Is it worth changing old fusebox to modern consumer unit

santana-mx3

Our house is a 1960s house which has an old-style Wylex fuseboard with plug-in rewireable fuses. We do not know if this was fitted when the house was built or if it has ever been changed or the house re-wired, but it has been there at least 20 years.The only thing which has changed is that the fuse which covers the sockets in the kitchen has a plug in MCB (instead of the plug in rewireable fuse) and the kitchen ring main is then run via a separate boxed RCD.

We spoke to a firm of electricians who said that if we want to change the consumer unit for a modern split unit, it would cost £200-£300 including fitting depending on the unit chosen but that there is no real need to change it unless we want to.

If we got a new consumer unit fitted by a firm of electricians, would we be opening up a can of worms?

Would the fact that the electricians are changing the consumer unit mean that they would have to ensure that everything connected to the new consumer unit is up to current regulations? Bearing in mind when the house was built, it is unlikely that much of the existing wiring would be to current regulations which must have changed a lot over the years.

Also, are we likely to find the new unit tripping randomly (obviously no-one on here can tell for sure, not having inspected or tested our installation but perhaps someone would know if this normally happens in a house of this age).

We wouldn't want to fork out for a new consumer unit only to find that we then have recommendations on the electricians' certificate for a complete re-wire or that we have to pay for a lot of tracing/fault-finding.

Thanks for your help.

p4u1_2

The main advantage of having a modern consumer unit is having the whole house protected by an RCD. The circuit breakers can be a pain, especially on the lighting circuit, as they tend to trip every time a bulb goes. They are easy enough to reset though.

Personally, assuming everything else is in order, I would leave well alone.

I stand to be corrected, but replacing the consumer unit may require you bringing all wiring upto the current spec. As I say, I stand to be corrected on this point.

weekendwarrior

There is some info on consumer units Here

P4ul is right about the mcb's tripping when a bulb blows, but that is because they are more sensitive than fuses. The whole house is not normally RCD protected, especially the lighting circuit. This is incase if someone gets an electric shock, the RCD will trip but if it is dark the last thing you want is the lights going off as well.

The price you have been quoted is cheap to be honest, I would have it done as it will be much safer, but like you say they might open a can of worms.

You can't put a price on saftey though!

Personally I would have it done, as it is better to be safe than sorry!

Coveredinbees!!!!

1960 wiring? Is it the old rubber stuff? If it is it's time for a rewire anyway before you have the fire brigabe round to rescue you from a house fire. If it's modern pvc stuff then you should be OK as long as it was wired up properly in the first place, the wiring should still be sound. Get a few electrians in for a look and get some quotes.

santana-mx3

Thanks for the replies guys. Coveredinbees - the cables are PVC. Electricians in my area aren't interested in coming round to quote for this - they will only give a general price range over the phone.

Do any electricians on here know for sure whether the existing cuircuits would have to be brought up to current regs when reconnected to the new consumer unit? If so, I definitely won't bother.

I don't want costs to snowball because I've actually sold the house. I have already been told that the existing installation is ok and safe. The only reason I am even considering replacing the consumer unit at this stage is that when I have had other electrical work done in the house, the contractors have said that there is nothing wrong with my existing unit and no need to change it but that they would have to recommend on their certificates that it be changed, simply because it is not to current standards. I asked these contractors, while they were on site, for prices for changing it but they were not the people who do pricing - they only do the work - and they also said not to bother until/unless I want to add any more circuits.

I am worried that my buyers (or their solicitors), on reading certificates which state that the consumer unit must be replaced to bring it up to current regs, might panic and fear that things are worse than they are.

Perhaps, if it became a problem, I could agree to pay for the cost of a replacement consumer unit and then it would be down to the new owner whether to actually have it fitted (and do any possible additional work) or not.