ive got on old fuse box (prento) with general service fuses (4 iirc) and then a water fuse and switch and a underfloor heating fuse and switch both apart from the main fuses.

they are the older type wire ones , ive been looking for replacement clip in mcb fuses but they dont seem avail for my type of fuse box.

anyone know if you can you get the mcb fuses to fit other boxes other than the wylex units?

other than that how hard is it to fit a new consumer unit ?

Would you be allowed to do this work yourself?

why whos gonna tell on me ?

Completion certificate once you come to sell?

Lack of insuirance cover if anything goes wrong?

We put a couple of mcb adaptors into an older CU but from memory it’s a wylex. Since you’ve only got four circuits plus a couple of extras strapped on it wouldn’t be a big job to switch it all over to a new RCD/MCB consumer unit. The hardware would be about £100 and can’t imagine it being much more than £300 all in to have it done. If you do fit new then the regs now require a dual RCD consumer unit.

The first problem with doing that yourself (apart from all the partP guff) is you need to pop the service fuse to isolate the supply to the CU and that’s leccy board sealed. The second issue is that without a good understanding of the earthing system to your home you may fit the wrong type of consumer unit which could be dangerous.

tbh im not planning on moving in the next 15-20 years and by that time id have lost the certificate anyway and if owt did go wrong the insurance dont know what the fuse box in the house was when i bought it so im not worried about that really

ah yes the service fuse . i got in trouble for popping that last time i had a problem with my floor heating lol 😉

You want Salad dodger on here, hes a sparky!

cheers i’ll see if he replies at all 😉

Digimap has got it spot on. If you do it yourself and you have got the wrong consumer unit for your earthing system (tns, tnc, tncs or tt?) you could impair the earthing system which is what protects you and your family from getting hurt.
To be honest it should be a no brainer to have the experts in unless you have a fairly good knowledge. I done my quals sometime ok and not done it since and I would be a bit cautious doing it myself.

yeah prob right fellas i might hang fire for now as its still working as is and wait til i get a rewire next year 🙂

Has your car got Air bags, anti lock brakes, side inpact bars etc etc for your safty and a mot certificate? I bet the answer is yes
yet we spend how much time in our cars compared to out houses

It would be prudent to get someone to test your house do not forget electricity can KILL the problem is because your lights go on and off everyone thinks that the house is safe but I bet the instalation is over 20 years old and has been DIYed no end in that time 🙄

I would at least get the consumer unit replaced to the latest double rcd spec (I have)this is part P reportable and the house would have to be tested on completion

Part P info

If you want to change the Circuit breakers that is not an issue (you are not affecting the wiring) it is no differant to changing the fuse as long as it is the right size

But if your board is that old to use rewireable fuses it does make me wonder about the state of your wiring

Please do not think that I am scaremongering but with what I have seen in the past ( the worst job ever I cried, enough said )I would much rather see people not harmed for the sake of a few quid

yeah your right mate i know the wiring must be as old as the box so it needs doing. I’ll have to wait til next year tho now im afraid. Whats the average 3 bed house rewire cost or is it a how longs a bit of string question 🙂

Cost of an average re-wire…best guess would be around 3K, give or take.
The problem with just replacing the consumer unit on an older installation it has potential for opening a large can of worms and could bring to light a lot of latent defects which have previously gone undiscovered.

You may not have any bonding to your gas and water services, in which case this would need to be installed as it is a requirement to ensure all earthing arrangements are adequate.

You may not have a protective conductor(earth) on your lighting circuits, the earth on your socket circuits may not be large enough i.e. it may only be 1.0mm etc etc.

I hear frequently about these new 17th consumer units, there is no such thing, they are simply dual RCD consumer units and are being marketed to comply with the 17th edition regs. To ensure full compliance with the regs each circuit should have a dedicated RCBO, this is the only way to ensure discretion, but at around £30 each I guess it will be along time before electricians are installing a board full of these.

My next door neighbours old re-wire able con unit is located directly below the sink and sited underneath a lot of exposed pipe work, washing machine connections, valves etc. they once had a plumber round to do some work and he refused due to the position of the con unit, I had a look at it(pretty much the same as my old one) and offered to install a new one and move it (easier said than done!) do all the bonding and some other work that needed to be done to make things safer, like the shower circuit which is unsafe!! They said they would leave it for a while as they wanted to spend the cash on the garden!!! ffs.

andy – you working freelance at the moment? how far do you travel. got some work at my place that needs doing…

i was thinking it would be around three grand and agree with the whole can of worms thing. I was initially just looking at the fuses changing as a bit of a safety measure but cant do it anyway. Its gotta wait til weddings paid for tho im afraid. Know any decent electricians in leeds 🙂

I take payment in shiny shiny bike parts, ok i’m in Sheffield so maybe thats not very useful.

Get WCA to do it; he knows leccy and stuff…