Electrician Info

[Rev Jules]

Going to put a new kitchen in, need to make good the wiring, have been quoted
Anything between 400 and 500 pounds for a new RCD fuseboard.

Rev

[Borg Warner]

Originally Posted by Rev Jules

Going to put a new kitchen in, need to make good the wiring, have been quoted
Anything between 400 and 500 pounds for a new RCD fuseboard.

Rev

Too expensive you believe?

[oswestryalex]

Ouch! OK you are in Surrey, but not everyone is a stockbroker... I am guessing that kind of job unless it were very involved for some reason, should not be that pricey. But then I live on the Welsh borders and we are back in about 1960-ish here...

[MikeJohn]

Not unreasonable in my view. New board means testing all circuits connected to it, and that takes time.

Local electrician did mine and found several issues on existing wiring such as Neutral to Earth fault due to a crushed cable. That was working ok, but clearly wrong. If not corrected the RCD would be tripping, but the old fuseboard was blissfully unaware.

Mike

[Nobby]

Originally Posted by Rev Jules

Going to put a new kitchen in, need to make good the wiring, have been quoted
Anything between 400 and 500 pounds for a new RCD fuseboard.

Rev

Had this done 3 years ago and that seems about right as the consumer unit and any materials to wire the kitchen will cost anywhere from £100-£150. The work will take about half a day, maybe a little longer depending how many circuits you have in the house, the results of any fault-finding on the existing circuits and any extra earth bonding needed. Once done you should be given a new NICEIC Test Safety certificate validating the electrics for 10 years before needing to be retested.

[marinabrian]

Just make sure the DB board they are quoting for is a heard of make, such as Square D, Wylex, MK etc, and not any sort of gash like Chint or other no brand rubbish avoid split load boards with one RCCD protecting as an incomer, the last thing you want when a bulb pops is to have your entire house plunged into darkness.

I don't undertake domestic work, but when wiring in factories and commercial, I use Square D, AKA Schneider.

If your DB board is very old, ie rewirable fuses to BS3036 then this won't help, but with many later fuseboards there are normally aftermarket upgrade MCB and RCCB which can give peace of mind.

Often older DB boards have a limited number of ways, and if upgrading to a newer board, perhaps give consideration to splitting some of the circuits up.

It all depends upon the electrician you use, but the money you have been quoted is not out of the way really if a full test is carried out on the rest of the installation at the same time.

HTH

Brian

[gozo ken]

Is this what you are looking for-
http://www.toolstation.com/search?se...=consumer+unit
I think all new installations have to have a metal cabinet these days.
Good idea to have it installed properly and should be safer,when installed.

[Steve42]

my main db has still got fuse wire in it lol

[neilll]

Snap his hand off, but make sure you get all certification and decent make of consumer unit as Marianabrian has said!

Neil

[Saga Lout]

Originally Posted by Rev Jules

Going to put a new kitchen in, need to make good the wiring, have been quoted
Anything between 400 and 500 pounds for a new RCD fuseboard.

Rev

As Brian has said, it needs to be done well, the wiring in the kitchen may well be under par for today's appliances and their demands. An RCD for certain items will lessen the risk of fire in an older property, most houses are still using old wiring and using extension leads to feed gadgets
If it was me and money was not the issue, I would pay to have the property re-wired completely to have peace of mind. I did mine a few years ago and I sleep better for doing it. The decoration afterwards is a hassle but it's a once only thing and, very much needed in this power demanding age.