Consumer Unit Upgrades

• It will have a main switch which turns off all electrical supply to your home should you need to isolate all of your circuits at once. 
• There are also fuses or circuit breakers which control individual circuits for your home. For example, the lights in your home or the cooker supply 
• A Residual Current Device (RCD). This is a safety mechanism which monitors the electricity flowing through the circuits. When it detects a fault, the RCD will automatically isolate the circuit and prevent injury or fire due to a fault on the wiring. 

1)    For electrical safety. Electricians will tell you that having a RCD is           essential and is not usually present in older fuse boxes. It is a potential life saver as it can detect small leakage currents in the range 5-30mA and can disconnect the supply in less than 300ms which may prevent electrocution and injury. If your fuse box is more than 25 years old it may not have a RCD.

2)    If your lights are flickering or your sockets are unresponsive, this could be a sign that your fuse box is deteriorating and may need upgrading. 

3)    If the fuse board has asbestos flash guards. Asbestos fibres are now known to be very harmful if breathed in. Asbestos was used on old fuse boards and would need replacing for new metal type instead. 

4)    If your fuse board is more than 10 years old the fuses may have deteriorated so it is best to get it checked by a qualified electrician