The consumer unit is also sometimes referred to as the fusebox, fuseboard, trip switch box and so on. It is a board containing switches (or if it’s REALLY OLD then fusewire or fuses) which is installed somewhere in your home.
These boxes are vital to the safe operation of your electrical installation. You may find yours is under the stairs or in the garage, often covered in coats, shoes or last years garden furniture.
It is important that these consumer units are accessible and easy to reach. In the event of a fault you will need to be able to easily get to this to reset a circuit breaker or rewire a fuse. In the event of a serious issue, your electrician will need to be able to access this box and to have good clear working space around this in order to find the issue in your home. As an Emergency Electrician in Liverpool, it is no fun moving the contents of a garage around in the middle of the night.
The consumer unit contains all the necessary devices that will turn off the lights or sockets whenever there is a fault or a dangerous situation. It will often contain, circuit breakers, RCD’s (Electric Shock Protection), SPD (Surge protection device), AFDD (arc fault detection) and potentially other equipment.
If you consumer unit looks like the one in the picture above then please call us, it is long overdue an upgrade and a recommended electrical inspection in your home. See EICR.
With all the modern electrical equipment in our homes these days, the consumer unit needs to be modern too in order to properly protect us from electric shock, fire risk and other issues. If your consumer unit is old then you are missing vital safety features that make your home safe.
REMEMBER…… just because the electrics work does not mean that they are necessarily safe to use.
We used to drive around in cars without seat belts, airbags, crumple zones and old fashioned brakes. These vehicles would still get us from A to B but if there were to be a crash I know which vehicle I would rather be sitting in. The modern, full of safety features vehicle that protects me!
Before you spend thousands upgrading your bathrooms, kitchens and decoration…. Spare a thought for the humble little consumer unit, the electrical installation in your home and have it all checked out to see if any works should be carried out. It’s no good finding out a rewire is needed after a beautiful top of the range kitchen has gone in!
