Old wiring - replacing consumer unit

fenwick458

_Sam_ said:

£200 extra for replacing the main consumer unit & testing the house. The price looks reasonable but at the same time as you say the existing unit looks in good condition to me, only some of the wiring is old but nothing to be done about it until the re-wire...

thats way too cheap anyway, should be about £500 I think. the materials would be just under £200!

Risteard

fenwick458 said:

if the EV installer hasn't got that option, then he has to install another consumer unit, which takes a bit longer, and you need a whole new consumer unit, lets say 2 hours labour and £60 materials

You'd be doing well to get that for £60. Assuming that the EVSE has PEN fault protection and disconnection, and load curtailment, and also DC leakage protection then you would more realistically be looking at around about £135 for a small DB with a double pole Type A RCBO and Type 2 SPD (excluding tails; ISCOs; tails gland etc.)

_Sam_

fenwick458 said:

thats way too cheap anyway, should be about £500 I think. the materials would be just under £200!

It's not the full cost though, only the difference between installing a separate unit for the charger and the main consumer unit. 

fenwick458

Risteard said:

fenwick458 said:

if the EV installer hasn't got that option, then he has to install another consumer unit, which takes a bit longer, and you need a whole new consumer unit, lets say 2 hours labour and £60 materials

You'd be doing well to get that for £60. Assuming that the EVSE has PEN fault protection and disconnection, and load curtailment, and also DC leakage protection then you would more realistically be looking at around about £135 for a small DB with a double pole Type A RCBO and Type 2 SPD (excluding tails; ISCOs; tails gland etc.)

unbelievably cheap here https://www.electrical4less.co.uk/product/ev-consumer-unit-with-a-type-dp-c40-rcbo-and-spd/

_Sam_ said:

fenwick458 said:

thats way too cheap anyway, should be about £500 I think. the materials would be just under £200!

It's not the full cost though, only the difference between installing a separate unit for the charger and the main consumer unit. 

The consumer unit job should be in the £500 region alone. takes a full day, and the materials (10 way Fusebox unit with SPD and 8 RCBO's with new meter tails) are £180 at trade rates, surely an electrician isn't going to is work for a full day then produce certificates and notify the work for £20 without making any markup on the gear?

Risteard

fenwick458 said:

Risteard said:

fenwick458 said:

if the EV installer hasn't got that option, then he has to install another consumer unit, which takes a bit longer, and you need a whole new consumer unit, lets say 2 hours labour and £60 materials

You'd be doing well to get that for £60. Assuming that the EVSE has PEN fault protection and disconnection, and load curtailment, and also DC leakage protection then you would more realistically be looking at around about £135 for a small DB with a double pole Type A RCBO and Type 2 SPD (excluding tails; ISCOs; tails gland etc.)

unbelievably cheap here https://www.electrical4less.co.uk/product/ev-consumer-unit-with-a-type-dp-c40-rcbo-and-spd/

_Sam_ said:

fenwick458 said:

thats way too cheap anyway, should be about £500 I think. the materials would be just under £200!

It's not the full cost though, only the difference between installing a separate unit for the charger and the main consumer unit. 

The consumer unit job should be in the £500 region alone. takes a full day, and the materials (10 way Fusebox unit with SPD and 8 RCBO's with new meter tails) are £180 at trade rates, surely an electrician isn't going to is work for a full day then produce certificates and notify the work for £20 without making any markup on the gear?

Strangely i don't use brands I've never heard of.

Ectophile

Most or all of the wiring in that photo is PVC insulated, which means it's not 1950's. That's good. Older wiring would probably have been rubber insulated and overdue for replacement.

_Sam_

Ectophile said:

Most or all of the wiring in that photo is PVC insulated, which means it's not 1950's. That's good. Older wiring would probably have been rubber insulated and overdue for replacement.

It does seem to have some newer wires and the kitchen was updated by the looks of it some 10-12 years ago with modern sockets (some have USB slots in them) so perhaps they've also updated the wiring there. But in the rooms (sitting, bedrooms and dining) the sockets are positively ancient looking which made me think they are probably original from 1950s. I thought possibly the red colour wire that you can see in the photo could be the old one - will ask the electrician when they come to install the charger!

Ectophile

_Sam_ said:

Ectophile said:

Most or all of the wiring in that photo is PVC insulated, which means it's not 1950's. That's good. Older wiring would probably have been rubber insulated and overdue for replacement.

It does seem to have some newer wires and the kitchen was updated by the looks of it some 10-12 years ago with modern sockets (some have USB slots in them) so perhaps they've also updated the wiring there. But in the rooms (sitting, bedrooms and dining) the sockets are positively ancient looking which made me think they are probably original from 1950s. I thought possibly the red colour wire that you can see in the photo could be the old one - will ask the electrician when they come to install the charger!

I must admit that the red wire doesn't look like anything I recognise.  Very odd.  I do hope it's not a single-insulated live wire.