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Consumer units
matty_hunt
Posts: 366 Forumite
Hi. I was looking at comsumer units on ebay and there seams to be some cheap offerings. eg a 12 way with 10 breakers for around £35. This is quite a bit cheaper than screwfix although none are makes I have heard of unlike, wylex, MK, crabtree, marbo.
Tthe ebay unbranded units all have passed British standards, CE etc so, is there anything in paying more for a named brand?
Electricity can kill so I dont want to penny pinch, but also, I dont want to throw money away unneccessarily.
Tthe ebay unbranded units all have passed British standards, CE etc so, is there anything in paying more for a named brand?
Electricity can kill so I dont want to penny pinch, but also, I dont want to throw money away unneccessarily.
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Comments
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Are they new or SH?
even if they have a BS mark like most other things nowadays there are counterfeit ones out there :eek:
If they are genuine but unbranded you may have problems getting replacement MCB's for them.
IMO pay a few quid more for the genuine article
BTW check the price in a wholesalers such as CEF or a local one before you buy.Dave0 -
If you are fitting it yourself then it's not a problem you can use any. But if you are getting a sparks to fit it for you then you will have problems. For this reason it is best if the spark supplies and fits the unit incase there are any problems in the future.
You call him out when it goes wrong and he says it is not his fault, but the consumer units fault and so you have to pay him to fix it etc.
I'm sure you get my drift
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Thanks guys. Some good points I had not thought about! I assume now-a-days with all the regs I could fit the unit myself anyway.0
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I run a mile when a customer buys a consumer unit, as you know it is usually a plie of tat (proteus, Chint etc). You just know there will be wrong / missing /broken bits.
What happens if the new unit doesn't work correctly? Who pays for the time to source and replace the new one and strip out the old one.
Most sparks get a discount when buying stuff, and prefer a certain (usually decent brand).
I usually fit MK as you can get spares for a considerable time. I can get spares to fit my mums MK consumer unit and it was installed in 1984.
I generally steer clear of CEF as they usually promote their own Proteus brand.
Remember the new wiring regs are now out (and will be standard from July 1st). A consumer unit below £120 will usually not comply to the new regs.
RCD protection is required for all circuits- but this can not be from a single RCD, so a split RCD board is the minimum requirement.baldly going on...0
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