CONSUMER UNIT REPLACEMENT
Your consumer unit or fuse box is the central distribution point for all the electricity in your home and the first item of equipment under your ownership once the supply enters your property. It usually follows the main service head (property of the distribution network operator) and the meter (property of your electricity supplier) and occasionally a separate isolator switch.
The consumer unit splits your supply up into separate circuits of varying current capacities for distribution around your property. It also houses any protective devices such as circuit breakers, RCD’s, RCBO’s, SPD’s and AFDD’s. These devices provide essential protection from electric shock, burns, electrical damage and potentially fire in the event of a fault.
There are many reasons to consider replacing your consumer unit and some are even essential if you intend to make significant changes to an installation that has a unit that doesn’t meet the current 18th edition wiring regulations requirements.
Fire safety: Bring your consumer unit in to line with current regulations and upgrade to a metal enclosure. This is currently a recommendation and only a requirement if the position is under a wooden stair case forming the only escape route. Also currently a recommendation, not a requirement of the 18th Edition Wiring Regulations, AFDD’s may be appropriate for your type of property or an insurance requirement.
Protect yourself, your home and its contents: Many older consumer units have no RCD protection at all - just fuses or MCB’s. These are there to protect the cables from overloading, not to protect YOU from electric shock! RCD protection has therefore been a requirement in domestic properties for years. Now older type AC RCD’s are becoming obsolete - as our homes fill up with the latest digital technology, most people are unaware that it can be having a detrimental effect on the protective devices in our consumer units and rendering them useless. In many homes the existing type AC RCD’s are not designed to work with the residual DC current produced by many of our commonly found digital appliances such as computers and TV’s. It can cause them to fail when they are needed, or cause nuisance tripping. Upgrading to modern type A RCBO’s for example can solve this and also improve selectivity by providing an RCD for each circuit.
Create additional capacity for new circuits in the installation: maybe you are building an extension, adding an electric shower or electric vehicle charge point. If your existing consumer unit is full you can either upgrade to a larger unit or add an additional one.
Surge Protection Devices: Voltage spikes can damage electronic equipment, which actually means virtually everything in the modern home. They are experienced typically when lightning strikes part of your local electrical system. Even if it doesn’t directly strike your property the resultant voltage spike can be enough to damage any equipment you may have connected. With the average home having thousands of pounds worth of electrical appliances connected at any one time, the potential cost of replacement far outweighs the addition of a simple surge protection device. Many new consumer units come with a built in SPD and represent a fantastic investment in the safety of your property.
When it comes to the installation, there are multiple stages involved in a consumer unit change. Typically, it will involve:
Full test and inspection of all existing circuits (EICR).
Repairs where required.
Reconfiguration of existing circuits if required.
Upgrade or installation of main equipotential bonding to water, gas and other extraneous metallic services.
Removal of the old consumer unit.
Installation of the new consumer unit, including new supply tails, earth connection and labelling.
Tests of all circuits connected to the new consumer unit.
Completion of certification and other paperwork.
This is at least a full day of work, and can easily be more for larger installations or those that require more extensive repair. It is best to allow for the initial test and inspection to take place on a separate day to the actual consumer unit change to allow for repairs. This leaves as much time as possible for the consumer unit change itself.
Our recommended standard for new installations is an RCBO Consumer unit with an integral Surge Protection Device as per the 18th Edition Wiring Regulations requirements.
BUYER BEWARE! Your consumer unit is a critical part of your investment in your property. It has to perform its function and keep you safe for many years. Upgrading a unit is a complicated job that needs to be performed correctly and leave you 100% confident in the safety of your entire electrical installation. It’s not hard to find a company that is prepared to cut corners and offer a consumer unit change completed in just a few hours, but you would only be getting a small part of what needs to be done. We believe in providing a thorough and complete service with professional workmanship that will keep your investment safe for years to come.