The French Domestic Electrical System

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The French Domestic Electrical System

This INFOrmation Page is specifically for readers from the United Kingdom or those familiar with domestic electrical wiring in the UK.

Note: If you are not skilled and experienced with electrical wiring, contact a local professional. The official French specifications for domestic wiring are complicated and designed to be used by registered professionals with their specific equipment. (Qualified, registered electricians receive details and updates of the regulations). 

For simple domestic electrics: look for a “how to” guide at a bricomarché - hardware or DIY shops. 

The System

For those familiar with UK electrics, the French home electrical system is very unusual. The majority of the fittings, cabling and methods used in the UK cannot be applied to the wiring of a French house. 

The principle of the French electrical system is one of spurs, not of a ring main (as used in the UK). Each mains spur for sockets can carry a maximum of 16 amps at 220 volts (approximately 3,500 watts). Under normal application, there is a limit of five single or double sockets per spur.

Note: For Electric Heaters there is a maximum of one per spur and this must go back to the fuse box.

This is wired in using 2.5mm cable, which must be carried in conduit (or double insulated, including the earth cable).

Note: UK CE-marked twin-and-earth cable does not comply with French specifications. Neither do UK three-pin plugs. The use of either is likely to invalidate your French insurance and will not pass inspection for the Consuel (this normally takes place before the supply is connected by EDF.)

There are specific spurs for specific home appliances, such as the washing machine and cooker. A washing machine or dishwasher spur is at 20 amps, and a cooker spur is at 32 amps. Cable sizes depend on the length of the runs involved.

When applied in the kitchen, you can very quickly have spurs running everywhere. For example, a normal UK-spec kettle and a dishwasher cannot go on the same circuit.

You also have a separate 20amp spur for the hot water tank (ballon) which – should you opt for the French equivalent of Economy 7, the heures creuses – will be wired through an automatic three-way switch, which normally operates the hot water when the electricity is available at the lowest rate. (Generally, EDF will change your meter free of charge if you opt for the heures creuses and you can select various options for running appliances in the cheaper hours.) 

Lighting circuits are also wired on spurs, with a rating of 10 amps using 1.5mm double-insulated cable (normally individual wires in conduit). So again, UK CE-marked cable will not be accepted by inspectors, as the earth is not double-insulated.

The main fuse box is not the same as a UK box, which groups the neutrals together. In France each breaker has a live and neutral connection. The MCB is bi-polar - normally 45 amp, 500 ma.

Note: If you are renovating an older property, you could well find that the feed into the house is three-phase, as are the meter and the main distribution board. Do NOT try to wire the whole house off one phase - for example: every time you switch on the kettle you will blow the main feed.

Information correct as at April 2005

Further Information

• English speaking Electricians in the AngloFILE 
• Électricité de France EDF