Before a Consumer Unit is replaced, an EICR is required to be carried out to confirm that the existing installation is up to a safe standard. This will highlight any problems that may occur when installing RCDs to an installation for the first time. Due to their sensitivity and the way they operate, an RCD will pick up on faults that were not detected by a consumer unit with no RCD. The EICR will also confirm that the correct size circuit protection is being used.
There are several types of consumer unit
- dual RCD unit, where there are MCBs for each circuit and two RCDs, each protecting half the installation. A fault on a circuit will trip the corresponding RCD, thus cutting the electricity to all circuits on the same RCD.
- individual RCBOs, where each circuit is protected by individual combined RCD/MCB. When a fault occurs, only the circuit with the fault on is affected.
- additional measures can be added such as AFDDs to detect fire starting arc faults.
- surge protection now comes as standard with a new consumer unit and units nowadays are all made of steel and are fire resistant to contain a fire within the unit (essential when your consumer unit is located under a wooden staircase).
A standard price is not always suited as there are many options, but we can discuss your needs and design a package to suit. Cost of a replacement consumer unit starts from £450