Help with new fuse box

RichardFl

Hi

I was wondering if anyone here could help me check the pricing of a replacement fuse box. To explain my fuse box looks to be very old (the flat was built in 95) and does not have a rcd or an rcbo but instead individual fuses that you would see in a plug (which keep blowing). A sparky came in and had a look and said in 50 years he had never seen one like that. I asked him how much it would be to replace and he quoted around 400 to replace the box with a 10 line RCBO fuse box (thats inclusive of labour). Now the bit that confuses me is that if you google the fuse boxes they come to about 120 quid for an RCBO but he said they are about 30 quid for each fuse so 10 is 300 quid. I am a little confused at the pricing or as i know nothing about electrical fuseboxes is there something obvious that i am missing and is it a good price?

Thanks for all your help

vuvuzela

Which area of the country are you in ? As it could be an excellent price for one area but expensive for another...

spiro

Screwfix will charge you about £80 including curcuit breakers (http://www.screwfix.com/p/wylex-10-way-high-integrity-consumer-unit-10-mcbs/66470) may be a little more depending on model. That means he is charging about £250+VAT (£300) for labour and any other materials etc. Depending on what other work he has to do and were you live this may be a little expensive but not necessarily excessive.

RichardFl

I live in central london so probably the most expensive area.

Spiro: I was looking at the same page but the one with RCBO cost about 140, but it was more if i was overlooking something obvious like i need more than one RCBO.

jalexa

RichardFl wrote: »

I was wondering if anyone here could help me check the pricing of a replacement fuse box.

The price you pay will be the price of the quote you accept, so get 2 more quotes and then compare not just price but the detail.

Strictly speaking a "like for like" replacement would suffice but I would strongly recommend you get an installation compliant with the current IEE Wiring Regulations. There is much more use of RCDs, not just for sockets but for all circuits in a room containing a shower or a bath.

Also you mention "fuses blowing". There will be reason for that which needs to be addressed. A new Consumer Unit won't necessarily solve that, so you also need to get your wiring tested. Ask for a Periodic Inspection Report. In fact I would do that first. MCB trips are convenient and RCDs enhance safety, but 1995 vintage fuses ought to be "satisfactory" if your wiring is in satisfactory condition.

foreversummer

I've just paid £350 + VAT for a new dual RCD 15 way consumer unit including the testing and the certificates. It was a full days work for one electrician and his apprentice.

I was told that if any electrical problems were detected this would be at extra cost if anything showed up. These new boxes are more sensitive that the old ones, but it sounds if you are already aware of a problem, so you need to budget for extra work.

Just to say, definitely get quotes. I had three - the most expensive was £690 and the other one was £450 all including VAT.

RichardFl

thanks for the replys

Jalexa, unfortunatly the 95 fuse box was something that the sparky had never seen before and the handyman in our block said that they wanted to get residents to replace them as soon as (they seem to be really prone to tripping).

I will ask for a Periodic Inspection Report as well so thank you.