They are usually found situated at the bottom of stairs or are hidden behind cabinets. They are probably though, the most important part in the electrical system of a house.
Consumer Units supply power to you home and contain ‘Electrical Circuit Breakers’ feeding individual circuits to your house.
These may include: Lighting Circuits, Socket Circuits, Electric Hobs, Electric Showers, Outdoor Power, Immersion heaters and much more.
Upgrading your Consumer Unit is essential for maintaining the safety of your home’s electrical system. Modern Consumer Units offer benefits such as extra safety, increased capacity and property value increase.
New Consumer Units come with enhanced safety features, they have a Surge Protection Device (SPD). It protects your appliances in the event of high power surges. It also has RCBO's to protect Consumers from being electrocuted. The RCBO is a combined RCD and Circuit Breaker into one unit. This plays a vital role in the Consumer Unit because if something trips due to a fault, you are only going to loose 1 circuit and not the half house.
These days everything works using electricity. With the ever expanding number of electrical devices in our homes, the older consumer units might not be able to handle the load. Upgrading the Consumer Unit to ensure your system can support modern electrical demands without unnecessary tripping is a smart move.
With an up-to-date Consumer Unit, you can boost your property’s value in the market, making it more appealing to potential renters or buyers.
Consider upgrading your consumer unit if:
Its outdated or made of plastic
It doesn’t have RCD Protection
You are experiencing frequent tripping
You are planning significant electrical work or a refurbishment
You want to make sure its complies with the latest regulations
Contact us today to make sure your your electrical system is safe to carry on in service. Contact us to book a consumer unit upgrade and enjoy peace of mind with a reliable and safe electrical system.
We try to answer some of the most common questions we get asked about Consumer Unit Upgrades
A: RCD stands for Residual Current Device. Its a safety device in your Consumer Unit, designed to protect the consumer from getting a dangerous electric shock. Imagine you are using an electric appliance like lawn mover and you accidentally cut through the cable. You can easily receive a lefe threatening shock. RCD prevents this by cutting off the power instantly.
A: RCD as described, is for additional protection. RCBO (Residual Current Circuit Breaker with Overload protection) means its does everything that an RCD does plus it has overload protection as well. This means it can prevent electric shock and electrical fire too.
A: There are 2 type of modern Consumer Units. One is called “Dual RCD Consumer Unit” the other is called “RCBO Consumer Unit”. With the Dual RCD Consumer Unit the whole buildings electrical system relies on 2 RCDs, typically dividing your circuits into 2 parts. If you have 10 Circuits, 5 Circuits are RCD, the other 5 Circuits are RCD. Imagen that you have a faulty Light Fitting leaking electricity. The RCD Trips instantly as it does its job. This means you loose all the other Circuits that are on the same RCD as the faulty Lighting Circuit. With the RCBO Consumer Unit, each of the electrical circuits is supplied by an individual RCBO. If a fault occurs in your Lighting Circuit it would only trip the Lighting Circuit and everything else woud stay on.
A: Your Consumer Unit may be made of plastic. It may be an old type Fuse Box with fuses and switches. You may not have RCD protection or only partial RCD protection. In these scenarios it is recommended that you upgrade for safety and functionality.
Established in 2017, D Electrics has been providing electrical services around Northamptonshire and the East Midlands. Visit our ‘about us’ page for more information.
