electrical sockets

[Pspuser]

Hello again,

As mentioned before, we are having our garage converted to bedroom & wetroom. This is being done by the council. I want to try and make sure that there are sufficient electrical sockets, even if I have to pay extra for them. I want to avoid trailing leads

I am thinking of:

Two doubles either side of bed, with included USB in two of them

Two double on each of the side walls (they both have doors in them, one to wet room, one to rest of house. One double on remaining wall, which has an access door to the outside.

Does his seem enough?

What sort of electrical medical equipment are we likely to need?

Any other hint & tips always welcome.

Thanks,

Dave

[Sun-flowerwearer]

Hi

My husband is in the lounge and has an hospital bed with an airflow mattress which is plugged in to the wall as it needs an electricity supply. I sometimes plug in a fan. He has an electric operated recliner chair. We have a TV and when he was less advanced he used an iPad which needed charging. Other than lighting we don’t have any other electrical items.

[Rose1sunflower]

hello. We converted our garage to a bedroom and wet room for my husband and I thought we had plenty of sockets but it is amazing how many you need! We have 6 double sockets, placed around the room, one of them has 2 USB connectors. Do make sure you have situated them where you think the bed is going. We had to change where the bed was situated as we hadn’t left enough space to manoeuvre a wheel chair into the wet room, as at the time he was walking. We are needing sockets for bedside lamp, two USB sockets for charging phone and talking book, the hospital bed, another for the mattress, for the tv, another for the streaming service, (we don’t have an aerial), one for the rise recliner chair. The builders put in an extra double on a wall that was ‘empty’ which has proved useful for occasional equipment like humidifier or cough assist machine or charging the mini lift that he now needs. We had to have a lift put in (all for 10” drop!) as there was not enough room to put in a ramp, they were able to take the supply off one of the sockets by the French doors. I wish I had asked them to put a socket outside to enable me to vacuum the car or power garden equipment but didn’t think of it at the time! Good luck with your conversion. We are so pleased we had it done.

[Rose1sunflower in reply to Rose1sunflower]

Sorry forgot the ‘Alexa’ that operates the radio and commands other things in the room, like the curtain opener which also requires a socket- yes we have tech savvy children but these have been really useful!

[Smiffy20]

Hi Dave, we were turned down by the council when asked to have our garage converted. We were told there wasn’t enough room to hold a wetroom and bedroom. Would you happen to know what the dimension of your garage was? The physio was surprised that they said it was too small. Was thinking of asking again as my husbands needs have changed since then. Which authority are you under? Good luck with your alterations it’ll make life so much easier for you both 🙂

[Pspuser in reply to Smiffy20]

Hi, it’a a double garage, I don’t have the dimensions to hand, but I think it’s about 4.5 m long by 2.5 per garage wide.

One garage will be bedroom with new front door (the existing door doesn’t meet their min width, and couldn’t be widened), door to existing house, and door to wet room, which is about half the other garage. We are with Vale of Glamorgan.

Their min requirement for a wetroom is 2m x2m, to allow for turning circle of wheelchair.

We have been awarded a D.A.G, which has to be paid back when the house is sold, rather than a D.F.C, which is a means tested grant.

I think if you only have a single garage it would be a bit small, unless you extend it, or use part of the house

[Pspuser in reply to Pspuser]

One more point, it’s the OT you need to speak too, rather than the physio

[Mel547]

it’s also worth thinking about positioning of sockets as well , rather than the usual place above skirting board it’s a good idea to have some at a height where you don’t need to bend down , hope that makes sense

[Pspuser in reply to Mel547]

Yes, it does. I think the minimum height nowadays is 450mm, but I’ve seem some documentation that states 900mm for disabled rooms

[Bergenser]

Lots of good advice here! We had luckily secured a very large bedroom when moving to a bungalow, and have recently converted the cloakroom/ shower room to a very usable wet room. But the toothbrushes are always on charge in a different room. I've got an adapter but it is clunky. I wish I'd thought of the shaver type (lower volt) outlets to charge the electric toothbrush and water flosser. I believe they can be put in the wet room if installed correctly.

Good luck with the project. 🚿🧖

[Milocorn1]

With regards to sockets - I just thought I’d mention if a profiling bed is being used it may be worth thinking about where the bed will be located versus the plug socket on the wall. Just to ensure when the bed moves up and down it doesn’t knock the actual socket as this has happened to us. As Mum’s bed is in the corner of the room against the wall, a particular socket cannot be used as the bed moving up and down would knock the plugs out. Also, even without plugs, plugged in, the bed still has to be slightly moved away from the wall to avoid the socket itself being knocked too. Mum also has a stand aid in the room (also needing a socket) so there’s not enough room to relocate the bed and even if there was she probably wouldn’t cope well with furniture being rearranged.

Also, just in case you’re not already registered, it’s handy to be on the priority list with your electricity supplier just in case there’s ever a planned or emergency power cut in your area - this just helps to ensure that you can make provisions regarding any equipment used if ever necessary.

😊

[Pspuser in reply to Milocorn1]

Thank you, I appreciate everyone’s advice