Name: Consumer Units
Brand: Sol-Lux Electrical
Price: 150 GBP
Availability: InStock

A consumer unit and a fuse board serve the exact same purpose (a means of origin for the electrical cabling to be protected and isolated via selected devices (MCB’s,RCBO’s & fuses) within your building). A fuse board is the older term as the board would house ‘fuses’ to protect the cabling. Fortunately, technology has improved over the years and that is why you will tend to see MCB’s (mini circuit breakers) or RCBO’s (residual current devices) installed within your building. Commercial properties also in some cases have large plant rooms with various panels, risers with busbar systems and large switchgear which all needs to be tested. All of these systems combined are at the heart of your electrical installation, which is why we at Sol-Lux Electrical believe and understand that they should be kept ‘healthy’ and in check with current regulations.

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Your Consumer Unit…

Is my consumer unit old and does it comply with current regulations? Is it time to replace it with a more modern, safer model? How long will it take to replace? And how much will it cost?

Read on below and you will find out the answers to the following questions and find out if it is time to replace your consumer unit. If you’re still not sure, use our free electrical advice service and we can assist you from the comfort of your own home.

Is my Consumer Unit old and outdated?

If you have a setup of a consumer unit/ fuse board (that looks similar to the image to the left) it doesn’t necessarily mean that your fuse board needs to be replaced. However, we would advise that it should be upgraded to a modern model. Generally this would be because of the following factors:

Occasionally fuses or MCBs break and need to be replaced (old type devices are hard to come by and often are expensive)
Older boards tend to have fewer circuits and usually don’t have any spare ways for additional circuits.

You might want to update it and use different forms of electrical technology

What is a MCB and RCD protection and how will it effect my installation?

An MCB is an electrical safety device designed to protect an electrical circuit from damage caused by an overcurrent or short circuit.

An RCD is an electrical safety device that quickly breaks an electrical circuit with leakage current to ground. It is to protect equipment and to reduce the risk of serious harm from an ongoing electric shock

The best of both (RCBO)

An RCBO is a residual current circuit breaker with overcurrent protection. It monitors electrical circuits to keep them running safely, disconnecting the circuit if it’s unbalanced. These devices are commonly used where there is a need to combine protection against overload, short circuit and earth leakage currents.

My Consumer Unit is Plastic, is this a problem?

Since regulations changed in 2016, all domestic consumer units installed within a property must be either enclosed in a non-combustible material or housed in a cabinet made from a non-combustible material. Consumer units installed before 2016 don’t need to be replaced. However we advise to do so as a metal clad consumer unit is considerably safer when it comes to risk and spread of fire.

Our Consumer Unit Change Process

Change your board the Sol-Lux way with our 4-step upgrade system

Enquire & Inform

The first step to getting a consumer unit upgrade with Sol-Lux Electrical is to get in contact with our office, either via the form below, email, Whatsapp or telephone. It would also be beneficial if you could take some pictures of your current fuse board/consumer unit as we can then advise you on what to expect.

Assess and Report

In almost every case an EICR will need to be carried out by one of our experienced electricians. This will let us know if there are any hidden faults or non-compliance. There is more information on this on our electrical inspection page. Following your report any non-compliance will need to be rectified. To achieve a satisfactory report, we will compose all of the findings along with images of each non-compliance. This will then be presented to you alongside a quotation for all of the works involved to bring your installation up to standard.

Repair & Replace

Once the date has been arranged and materials are delivered one of our experienced electricians will carry out the upgrade and (if any) remedial work. They will inform you of any inconvenience the works may cause you (loss of power and internet) and advise you on how long those services will be off for. They will also work tidily, efficiently and make sure the workmanship meets the Sol-Lux standard. Upon leaving, the board will be fully labelled and the work areas tidied and left how they were found.

Certify & Notify

Before our professional electrician re-energizes your property, it is important that certain tests are carried out. This is to ensure all terminations are sound and all mechanical parts within the board are in working order. They will also need to carry out a few minor tests once the power is back on, don’t worry this is already allowed for in the quotation. Upon completion of the test it will be issued to our office staff to be presented to you alongside your part P notification to building control certificate.