random wire in hallway

[MassiveJim]

Moved into new house in August
Its a 90s build so most of the house is red/black wiring.

In our living room and dining room there are wires poking out of the walls where previous tenants have removed wall light fittings and switches on the wall that coincide with these wires.

In our hallway near the kitchen door is a random wire poking out of a standard single backbox about head height, it has been covered up with a brush plate, the wires have been terminated into a choccy block and taped up, the earth is still wired to the metal backbox.
Wire colours are red yellow and blue.

There are 2 switches in the hallway, one for an outside light near the front door, and a second 2gang that controls hallway lights upstairs and down, the wire in the wall has no current when tested with multimeter whether hallway lights are on or off.

There is an alarm keypad in our downstairs toilet so its not an alarm either.

Any ideas ?

 

[Dup]

Doorbell?

 

[MassiveJim]

Doorbell?

There is a working 12v door bell in place already above one of the doors in the hallway.

 

[Hotwired]

Checked the consumer unit for clues?

Might be something labelled in there.

 

[casper_uk]

Controller for the hot water tank immersion heater?

 

[MassiveJim]

Controller for the hot water tank immersion heater?

Good shout, could well be, the immersion heater/tank has been removed and replaced with a combi in the last 3 years.

Would the controller need 3 core cable ?

 

[IceBear]

Thermostat ?
Maybe not as there's a metal back box there.

 

[lewism]

It'll be the old thermostat for your heating. Do you have a Hive or any other form of smart/wall controls. Red/Blue/Yellow is the old 3 core colours. Thermostats are usualy 230v and require a neutral, hence the three cores. Also being in the hall and mounted about 1.5m of the ground is usually where a stat would live.

 

[thenewoc]

Smoke alarm, perhaps one of the Nest ones.

Is there a socket on the floor above that area where they may have spurred from or joined into the circuit?

If it's not obvious where the wire goes it might be wise to leave well alone until such time you need to replace carpet on the floor above. Lifting the carpet will probably reveal how they routed the cable there if not from an adjacent socket.

No internal photos caught it from the estate agent's particulars?

 

[Semple]

Smoke alarm, perhaps one of the Nest ones.

Is there a socket on the floor above that area where they may have spurred from or joined into the circuit?

If it's not obvious where the wire goes it might be wise to leave well alone until such time you need to replace carpet on the floor above. Lifting the carpet will probably reveal how they routed the cable there if not from an adjacent socket.

No internal photos caught it from the estate agent's particulars?

Is it normal to have a wall mounted smoke alarm? I thought they were all ceiling mounted.

It does sound like an old thermostat, although if it's been removed you'd have thought they'd have done a better job than just sticking a brush plate over it.

 

[thenewoc]

Is it normal to have a wall mounted smoke alarm? I thought they were all ceiling mounted.

It does sound like an old thermostat, although if it's been removed you'd have thought they'd have done a better job than just sticking a brush plate over it.

Some homeowners attempting installs do all sorts of things.

 

[mrgubby]

Do you have a combi-boiler ?

I think some of the early ones didn't use a room stat & the installer would remove the old one & cover it with a blanking plate.

 

[gc123]

we have a double blanking plate in our hall way about 1.5 metres high on the wall. when i was decorating i wondered what was there so took the plate off, yep old wiring for a thermostat as described but in a double socket?, yes we had a combi fitted about 7 years ago . how time flys.

 

[JRJ]

3 core cable so either an old stat or 2 way switch for a light.

 

[MassiveJim]

I have the estate agents photos from the sale in 2018 as well as the most recent ones, no photos of the hallway at all.
Wires run vertically from the backbox.

new boiler was definitely not a self install, was fitted early 2019 and the new stat was a wireless one (albeit a crap one which I have replaced with the NEST from our old house)

Smoke alarm is on the ceiling very very close to this location so it wouldn't have been smoke alarm.
I think old thermostat control makes most sense

 

[thebandit]

3 core cable so either an old stat or 2 way switch for a light.

2nd this, its standard colours for old 3 core and earth, position also suggests this is the case.