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consumer units and distribution |
| All electrical pages are for information only! New rules have been introduced for electrical safety in the home, please read this document by clicking here, before starting any electrical work |
Before working on any electrical circuit isolate the supply by switching off the main switch and remove the fuse to the circuit that you are working on, If it is a circuit breaker switch off the main fuse and circuit breaker and remove the wires from the top of the circuit breaker. Place a sign saying that you are working on the circuits on the consumer unit, then nobody will restore the power whilst you are working on it.
If you are not 100% certain what you are doing call a qualified electrician. Building regulations are changing all the time and modifying your home electrics could be against new rules and could invalidate your home insurance, if in doubt check first!
Before electricity is distributed around the home it needs to be protected either by a fuse or a circuit breaker, this is normally done at the consumer unit, although individual appliances will also be fused at point of connection to the mains supply!Whether you have a consumer unit which accepts fuses or Circuit breakers it will look something like this-
Here you can see the Large Red and Black cables (meter tails) entering the unit, these are fed from the meter. The large isolator switch on the right isolates the electricity from the Fuses or Circuit breakers. Care must be taken if removing the cover of the consumer unit as there are still live parts inside even after the switch is OFF. The circuit using the most ampage should be closest to the main switch and each circuit should then fall in descending order. The grey wires at the top of the unit are for the relevant circuits such as Lighting or Sockets. You may still have an old type consumer unit which contains fuses, although there is nothing wrong with fused consumer units it is a good idea to have it replaced with a split way consumer unit as soon as possible. Today's circuit breakers are slightly more sensitive than fuses and disconnect the current a lot faster, with the addition of a RCCB your home and the people living in it will be a lot safer!
The picture above shows a modern consumer unit with 8 Miniature circuit breakers. The large red switch on the right is the Main switch and is normally rated at 100 Amps
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The above consumer unit is a split way, on the right is the double pole main switch then 5 Miniature circuit breakers which are not protected by the RCCB- these are normally the lighting circuits. In the middle and on the far left are blanking plates. In between the blanking plates are the RCCB and the Miniature circuit breakers for the sockets and shower etc.
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