Fuseboards and Consumer Units

Fuseboard/Consumer units

Modern fuseboards are much safer, speaking generally the protective  switches disconnect quicker to prevent severe electric shock and the risk of electrical fire.  We have supplied and fitted many, many fuse boards in Wallington, Carshalton an Purley areas.

Why change your fuseboard?

• The most common reason for changing a fuse board is that the current one is at the end of its life. If your fuseboard has a wooden base, cast iron switches or looks like some of the examples below a modern 17th Edition amendment 3 consumer unit would offer a much higher level of safety.
• If you are planning a new kitchen, bathroom, loft, extension, garden office, office lighting you will to comply with BS7671 with regard to any new electrics. More often than not this means a new fuseboard.
• You may have moved into a new property and the surveyor has recommended a new consumer unit and test of the electrical installati

A fusebox, also sometimes known as a consumer unit, should be easy to find and is where the electricity in your home is controlled and distributed.

It’s important that you know where your fusebox is in case you ever need to turn the electricity off in an emergency. It contains three things – the main switch, fuses and/or circuit breakers, and Residual Current Devices.

1. Main Switch – this allows you to turn off the electricity supply to your home. You might have more than one mains switch, for example if your home has electric storage heaters. In this case you may have a separate fusebox.
2. Residual Current Devices (RCD) these are switches that trip a circuit under dangerous conditions, and instantly disconnect the electricity.
3. Circuit Breakers – these are automatic protection devices in the fusebox that switch off a circuit if they detect a fault. They are similar in size to fuses, but give more precise protection. When they ‘trip’, you can simply reset the switch. But make sure you correct the fault first.

Fuses  (may be found in place of circuit breakers) –rewirable fuses have a piece of special fuse wire running between two screws. When a fault or overload current flows through the fuse wire, it will become hot and melt. The melted fuse breaks the circuit, disconnecting the faulty circuit and keeping you safe.

If you are concerned about your fuse board and would like a free no obligation consultation on the current health of your board then please call Anthony on 020 8914 8297 or email Anthony@wandle-elec.co.uk.