A new Dual RCD 10 way consumer unit with surge protector

dil1976

GDB2222 said:

A suitable new CU can be bought for £110. If the wiring is okay, a straight swap is less than an afternoon’s work, so I suggest mum gets another couple of quotes. 

The quote she has may be reasonable if there’s a lot of other stuff involved, but it is expensive for just swapping the CU. 

The price quoted isn't unreasonable at all. To say you can buy the product and for £110 and swap it in a couple of hours is dangerous advice. There is far more work involved swapping a distribution board than just what you have described.

dil1976

dnees said:

mi-key said:

GDB2222 said:

dnees said:

Hi Everyone is there any financial help from Gov for having to get a new Dual RCD 10 way consumer unit with surge protector? It's for my mum who is 85  in August, Thanks for help.

How much is mum being quoted for this work?  And, can we have a photo of the old CU?

I think we are both thinking the same scenario here...

Hi everyone, sorry if my reply is in the wrong place here!
We just had a safety fire check done by the fire brigade and they said mum needs a new DUEL RCD, so we just got a quote of £743, includes a surge protector and certificate and register with building regulations. Her RCD she has now is about 56 years old. Mum said she thought she may be eligible for help to pay for a new one, I've not heard of this before so I thought here is a good place to ask! 

The fire brigade will always give such advice. The only real way you will know if any of the electrics are dangerous or unsuitable for continued use is too get a electrician to carry out a Electrical Installation Condition Report or EICR for short which will highlight any issues

ChasingtheWelshdream

Not to do with funding but might be if interest.

We are having a new consumer unit installed soon (unsure of the specs but thhe existing one has no RDC). It is costing approx £800 and the electrician expects to be here for several hours fault finding the rest of the electrics (we know there are some issues) I asked on here if that sounded a fair price as we wanted to use the guy, and the answer was yes.

GDB2222

dil1976 said:

GDB2222 said:

A suitable new CU can be bought for £110. If the wiring is okay, a straight swap is less than an afternoon’s work, so I suggest mum gets another couple of quotes. 

The quote she has may be reasonable if there’s a lot of other stuff involved, but it is expensive for just swapping the CU. 

The price quoted isn't unreasonable at all. To say you can buy the product and for £110 and swap it in a couple of hours is dangerous advice. There is far more work involved swapping a distribution board than just what you have described.

Dangerous to get another couple of quotes? Some exaggeration there, surely?

dil1976

GDB2222 said:

dil1976 said:

GDB2222 said:

A suitable new CU can be bought for £110. If the wiring is okay, a straight swap is less than an afternoon’s work, so I suggest mum gets another couple of quotes. 

The quote she has may be reasonable if there’s a lot of other stuff involved, but it is expensive for just swapping the CU. 

The price quoted isn't unreasonable at all. To say you can buy the product and for £110 and swap it in a couple of hours is dangerous advice. There is far more work involved swapping a distribution board than just what you have described.

I have seen it done in a couple of hours, and we paid £350. 

I am not sure how what I said can possibly be dangerous advice? I suggested getting other quotes, and I really don’t understand why you are so upset by that suggestion? 

Because all too often, electrical work isn't that simple! If done incorrectly and left in a unsafe conditon it can have fatal consequences that's why.

Watching it being done and knowing how it is done are 2 separate things entirely. So just because it happens doesn't mean it is the same every time

Section62

dil1976 said:

GDB2222 said:

dil1976 said:

GDB2222 said:

A suitable new CU can be bought for £110. If the wiring is okay, a straight swap is less than an afternoon’s work, so I suggest mum gets another couple of quotes. 

The quote she has may be reasonable if there’s a lot of other stuff involved, but it is expensive for just swapping the CU. 

The price quoted isn't unreasonable at all. To say you can buy the product and for £110 and swap it in a couple of hours is dangerous advice. There is far more work involved swapping a distribution board than just what you have described.

I have seen it done in a couple of hours, and we paid £350. 

I am not sure how what I said can possibly be dangerous advice? I suggested getting other quotes, and I really don’t understand why you are so upset by that suggestion? 

Because all too often, electrical work isn't that simple! If done incorrectly and left in a unsafe conditon it can have fatal consequences that's why.

