There can be many reasons why house owners need to change their consumer unit. Changing a consumer unit is necessary because regulations keep changing. Sometimes it is not necessary to change the entire box, a little bit of rewiring can solve the problem. For this case, it is advisable to hire a qualified professional and let him do his work. Again, if you think of making any changes you can call the same person for help as he will know the issue well.
There are four things that electrical contractors of Electric Work London check and takes into consideration and they are : –
A client does not have many ideas: one thing which all-electric contractors should keep in mind is that clients do not know much about this field. He might be an intelligent person or someone who works in a giant organization but he is unaware of many things. When electricians install a replacement consumer unit please let them know what the problem is and how you are going to solve it. Electric contractors of Electric works London always encourage their clients to have an EICR (Electrical Installation Condition Report) and they will carry it out before replacing the consumer unit. This is important because it will let one know that all the latest regulations are followed and there is no fault from the contractor’s end. The EICR test results always help one to design and select all kinds of protective devices for the new fuse box or consumer unit. On the other hand, educating every client on the level of protection is very important and this comes under BS7671.
- Things an electrical contractor needs to explain are: –
- The UK wiring regulation needs all circuits to be protected:
- Overload: there can be a fault and that will result in a fire in the cables, finally it will damage the electric appliances.
- Residual Current or Earth Leakage: this is a fault that can cause electric shock that can result in serious injury.
- The Circuit Protection Devices: what are they and what they do:
- RCD- Residual Current Device
- Protects all the circuits from earth leakage or residual current
- MCB: Mini Circuit Breaker, it protects an individual circuit against fault currents and overload
- RCBO: Residual Circuit Breaker with Overload: it protects the circuit from residual current and overload. It is a combination of both MCB and RCD, so this is more expensive.
- Future proof:
Every building at one point or the other has changed something. There is no property throughout the world that has not undergone any kind of changes. As days go by people like to upgrade themselves, maybe they change the gas hob to an electric one or install an electric shower and so on. Every electrical contractor should keep this in mind and prepare themselves for it instead of reacting to it. Make space for changes that will happen over the years, this is something the present days’ electric contractors of London keep in mind. Explain to the client at the very beginning that the consumer unit will serve for a considerable time and will adapt to changes in the coming days.
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- High priority circuits:
In order to properly specify the circuit protection that will fit the client’s needs and expectations, it is important to ascertain that circuits need special consideration with respect to RCD’s. Separating the high priority circuits is crucial because it will remove all the chances of the circuit being knocked out by faults or any other earth leakage. This happens in a standard RCD or MCB configuration where the RCD cuts the electrical power from the MCBs just to protect it. The common high-priority circuits are security systems, smoke alarms, and so on. Well, this differs from client to client as every client’s high priority changes. For some, a freezer can be of high priority. Whereas for few people the heating system, swimming pool pumps, stairwell lighting are of high priority circuits.
- The kind of consumer units to use are: –
There are many factors that one should keep in mind for upgrading the consumer unit. This also includes the client’s budget, types of circuits, and the number of circuits.
The three main models available these days are: –
- Fully loaded consumer unit
This is the best one because its price is low and it comprises an RCD board with MCBs on it. These are also suitable for small houses that have fewer complex circuits. The only problem with this is that it has limited configuration flexibility and circuit separation.
- Main switch consumer unit
This is also one of the best circuit protections that is available as it provides total circuit separation but this is a bit expensive. This is supplied with the help of one main switch and it protects every circuit. Here installing the consumer unit is not expensive but installing the RCBOs is pretty costly. These units are available in different sizes, let the electrician decide which will be better for your property.
- High integrity consumer unit
This solution is best in London and it is becoming quite popular for new properties. It has a combination of the best aspects of the main switch consumer unit and a dual RCD unit. It has 3 neutral bars and 2 RCDs; the HI consumer unit has 2 banks of MCBs and also a bank of RCBOs for high priority circuits.
Whatever the issue is never try to do it alone without proper guidance from a qualified electrician. Remember one thing that every qualified electrician working in London knows the present standard and regulations and they are bound to follow them. allow them to work for you then there will be no problem in getting the reports. These people will help you get genuine papers from the local authorities. You can take help from Electric Works London, almost every alternative day they do this work, you can ask for the previous testimonial from them.
