How to plan your garden office upgrade
Such has been the monumental disruption of Covid-19 that hybrid working is now going to be the norm for most businesses that can operate remotely. According to a report by the BBC, when questioning the top 50 employers in the country, 43 of them said that they would continue with a hybrid working policy.
This trend is set to continue, but even the most ardent of hybrid working adherents admit that there are down-sides to working from home. Creating a space that is distraction-free that does not encroach on places needed for relaxation, such as the bedroom, is an important way to manage a healthy stay-at-home-work-life-balance.
Many people have opted for creating an office in their garden in order to separate work and home life. Whether you want to convert an old shed or out-building into an office or build a new one, you will want power and lighting so the new space can function properly. You also do not want it to cost the earth, nor do you want to make mistakes that might incur costs later on. Before you contact a building company, make sure you plan well to ensure you get the garden office space that you want. Here are our top tips for ensuring things go smoothly for you:
What do you want to power in the office?
You know that you need to power a computer, monitor and lighting, but what about small comforts like a kettle, microwave and printer. It can be quite a pain to be trapsing back and forth to the kitchen for your mid-morning cuppa. Deciding this will help the electrician to calculate how much power you require and the cable size you need. This will help you get a more accurate estimate from your electrician and save you cost in the long run.
How old is your current house fuse board or consumer unit?
Based on the age and capacity of your fuse board, it could be that you need to update your unit to factor in the added requirements from your garden office. Any electrician worth his salt should check this out if he is quoting for an outbuilding wiring job, but it is important that you factor this potential cost into your budget.
Where do you want the cable to go?
To enable you to have power in your new garden office a cable will need to be run from your main house consumer unit to a new shed consumer unit. Based on the type of garden you have this may be problematic. Cables are either buried in the ground or cleated to the fence. But lots of factors can affect the decision you need to make.
Sometimes the fence is not owned by you or is in a poor condition to hold an electrical cable. Sometimes, a garden is fully concreted, which makes burying the cable not an option. Have a think about this before you talk to an electrician. Your electrician should be able to suggest ideas to get the power down to your outbuilding.
If you decide to bury your cable, offering to dig the trench for your electrician can save you money. The electrician will be able to advise you on where to dig and how deep the cable needs to lie.
Clear out the outbuilding beforehand.
If you are having an outbuilding converted, clear the building beforehand. If there are obvious elements that need to be removed, you can do this to save your builder and electrician time in the long run. Make sure you do not remove anything remotely structural; consult your tradesmen before doing any of this work.
If you would like to find out more about having wiring or rewiring your outdoor building or garden office, contact A Bathe Electrics to find out more.
