Fuse Box Upgrade – You need a NICEIC registered domestic electrician
The fusebox is the engine of your electrical installation. It protects all the different circuits from overloading the wiring and causing major problems.
Your fusebox is there to help prevent fires and prevent electrocution
Old Fuse Boxes
Older fuse boxes used a piece of fuse wire between two blades that needed replacing every time there was a short circuit. Often these old wired fuses are found in electrical installations and are due for an upgrade now.
If you have a fuse box like those shown on the right you could benefit from an upgrade to a new modern consumer unit (fuse box) with circuit breakers instead of fuses and an RCD trip to disconnect the supply in the case of a fault.
If you are considering an extension to your home or additional lights and sockets, we will review the capacity of your existing fuse box to ensure it is not overloaded with the extra usage.
Example of a common accident from an old fuse box
A very common accident resulting in injury or death from electric shock is where a mower cuts through the flex while cutting the lawn. In most cases this will not cause the fuse to blow in the plug and therefore leaves the cut end of the flex live. If the user then inadvertently picks up the bare end they can receive a fatal electric shock or be badly shaken and burnt.
However, if an RCD (residual current device) is fitted, at the moment the user comes in contact with the Live end, the device senses the current flowing through the Live but not returning through the Neutral (in fact flowing through the user to Earth) and trip at 30mA therefore avoiding personal electric shock protection to the user.
Main Benefits of a New Modern Fuse box
A new modern fuse box greatly decreases the risk of fire in the house due to its ability to detect wiring faults and disconnect the electricity before any heat builds up.
RCD’s: Modern fuseboxes incorporate RCD’s (Residual Current Device), a safety device designed to protect against personal electric shock. These trip when a circuit overloads, protecting the wiring from burning out and your family from nasty electrical shocks.
Circuit Breakers: In the event of an electrical wiring fault the circuit breakers will trip whereas in the old type of fusebox there is the potential that the electricity supply would stay connected until a fire occurs. The built in circuit breakers will trip within 40 millionths of a second if you accidentally touch any live cables, this will save the life of the person touching them.
Fuseboxes can be installed with a number of options, for example…
- Dedicated fridge circuits
- Dedicated intruder alarm circuits
- Shower circuit
- External garage circuit
- Any circuit for your specific needs
We can advise you of the best options once we know your requirements. S.Trott Electrical Services only fit new Consumer Units (fusebox) that are compliant with the current 17th edition of the wiring regulations.