Consumer unit upgrades
Consumer Unit upgrades (sometimes called 'CCU' or 'Distribution board') are imperative to ensure that your installation is compliant with the latest regulations and to ensure your and your family's safety.
It is advised that your board is of a metallic construction, is earthed, and that all circuits (unless exempted by regulation) are protected by a Residual Current Device (RCD) to 30mA in order to protect against electric shock. Most people believe that a circuit breaker will save them in the event of receiving an electric shock, but this is not the case. A circuit breaker or fuse will allow a lot more current to flow than is necessary to kill a human being. In fact a 6A circuit breaker will allow enough current through to kill around 60 average humans before tripping.
Some older properties may not have a consumer unit which contains circuit breakers, it may contain re-wire-able fuses. Although still compliant regarding BS7671:2018, it is advisable to upgrade these units to a modern consumer unit which is able to offer RCD and Circuit breaker protection. One advantage of this is that it is considerably easier and quicker to reset a circuit breaker, as well as being more reliable than a re-wire-able fuse. In addition to this, re-wire-able fuse units do not offer RCD protection unless installed separately 'off board'. This means that it is likely not every circuit in your house is protected by an RCD meaning that a fault could result in a fatal shock.
Your consumer unit is one of the most important items in your electrical installation, dividing the main feed from your supplier around the circuits in your house. It is imperative that it is safe and up to standard to ensure the safety of you and your family. If you are in any doubt, please contact us and we can organise a convenient time to assess and advise you on your current installation.
We are able to provide consumer units built to specification subject to your requirements.
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Consumer units with Residual Current Device (RCD) and Circuit Breakers are the default set-up for modern day consumer units. This set-up is the cheapest and consists of one RCD protecting a number of circuits, causing a loss of all protected circuits in the event of a fault.
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Consumer units with Residual current operated Circuit Breaker with Overcurrent protection (RCBO) are the latest 'future proof' additions to consumer units. These devices incorporate the RCD and Circuit Breaker into one unit, protecting each individual circuit. Therefore in the case of a fault, only the fault circuit is lost rather than a number of circuits protected by one RCD. Why not ask us about upgrading your Consumer Unit to incorporate SPD (Surge Protection) too? Protecting your valuable electrical devices in the event of a surge.