The electrical system in our homes is one of the least maintained areas of the property all things considered. We regularly replace carpets, wall paper, plastering, kitchens and bathrooms and seldom give much thought to the electrics behind the walls and floors.
The main component responsible for safety in our homes is the CONSUMER UNIT or FUSE BOX.
This small rectangular box is responsible for carrying out many different activities that we take for granted such as:
- Electric Shock Prevention and Protection
- Electrical Overload Protection
- Surge Protection
- Fire Protection
- Splitting the mains supply into usable ‘circuits’
Electric Shock Prevention and Protection
Inside the modern consumer unit, there are devices that monitor electrical current flow around our homes. These devices are designed to trip when there is ‘missing’ electrical current.
The assumption is that somebody is having a shock and the missing current is flowing through a human body. The electric shock prevention devices will detect this and turn off the power supply to save lives.
If your consumer unit or fuse box is old then you may not have ANY or adequate electric shock protection in place to protect you or your loved ones.
Electrical Overload Protection
When too many appliances are used at the same time, there is a danger that the electrical cables will overheat and catch fire. The fuse box / consumer unit should be correctly designed and installed by a professional electrician to prevent this situation from occurring.
When a fuse box or consumer unit is installed by a professional, they will carry out calculations and check to ensure that your wiring will NOT overheat should too many appliances be used. The consumer unit should disconnect the power when too many appliances are used.
Surge Protection
Electrical surges are often though of as lightning strikes when, in reality, electrical surges can happen far more frequently. Smaller surges may not even be noticed whilst larger surges may result in brightening lights.
The problem with electrical surges is that electronic equipment is particularly sensitive to the effects of these surges. Circuit boards on modern home appliances will wear out more quickly resulting in failure of TVs, fridges, computers, and other expensive equipment without the use of surge protection.
Modern consumer units installed by Definitive Electrical solutions, have built in surge protection for the whole electrical system. This ensures that your equipment, cables, and appliances are safely protected from surges in the supply.
Fire Protection
The modern consumer unit is now available (at additional cost) with electrical arcing protection. Electrical arcing is a dangerous situation where high temperatures are created leading to electrical fires.
Arc Fault Detection Devices (AFDD) are designed to detect such dangerous situations and shut off the supply when these occur.
Other devices in the modern consumer unit will also go some way to adding fire protection in the electrical system. Get in touch with us today for more information.
Splitting the Mains supply
Without a high quality, properly designed and installed consumer unit, the mains supply would not be safely split. The consumer unit is the point where the thick mains cable is split into smaller cables to enable efficient power delivery around the home to lights and plug sockets.
The consumer unit needs to be installed by a suitably qualified and experienced electrician to ensure that cables will not overheat, electric shocks will not occur and risk of overload and fire is vastly reduced.
At definitive electrical solutions, we are consumer unit experts and able to carry out the safe installation, testing and certification of a new consumer unit for you. If you are seeing signs of needing a new consumer unit then get in touch as soon as possible!