Singapore specifies that mains electricity should be:

• • 230 V
  • 50 Hz (alternating current)

Wiring Diagrams

(a) Wiring of a typical Singapore House

Consumer unit housing switches and circuit breakers

On the far right is the master on-off switch. Notice it consists of two switches joined together. This is to open/close the live wire and neutral wires simultaneously.

To the left of the master switch is the ELCB (Earth-Leakage Circuit Breaker). A safety switch that will switch off the current when a current is detected in the earth wire.

 

The consumer unit will split up the current into different circuits within the house. Typically these will include individual circuits for:

• Lights
• Electric Sockets
• Water Heater
• Air Conditioner
• Cooker

Each switch is also a circuit breaker – known as a miniature circuit breaker (MCB).

series of MCBs – some will trip at 6A others at 20A

To the left of the consumer unit are the array of switches for each of these circuits. Each one will have a current limit and the switch will trip (turn off the supply) when the current exceeds this value.

(b) Wiring of Lights

Note that lights are wired in parallel. This way they will maintain the same voltage across them irregardless of whether other lights are switched on or off.

(c) Wiring of Power Sockets

The ring provides two paths for the current to flow around to get to a particular socket and allows for lower power (thinner and cheaper) wires to be used.

 

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