charging setup for two future electric cars, and cable run up the hill behind the house for our future solar panel array.

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Number one sparkies assistant on-site this summer is Alessandra, enjoying learning about electrical work and also learning about the local customs of continuous bantering while working.

Uncle Geoff has done a fantastic job with the switchboard, it is a work of art, and the overall design of the power circuits for the house means we can accommodate our normal household needs plus car charging and a kitchenette in our 3rd bedroom, brilliant!

There have been a few challenges along the way for example;

  • the difference between wiring into a straw plaster wall system vs a ‘standard’ timber and gib wall,

  • the combined electrical load from our car chargers and the induction cooktops,

  • our planned early move in date of July into the self-contained B&B area of the house

  • and last but not least.. , measured by amount of attention invested, the wiring of the motorised window openers and their controllers in the front of the house. 

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We have been rolling with the challenges, sorting out what’s needed as we go, while still holding the build schedule, with great teamwork from all and awesome family commitment :-)

Completion of the switchboard and the wiring of the house is a major milestone! Yahh!!!! but we still have more electrical work to do after plastering and putting in the ceiling putting in all the switches, plugs and lights.

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So, we celebrate this milestone! while looking forward to more fun over the coming months finishing the electrical commissioning .

ElectricalAndrew TuckBob, Family, Wiring, ElectricalComment