A consumer unit is the modern, safer version of an older style fuseboard. Whilst both are responsible for the same task, distributing electricity through your Bristol home, they work in slightly different ways.
What are common signs of a faulty fuseboard?
Signs of a faulty fuseboard include, blown fuses, dimming lights, burning smells and buzzing sounds from the fuseboard. If you are noticing any of these issues, it’s important to get in contact with your local electrician swiftly to prevent the risk of electrical fire.
We were recently called out to a property in Smyth Road, Bedminster which was experiencing some issues with their fuseboard.
They were experiencing:
- Frequent blown fuses on the same circuit.
- Burning smells.
- Buzzing, hissing, or crackling from the fuseboard.
- Scorching damage around fuses.
Upon inspection we discovered that the fuseboard was an old 1980’s model, quite typical of the kind found in houses in the area. Following testing, we advised the customer that their old board needed to be replaced with a modern consumer unit.
Fuseboard or Consumer unit - Which do I have?
To tell whether you have a fuseboard or consumer unit at your Bristol home you’ll need to take a look at the unit itself.
There are a few differences between an old style fuseboard and a modern consumer unit. The main visual difference is the way in which they respond to electrical faults. Old style fuseboards have large rewireable fuses with a wire that burns through during a fault event to cuit the power. To restore the power, you’ll need to identify the correct fuse and then re-wire it. This is quite a palaver when the lights have gone out - as our customer in Smyth Road had discovered! A modern consumer unit will have a row of small switches called Miniature Circuit Breakers (MCBs) in place of fuses. Each one will be assigned to a named circuit, and the switch will simply flick off when it detects a fault. This makes for a much simpler process after a fault. You can see the affected area straight away and just pop the switch back up. Simple.
This difference in operation doesn’t just make life easier, it also keeps you and your home safer. A modern MCB reacts within milliseconds whereas an old fuse takes a few seconds to burn through. Those seconds can mean the difference between an electrical fire breaking out or a shock occurring.
How much to replace a fuseboard with a consumer unit?
The average cost of replacing a fuseboard with a modern consumer unit cost is in the region of £550 to £1000 depending on a number of factors. These include the number of circuits in your Bristol home, the kind of unit fitted, and whether further electrical upgrades such as earth bonding are required.
Our customer in Smyth Road chose a consumer unit with additional capacity for upgrades they plan on making to their home in the near future. They also required earth bonding as this was not in place. These options were included in their quote which we prepared before commencing works.
Fuseboard Upgrade in Bristol
If you are based in Bristol and are experiencing any issues with your existing fuseboard, reach out to our experienced team. We are your local, fully qualified, NICEIC registered electricians in Bristol.
Contact us at EMC Electrical Group today to arrange your fuseboard upgrade.
