fuse box RCD protection

Relentless81

Relentless81

Relentless81

Soldato
Joined
18 May 2010
Posts
12,832
Hi

I would appreciate some advice from anyone in the know please. We have a baby in the house now and I want to try and make the house as safe as possible.

My electrician says my fuse box doesn't have RCD protection, to achieve RCD protection which apparently prevents electric shock he gave 3 scenarios all of which have the same end result

1 - replace fuse box, can't do this because of box location will be too expensive

2 - replace individual fuse box switches with RCBO I think he said

3 - replace the master switch on the box only with RCBO

Apparently all 3 achieve the same result, if that's the case why would anyone do anything other than the cheapest option?

Also, is there any other benefits to this work or is it just to prevent electric shock? I'm confused as to why the standard switches don't do that I thought that's what they were there for!


Thanks
 
If you went with option 3 then a fault on any of the circuits will cause it to trip and cut all power to the house. A right pain if the fault happens at night and your lighting circuit is off.

My preference would be 1 then 2 then 3. We had a new comsumer unit installed a few months ago but the location was asy and we were having building work done anyway so it was an easy job and costs were minimal.
 
That's not what I'm saying. I said if I were in your situation then my first preference would be option 1. If that's not possible then I'd go for option 2 and it that's not possible I'd go for option 3
 
He means his first choice would be option 1, if option 1 isnt feasible then go for option 2 and then as a last resort go with option 3.

Edit - too slow.
 
Sorry it's obvious now, I'm not feeling to well so miss read.

Thanks for the help, option two it is. Just been reading up in RCBO, loads of different types so I'll have to rely on the electrician to fit the right ones

Would you happen to know how much option two would cost in a typical home setup?

Thanks
 
RCBOs start at about £20 each, so it depends on how many you want to swap and the make of your consumer unit.

Then the electrician will need a bit of time to swap the breakers (doesn't take long) and test the circuits so he can issue a certificate for them.
 
If you are thinking just of little fingers poking into plug sockets, buying a load of socket covers could be the cheapest option. Plenty around if you google them.
 
john_s said:
RCBOs start at about £20 each, so it depends on how many you want to swap and the make of your consumer unit.

Then the electrician will need a bit of time to swap the breakers (doesn't take long) and test the circuits so he can issue a certificate for them.
Click to expand...

Thanks, I'll weigh it up against his incoming quote

peterwalkley said:
If you are thinking just of little fingers poking into plug sockets, buying a load of socket covers could be the cheapest option. Plenty around if you google them.
Click to expand...

Its not just that, its peace of mind more than anything, last owner was a DIY king, some stuff is good, some not so good and with the electrics this is the best way I can think of to protect my family against any potential dodgy work

Unless you can suggest something that wont cost the earth? Or am I over thinking it all, maybe most houses dont have RCD protection as its not necessary and I'm just throwing money at a problem that doesn't exist?
 
the-evaluator said:
Those things are at best, unnecessary and at worst a danger -> http://www.fatallyflawed.org.uk/
Click to expand...

Yeah - I saw that. Looks like massive scaremongering. The ones we bought don't pop out and I have enough difficultly getting them out, no way is an infant going to be able to do it.

In hindsight we needn't have bothered, neither of my girls showed any inclination to fiddle with plug sockets.
 
Whats the exact issue preventing option 1? an entirely new consumer unit?

Option 2 would be next best but looking at 20-35 per rcbo, 1 per circuit and just as much testing and paperwork as option 1 - would think this would be more expensive than a new dual rcd consumer unit option as in 1, wouldn't be much cheaper than new all rcbo option 1

Option 3 is worst option and doesn't comply with regulations but would increase safety at the cost of inconvenience loosing all power if it trips and making trips more likely with all circuits going through 1 rcd and harder to diagnose nuisance trips.

Option 2 & 3 reusing the existing consumer unit will most likely be plastic, new cu would be metal as per latest regs to help contain fire.

This new cu will probably be in place for 20+ years so no need to save a few £££ at the expense of long term issues
 
If I could do Option 1 I would but picture an access hole in some plaster board and the CU mounted on a board behind that, the CU can come out of this access hole (maybe just about) but to get to everything else and install a new larger CU the plaster board will need to come out and be replaced

I'm staying here for 5ish years so want to make good what I can without going over board

I'm going with option 2, might not even be able to afford it to be honest and most people wouldnt even bother looking into it but with it being an old house and what looks like a lot of wiring done over the years it would give me peace of mind knowing that the circuits were protected without causing massive amounts of work and cost changing the CU
 
peterwalkley said:
Yeah - I saw that. Looks like massive scaremongering. The ones we bought don't pop out and I have enough difficultly getting them out, no way is an infant going to be able to do it.

In hindsight we needn't have bothered, neither of my girls showed any inclination to fiddle with plug sockets.
Click to expand...

It isn't scaremongering at all, not one bit.

British socket outlets (to the required standard) are the safest type of domestic outlet in the world. Why would you circumvent that by fitting something that isn't to ANY set standard that circumvents the inbuilt safety shutter? Clever (and potentially dangerous) marketing hype is all they are.
 
Relentless81 said:
If I could do Option 1 I would but picture an access hole in some plaster board and the CU mounted on a board behind that, the CU can come out of this access hole (maybe just about) but to get to everything else and install a new larger CU the plaster board will need to come out and be replaced

I'm staying here for 5ish years so want to make good what I can without going over board

I'm going with option 2, might not even be able to afford it to be honest and most people wouldnt even bother looking into it but with it being an old house and what looks like a lot of wiring done over the years it would give me peace of mind knowing that the circuits were protected without causing massive amounts of work and cost changing the CU
Click to expand...

Can you post any photos. If the access hole is that small then I'm thinking it would fail the certification side of things due to inadequate access. If money wasn't an object then a NEW fuseboard populated with RCBO's is the way to go. As this would give the benefits of fuseboard that meets current regulations with dedicated RCBO protection for each circuit.

Depending on manufacturer of the RCBOs they could be anywhere from £20 to near on £80 each
 
I've had two electricians look at it access is fine, money is an object. A lot of people wouldn't even bother but I will be looking at fitting rcbo on each circuit

Newer cu's are bigger which is where the problem comes in
 
Relentless81 said:
Newer cu's are bigger which is where the problem comes in
Click to expand...

I assume therefore we are talking about a dual RCD unit, they will indeed be a bit wider to accomodate the RCDs. Its important to understand that dual rcd units are a compromise, where as with option 3 you have everything on a single RCD, with a dual rcd board, you have two RCDs with half the installation on each, which is better, but not by that much!

RCBOs are the best solution, however I hope your sparky isn't planning on mix and matching brands.... they are not universal, only wylex rcbos to be used in wylex boards, hager in hager boards etc. Though I do know of one supplier that makes up a new internal assembly for boards, so the entire internals can be swopped within the existing enclosure.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom