electrical fusebox at home

sc0ttie

This is the fusebox in my flat


The fuse on the left, the black one, says 15 amps on it. This seems to control the electrical plug sockets in the flat. Because my rent includes the the cost of electricity used, i have bought a 2000w heater for my bedroom, as I cannot afford to heat the flat with the gas central heating installed.
If for instance i have my heater on in the bedroom in the evening and my tv on plus the washing machine. If i go to make a cup of tea the fuse flips the sockets and everything goes off. It is a bit annoying really. I replaced the kettle to make sure it wasn't faulty but it still happens. unless I turn the heater off or the washing machine when making tea.
Is it possible to replace the fuse wire to a higher amp and would that help stop the circuits getting flipped? If not, is there any other cheap way, other than turning appliances off, to stop it from happening ?

SailorSam

Don't replace the fuse for a bigger one, it's job is to blow once the system has got to much power going through it.
If you replaced the fuse so it never blew it wouldn't stop all your cables from overheating, and they could go on fire .

warehouse

Turn the heater off for 5 minutes while the kettle boils. That's all you can do.

espresso

You have created this situation by using your own 2kW electric heater.

Do you really think that your landlord will continue to include electricity in your rent, if you use electric heating, which costs at least three times as much, rather than using gas which you say that you can't afford!

sc0ttie

Ok thanks I will turn the heater off. I asked because i never had this issue before I moved here so wasn't sure if it was something that could be rectified because the fusebox and the rest of the wiring looks so old.

sc0ttie

espresso wrote: »

You have created this situation by using your own 2kW electric heater.

Do you really think that your landlord will continue to include electricity in your rent, if you use electric heating, which costs at least three times as much, rather than using gas which you say that you can't afford!

Hi, not sure if it just me or if your tone here is a bit rude tbh. That is correct I cannot afford to heat my place each night with the gas boiler as I live alone and am on a low income and the gas useage for that amounts to 30-40 pounds a month, which I do not have. I don't use the heater on full, it is usually on the low setting.

Waldir

I'd just like to reiterate on what SailorSam said:
The fuses are protecting the wires from starting a fire, don't "upgrade" them!

15A is about 3.6kW, so you can just make sure that the total power of the switched-on devices doesn't exceed that... (or ask your landlord to upgrade his electrical installation, but I doubt this will happen)

Horizon81

Waldir wrote: »

I'd just like to reiterate on what SailorSam said:
The fuses are protecting the wires from starting a fire, don't "upgrade" them!

15A is about 3.6kW, so you can just make sure that the total power of the switched-on devices doesn't exceed that... (or ask your landlord to upgrade his electrical installation, but I doubt this will happen)

It's normal to have 15A fuse on a socket ring isn't it? I'm only asking as I'm sure loads of people use a 2kW kettle and a 2kW heater at the same time on a 15A fused circuit with no probs.

bondy01

You could try one of the low wattage kettles such as used in caravans. They only take 800 watts as opposed to the 3kw of a normal kettle. It would be plenty big enough for just one person.

jc808

15a on a socket ring?

not sure thats correct....

DTDfanBoy

jc808 wrote: »

15a on a socket ring?

not sure thats correct....

However 15a on a radial is perfectly normal