What Is A Consumer Unit And Why Should It Replace Your Old Fuse Box?
Do you still have an old fuse box? Well if you do then you should seriously think about getting your houses electrics up to date by installing a consumer unit.
A consumer unit is basically a modern day equivalent of a fuse box. However unlike a fuse box these units have miniature circuit breakers (MCB's) that can simply be reset every time that they trip out. Whereas with an older style fuse box, every time a fuse blows then you would have to take out the fuse and replace it with the correctly rated fused wire.
The problem with this is that you would then have to hunt around in the dark for the right fuse wire, and find some pliers to cut the wire, and a screwdriver to fit the fuse wire. In the dark this can prove very hard to do.
However with a consumer unit, whilst a blown bulb may still trip the unit out, you can easily reset it by simply pushing the switch back up, most often restoring all the power and more importantly lights.
These units can be sensitive and often a blown bulb can trip the unit, however unlike a fuse box the consumer unit MCB can be reset in just a few seconds by simply pushing the switch back up. This can even easily be done in the dark.
A consumer unit basically sits between your electricity supply and your power circuits, such as your lighting circuits and your ring main (For power sockets).
It enables each individual circuit to be turned on or off, or even for all of your power to be turned off.
It features a residual current device (RCD), which detects Earth faults, which commonly should not occur. So when they do occur, such as in the event of an electrical short due to accidently cutting through a cable, it switches off the power in just a few milliseconds, saving you from being electrocuted.
Whilst they do not guarantee you will not be electrocuted they can turn a fatal shock in to mild unpleasantness.
A lot of these units are what they call "Split load" whereby some circuits area protected by an RCD and some are not. As if the RCD protected the whole consumer unit then in the event of an electrical problem the whole unit would go out. This could leave you with no lights to see what had caused the problem.
Hopefully this brief description of a consumer unit has given you an insight as to how they work.
Next day delivery on a range of quality electrical supplies. From a new consumer unit, to wiring and accessories from Gil Lec, the award winning electrical wholesaler.
A consumer unit is basically a modern day equivalent of a fuse box. However unlike a fuse box these units have miniature circuit breakers (MCB's) that can simply be reset every time that they trip out. Whereas with an older style fuse box, every time a fuse blows then you would have to take out the fuse and replace it with the correctly rated fused wire.
The problem with this is that you would then have to hunt around in the dark for the right fuse wire, and find some pliers to cut the wire, and a screwdriver to fit the fuse wire. In the dark this can prove very hard to do.
However with a consumer unit, whilst a blown bulb may still trip the unit out, you can easily reset it by simply pushing the switch back up, most often restoring all the power and more importantly lights.
These units can be sensitive and often a blown bulb can trip the unit, however unlike a fuse box the consumer unit MCB can be reset in just a few seconds by simply pushing the switch back up. This can even easily be done in the dark.
A consumer unit basically sits between your electricity supply and your power circuits, such as your lighting circuits and your ring main (For power sockets).
It enables each individual circuit to be turned on or off, or even for all of your power to be turned off.
It features a residual current device (RCD), which detects Earth faults, which commonly should not occur. So when they do occur, such as in the event of an electrical short due to accidently cutting through a cable, it switches off the power in just a few milliseconds, saving you from being electrocuted.
Whilst they do not guarantee you will not be electrocuted they can turn a fatal shock in to mild unpleasantness.
A lot of these units are what they call "Split load" whereby some circuits area protected by an RCD and some are not. As if the RCD protected the whole consumer unit then in the event of an electrical problem the whole unit would go out. This could leave you with no lights to see what had caused the problem.
Hopefully this brief description of a consumer unit has given you an insight as to how they work.
Next day delivery on a range of quality electrical supplies. From a new consumer unit, to wiring and accessories from Gil Lec, the award winning electrical wholesaler.
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