New consumer unit (costings)

[Philious]

Hi all
We are having a new electric cooker installed and had the electrician round, he said depending on the cable rating that supplies the cooker we might well have to have a new consumer unit as well as upgrade the cable that supplies the cooker, he said it would be expensive but didn`t say how expensive
is this guy just trying to make the job bigger than it is?
Does anyone have an idea how much this could be?
much appreciate any comments
Philious

 

[martinxxxxxx]

If you don't trust him - I would find someone you do trust to do the job. The actions he suggested could be necessary, but you have not provided enough detail for anyone to offer an informed opinion. Cable is sold by the meter so the cost will depend how far the consumer unit is away from the cooker and the size of the cable required. A new consumer unit is £50 from B&Q, but they are not what I would choose - as you get what you pay for. The whole of the house electrics will need to be tested and verified before the old consumer unit is taken out and any faults rectified before the new one is fitted. The electrician will have to sign off on the new consumer unit and test all of the circuits connected to it. So there could be 1 to 3 days work depending on the overall state of the electrics.

So really you do need to put a bit of faith in the guy to do a good job and not rip you off. That is why I would find someone that has been recommended and that you can trust. It is going to be very difficult to have his work judged by this forum.

Hope this helps

Martin