2nd consumer unit?

[paulweller84]

Hi all,

I am planning an extension and just trying to work out material costs for the electrics. The extension will house a relocated kitchen, which is moving from the front to the rear of the property. My intention is to install a 2nd consumer unit in the rear extension which will be connected to the existing unit next to the front door of the house via an armoured cable along the outside wall. The theory here is it is much less invasive to the existing property and means the MCBs for the cooker etc will be closer to the items they're supplying. Is there any potential issue with doing it this way as opposed to trying to tap into the existing wiring?

 

[ericmark]

It is what was done to my mothers house because the existing wiring was not good enough to support RCD protection, and when it was rewired the kitchen supply was left that way, this house all RCBO protected, and mothers house the kitchen was RCBO protected, I would not consider using MCB's if I can get RBCO's at £15 each, OK if property is TT then double pole RCBO can work out expensive, but having sockets trip because of a cooker fault or reverse is not funny.
To my mind the more RCD's the better, this house has 14, so as long as the SWA is fed from a non RCD circuit then yes a good idea.

 

[sparkwright]

You can do it as you suggest, but by the time you've struggled running a chunky cable, and decided how to connect that cable to the original mains position, you may as well have run some smaller T+Es.

 

[sparkwright]

I didn't read the bit about SWA going on the outside of the house, obviously you wouldn't want several T+Es on the outside wall...