Everything You Need to Know About Electrical Consumer Units
If you own or rent a building, it would be wise to get clued up consumer units. You should know where yours is and and how it works, as it’s an essential part of the electric supply in your building. Having a sound understanding of it will help you avoid electrical hazards and potentially dangerous accidents.
What Are Consumer Units?
Simply put, an electrical consumer unit, also known as a fuse box, is the primary controller and distributor of electricity supply within a building, whether that’s a commercial property, such as an office, factory or store, or someone’s home. Every electrical circuit in your building leads back to the consumer unit.
There are various different types of consumer units. Plastic units are commonly found in homes. Unfortunately, these are not considered to be as safe as metal clad, which is designed to help connections from overheating and potentially starting and spreading a fire. If a fire starts inside a plastic consumer unit, there is a great risk that it will spread.
What Components Make Up a Consumer Unit?
The mainline supply of electricity passes through your consumer unit into your property, and distributes the power throughout the building. It comprises various different components, including the main switch, the residual current devices (RCD), and circuit breakers. Each of these components serve a different purpose. However, when teamed together they work to protect the electrical current running into your building. As a result, they safeguard it against different types of hazards, like a short circuit or even a fire.
The main switch is what controls the electrical supply, and you can switch it on and off. RCDs are designed to turn off the power if they detect a fault. They are responsible for keeping you safe. Circuit breakers control the different circuits within a building, and just like RCDs they are designed to trip and turn off in the case of an overcurrent fault.
Do I Need to Upgrade My Consumer Unit?
There are lots of reasons why you might want to change the consumer unit in your building. The most common reason is that it is old. Most old units are not RCD protected, which could mean you’re at risk of serious electrical shocks. It is wise to regularly check your consumer unit and look for any warning signs that there might be a problem. There should be no exposed cables and no burning smells or crackling sounds.
At Smart Electricians, we offer professional consumer unit upgrades for outdated systems, so don’t hesitate to contact our Sheffield based team today on 0330 043 2031.
