Two shaver sockets on same circuit with extractor fan

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I've just had a new bathroom installed(UK based) and the electrician has put two shaver sockets(110V and 220V outlets) and an extractor fan on the light circuit.

With two toothbrushes plugged into the shaver sockets, the extractor fan lasted about 3 weeks before buzzing and then completely failing(but still buzzing) after about 4 weeks.

I've had a few electricians around and they all seem in doubt as to what the issue is – was it a freak failure or did the two shaver sockets destroy the extractor fan?

The extractor fan has been replaced, but I'm not using the two shaver sockets at the moment as the buzz is quite loud when both are plugged in. With only one plugged in there is only a mild hum.

Does the extractor need to be on a separate circuit?

Best Answer

the extractor fan lasted about 3 weeks before buzzing and then completely failing (but still buzzing)

Perhaps a bearing seized up, It is probably a small extractor fan and is easily replaced at low cost. You can do it yourself if you follow basic electrical safety procedures.

I replaced a noisy (but still working) bathroom extractor fan with another of the same make and model which also started to become noisy after a few weeks. I then replaced it with another make (Manrose Gold - "Long lasting ball bearing motor".) which is still working fine and does its job quietly and reliably.

I conclude there are good makes and bad makes of bathroom extractor fan. It may depend on which factory in china they use and who does the quality assurance. I suggest you don't buy the cheapest you can find.

did the two shaver sockets destroy the extractor fan?

It was probably a coincidence.

Does the extractor need to be on a separate circuit?

No.

The total expected load on a circuit should be less than the maximum allowed for the wire cross-sectional area and less than the rating of the circuit breaker for that circuit.

Charging a toothbrush probably takes a very very small current, maybe 0.01 Amps. This should not be a problem.

A 20W extractor fan on a 230V lighting circuit needs about 0.1 Amps. This also is a pretty small load and not worth installing a separate circuit for.

Your lighting circuit is probably rated for 5 Amps total load.