New Consumer Unit

[Daz66]

Having brought a new (different) house I am slowly trying to bring it into the 21st Century and am now tackling the electrics.

I have a few questions that I would like to get straight before the electrician starts, the place is an extended 1950's semi ex local authority and at some point was reqired (probably when they built the extension in the late 90's) However half the sockets up stairs didn't work and are surfacemounted.

I want to have a new CU installed and have been looking around, which is the best manufacturer to go for, contactum do some nice stuff as do MK and Wylex but which one is best. I would like to go for RCBO's as well so would that necessitate a dual RCD board also, I worked out that I need about 14 ways to incorporate both the old house board and the new extension board and this would include a lighting and power ring to the loft and attached garage (both of which may be extended into at a later date)

Cost isn't a massive driver as we intend to be here for the next 20 yrs whilst the kids grow up and we have some money set aside to do these jobs.

Any help gratefully recieved!

 

[ricicle]

Ask your electrician. He has to guarantee the parts, the workmanship and sign the certification !!

 

[ban-all-sheds]

 

[Daz66]

True, good answer, but I would like someone elses opinon also, a broad spectrum of experience is what I'm after.

What do you use and prefer?

I would like to talk to the electrician and understand what I want is what I'm getting.

 

[kai]

Use Wylex (Metal Cased), the parts are widely available, unlike some other makes, that may have hard to source parts.

The Wylex parts are widely sold, you will appreciate it when it comes to adding a further circuit, or replacing a failed breaker etc. The breakers have changed design since the Recall, to make them recognisable,

 

[plugwash]

Ask your electrician. He has to guarantee the parts, the workmanship and sign the certification !!

But he doesn't have to live with the choice for the next couple of decades. The customer does. That means how companies support their range over time is important to the customer but not so important to the electrician.

Some brands seem better than others in this regard, for example i've seen reports that although all wylex NSB stuff is supposed to be compatible that the height of the busbar entries has varied slightly over time nessescitating bending the busbar slighly to get a good fit.

Contactum had big problems not so long ago and ended up replacing their complete range with a different one from a new supplier. However i've just noticed on TLC that they are offering a retrofit kit to ease the pain. Dunno how well said retrofit kit works.

As for the board configuration all RCBOs is the way to go IMO. Since RCBOs provide RCD protection to the circuits they would be fitted in a board that just had a single main switch.

 

[Daz66]

Thanks plugwash, I do want to fit stuff that will last and is serviceable for a while. Sometimes there is just too much choice nowadays, which can only be a good thing but sometimes confusing!

Also to tidy things up I was thinking of the sunken CU's they look neat but are there any inherent problems with them, the installation will be in the garage (where it currently is) but if we use soem of the garage later I would like it to look neat!

To give you an idea about me I have put flexible conduit down the cavity to enable tv/satt/phone cables to be shared around the house and there will be cable tray in the loft to take all of the re-wiring, and aformentioned cables, upstairs ready for any loft conversions. I like neat and tidy and future proofing wherever possible!!

 

[flameport]

Imported cheap three letter brands - all made in China to the lowest possible specification. You certainly get what you pay for with those.

Contactum - cheap and very nasty. They went out of business recently and were bought up by someone or other. Their stuff was also available under the 'Emma' brand, whoever she might be.

Wylex - had factories which turned out defective products for over a year before anyone noticed. Perhaps this issue has been fixed. Or perhaps not.

Crabtree - made in the same place as Wylex, and vast numbers were also recalled for exactly the same reasons. Some also have a shonky plug in busbar system, just like those Federal Stablok efforts which caused vast numbers of house fires in the USA some years ago. The Crabtree ones probably don't have that problem.

Volex - More Wylex with a different label.

MK - Decent items, but cost far too much for what they are. They are also very good at changing the design of breakers far too often.

MEM / Eaton - Quality is fine but the prices are at least double that of MK. Ideal if you have money to waste.

Hager - Decent items for reasonable prices and probably what I would use. Unfortunately they are made in France.

Legrand - Breakers are ok, but the consumer units seem to be made from extra bendy plastic which results in the neat line of breakers not being in line at all.

Square D - Perfectly fine, as long as you want breakers with the wiring at the bottom and busbar at the top. This means that when installed, you have to crawl underneath the board to see if the wiring is fitted in the terminals correctly. Some also have that grotty plug in busbar system.

Merlin Gerin and suchlike - designed for industrial installations, and therefore have industrial sized prices to go with them.

 

[Iggifer]

MEM / Eaton - Quality is fine but the prices are at least double that of MK. Ideal if you have money to waste.

I have to say, I would rather pay double for MEM/Eaton than use MK. Was using an MK board at college the other day and the quality was horrendous. Cheap nasty looking breakers, no space, stupid sized cutouts so standard blanks don't fit properly etc etc. Whereas the MEM/Eaton range seems to have a little bit more care put into it. I don't like that the RCBO's and MCB's have EATON written in different places but that's just me - I like tidy

 

[RF Lighting]

MK used to be really good until they changed their breakers again.

Now I won't use them

Hager are good and have been around for years and years. Whilst their breaker and board designs have changed slightly, all models of breakers fit all models of boards.

I wont use any of the electrium boards. The quality just isn't there any more.

MEM is good but not that common round here for some reason.

BG boards that B&Q are churning out for £50 a pop are ok for a quick buck mains change.

 

[ricicle]

BG boards that B&Q are churning out for £50 a pop are ok for a quick buck mains change.

Never, not you, oh great one

 

[Iggifer]

Yea I was quite suprised how shoddy the MK board was given how good their sockets / switches / metalclad / grid range is. I was expecting similar quality - but having said that. The new stuff isn't as good as it was even a year or two ago. Put a 4 way light switch in our kitchen - two of the switches don't align properly when both open / closed. Very annoying.

 

[RF Lighting]

BG boards that B&Q are churning out for £50 a pop are ok for a quick buck mains change.

Never, not you, oh great one

They're actually not that bad. Better build quality than certain more expensive brands.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Siemens?

 

[Daz66]

Looks like I may go for Hager, 14 way split load. Do I use RCBO's or just the MCB's with the RCD protection.

I have kids and want to make sure that any sticky fingers don't cause any accidents!