Consumers

Overview of the main consumer types in homes: sockets, lighting, fixed devices, and EV chargers.

Consumers are the devices or connection points that actually use electrical energy. In a diagram, it helps to recognize them by type.

Sockets

Sockets are general connection points for portable appliances. In practice they are usually protected by a 30 mA RCD and grouped by room or zone.

Lighting

Lighting points are your standard lighting circuits (fixtures, spots, outdoor lights). AREI does not set a separate maximum number of lighting points for a lighting-only final circuit. The limit of 8 applies to single or multiple socket outlets. Homes with more than two rooms and/or locations must still have at least two separate lighting circuits. See Circuit structure for the full explanation.

Fixed devices

Fixed devices are permanently connected loads such as boilers, ovens, cooktops, or ventilation units. For many of these, a dedicated circuit with appropriate protection is recommended.

EV charger

An EV charger is a high-load, often long-duration consumer. In practice it usually gets a dedicated circuit with explicit residual-current and overcurrent protection sized for charging power.