Recessed Shaver Socket in Brushed Chrome

A shaver socket: sunk into the wall so nothing projects, which matters in a narrow bathroom.

Bathroom lighting is the one part of a house where getting it wrong is a safety matter rather than a taste matter, and it is sold almost entirely on photographs. Every listing here states the zone the fitting may be installed in, the IP rating with both digits explained, the colour rendering index, the lumen output and the efficacy in lumens per circuit watt. If a fitting is not suitable above a bath we say so on the page you are buying it from. If a mirror is backlit and will not light your face, we say that too.

Specification

• Zone: zone 2 and outside the zones. Zone 2 is the 600mm band beyond zone 1 and the 600mm radius around a washbasin tap. It is not rated for zone 1, which means not directly over the bath
• IP rating: IP44. The first digit, 4, means protected against solid objects over 1mm. The second digit, 4, means protected against splashing water from any direction. It is the minimum for zone 2 and it is not enough for zone 1
• Dimensions: 146 by 86mm plate, 32mm projection, on a 35mm back box
• Light output: no light on this model
• Colour temperature: 3000K on the light where one is fitted
• Colour rendering: CRI 80, which is the legal minimum for a domestic fitting and is honest for the money. It is fine for a cloakroom and it is not what you want beside a shaving mirror
• Dimming: not dimmable
• Electrical: isolating transformer to BS EN 61558-2-5, 20VA, dual voltage 115 and 230 volts, with overload protection. This is what makes a socket lawful in a bathroom, and an ordinary socket never is
• Fire rating: not applicable to a wall or surface mounted fitting
• Standards: BS EN 61558-2-5 for the isolating transformer, which is the standard that makes a shaver socket safe in a bathroom, plus BS EN 60598 for the luminaire where one is fitted
• Weight: approximately 0.7 kilograms
• Guarantee: three years
• Finish: the same triple plate with a directional brush, which hides limescale spotting far better than polished does and is the sensible choice in a hard water area
• Position: a shaver socket may go in zone 2, which is the 600mm band beyond zone 1 and around a basin tap, provided it is not in direct spray. It may not go in zone 1 or zone 0 at all
• Rating: 20VA, which runs a shaver or an electric toothbrush and will not run a hairdryer. It is not a general purpose socket and it is not meant to be
• USB: not fitted

What arrives

• the socket and plate
• a 35mm back box
• fixing screws
• installation instructions with the zone diagram

Installation

A registered electrician. Electrical work in a room containing a bath or a shower is notifiable under Part P of the Building Regulations in England and Wales. That means it has to be done by a registered electrician or signed off by building control. Replacing a like for like fitting on an existing circuit is not notifiable. Adding a new circuit, a new socket or a new spur is. It needs a 35mm back box, which usually means chasing a tiled wall, so this is a decision made during a bathroom refit rather than afterwards.

Choosing between this and the alternatives

A shaver socket is not a small 13 amp socket. It is an isolating transformer in a plate, which means the output is electrically separated from the mains supply and a fault cannot put you in a circuit with earth. That is the whole reason it is the one socket permitted in a bathroom, and it is also why it is rated at 20VA and will refuse to run a hairdryer. If somebody has fitted an ordinary socket in your bathroom, that is a fault to report rather than a convenience to keep.