As your local ELECTRICIAN IN AYLESBURY we understand that not everyone speaks electrical jargon so we have written this article to explain all about fuseboards.
Fusebox upgrade electrician in Aylesbury
What is a Fusebox?
A fuse box, fuse board, consumer unit or trip switch box are all similar things and they perform similar operations. A fuse box generally refers to older electrical boxes and consumer unit tends to mean more modern units.
The purpose of the modern consumer unit is to:
- Divide the mains electrics into circuits
- Provide electric shock protection
- Protect against overload
- Prevent surges in the power
- Offer some protection against electrical fires
What is the difference between a Fusebox and a consumer unit?
A fuse box either contains fuse wire as a form of protection for the electrical circuits or actual fuses. These boxes are no longer installed in domestic premises and instead, a consumer unit is used to provide the required protection.
A consumer unit is a modern looking rectangular box that contains various trip switches. Each of these switches will control a different part of the electrical system and have different responsibilities.
What are the benefits of upgrading?
A consumer unit offers far more protection for the occupants of a property and to the wiring system than an old fuse box. The old technology typically only offered short circuit protection and overload protection to cabling without any additional features.
Consumer Unit
- Electric shock protection devices (RCDs)
- Surge Protection
- Overload Protection
- Short Circuit Protection
- Arc Fault Protection possible
- Improved protection against electrical fires
- Earth Fault Protection
Fuse Box
- Short Circuit Protection
- Overload Protection
Can a consumer unit be installed onto old electrics?
Modern consumer units contain the very latest in technology that will detect the most minor of electrical faults. Whilst the technology is fantastic and should be considered for every property it can cause some issues where wiring is very old and has only been protected by a fuse box in the past.
Fuse boxes did not detect that range of issues that a new consumer unit will and as such, there could be several electrical faults within the wiring system that will cause a new unit to trip or mean that electrical circuits cannot be safely reconnected.
Whilst a consumer unit is far safer for electrical installations it may not always be possible to have one installed onto older wiring where a fuse box was in place beforehand.
Pre-Checks and EICR
In order to minimise any issues that may occur when swapping or upgrading a fuse box, it is best practice to have a full and thorough electrical inspection carried out before installing the new consumer unit. The electrical inspection will highlight any dangers, potential dangers or electrical issues that need addressing before the modern consumer unit can be installed, tested, and certified.
You will receive a full report outlining any issues that the inspector has found and what can be done to rectify them.
If you would like to know more about upgrading your fuse box to a consumer unit or need an ELECTRICIAN IN AYLESBURY for any other works then don’t hesitate to get in touch with us today.