Watching it being done and knowing how it is done are 2 separate things entirely. So just because it happens doesn't mean it is the same every time

It seems a stretch from that to calling GDB2222's advice to get additional quotes "dangerous".

Are you saying the qualified electricians providing the second (and say third) quotes are inherently doing dangerous work?

How can a consumer getting their first quote be sure they haven't chosen one of these dangerous electricians?

If the advice was to buy a consumer unit and fit it yourself I'd agree that was dangerous, but the general advice we give people is to get several quotes and compare them, and it isn't clear why that wouldn't be the right approach here as well.

GDB2222

I really wasn’t suggesting that Dnees's 85 year old mum should buy a consumer unit and fit it herself. 

dimbo61

Wow I Love the Fire Service
Had them turn up at our home a few years ago with a Fire engine to inspect our smoke alarms.
Took them on the full tour.
Mains wired interlinked smoke alarms in hallway and landing,
Heat alarm in kitchen
CO Alarm next too gas boiler
2 more smoke alarms in dinning room and lounge.
They did leave me a booklet about Prostrate Cancer.
So now they are inspecting the Electrics as well.
Did they fit smoke alarms ?

jonnydeppiwish!

Does mum own the house? Can she not take equity out of it to pay for it? Saves the tax payer paying for it.

gm0

It is 25 years plus - since before or around 16th edition wiring regs in the 1990s that RCD protection has been expected for safety.  So if you become a live to earth fault it trips at 30mA and fast.  Rather than blowing a 32A fuse slowly after hurting you a lot more.  Pre-90s we all lived with the risk and only a few people got electrocuted.   But enough that the issue was addressed eventually.

RCD is not fitted pooled so much now (one across all circuits) because although per circuit RCBO are (a lot) more expensive (a couple of hundred plus for 10). They are not as subject to nuisance tripping and knocking out heating/fridges/and ALL sockets etc as can happen for various reasons with "one" RCD. If you are away - or cannot get to the CU - power off until help arrives.  

Many much younger installations in the 30 year range have been upgraded *from* RCD for that reason.  It turns out plastic CUs were better for electrocutions but worse for fires - so they moved back to metal CU now.  Pooled single RCD was just a bad (if moneysaving) idea which has come and gone.

The world moves on and a good 18th ed rev3 solution would be metal CU, Surge Protection, RCBOs most likely.

Bar the above comments - a 50+ year old cartridge or wrap the wire around it bakelite fuse board isn't wildly *unsafe*.  Obsolete. Not *as* safe.  Of more concern is the state of wires and insulation at that age and older. Also lamp switches, plugs, sockets can become brittle and you can end up grabbing something live if something falls to pieces.  And not be protected by an RCD or RCBO - just by the fuse.  Which is primarily there to stop the wiring causing a fire if a short happens.  As are the MCB's that long ago replaced fuses before RCBO doing both jobs came along.  Fusewire doesn't help you with the bolt of mains across your chest.  Only an RCD or RCBO will do that.

When you decide there is a need to trigger that for a property is - as an owner occupier - up to you.   The recommendation is 10 year inspections but this widely ignored.   If you are a landlord then you need a current EICR to normalise the rental and have access to processes to end it.  So they mostly do it.

When we did our CU due to RCD nuisance tripping - an experienced electrician plus a newly trained one worked on it for most of a day.  Take out, wiring test, refit new, rewire, test every circuit (plug in), and remove lightswitches for wiring access and test, count and record all sockets and lamps - in every room/circuit. Check earth bondings - panel/water/oil/gas.  And further board RCD/RCBO tests for trip speed.  That was in a house at half the age - where we found only one tiny issue in a light switch so it went fast.  More circuits.  But 2 people a long half day plus investigation time I would say as a minimum.

CU replacement is most of an EICR test as well. 

Should anything fail a resistance/leakage test badly then you likely need to go and hunt that down.
Triggering more electrician time and expense or discovering rewiring needs - once you pull one thread.

Clearly doing these checks and resolving any issues is a reduced fire risk (if there is anything bad going on). 

Which is where the fire brigade are coming from albeit it's a very generic comment.Our local lot seem more concerned about dirty grills.  Death by bacon sandwiches