Consumer unit - location / restrictions

[Pickup]

Hi Guys, (and girls)

Sometimes in life there is such a thing as a stupid question....

Thinking about extending our house.... this would involve relocating the front door and moving the shower room (in reality it's not that complicated move. The shower room window would become the front door and the existing front door would become the shower-room window (with a bit of knocking down / building up ))

HOWEVER just inside the front door is a small cupboard (built into the wall) which opens into the hall..... inside the cupboard are the electric meter and consumer unit.

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The obvious thing to do is to turn the meter cupboard contents round and have the doors opening into the room off the hall but I just thought I'd check and see that

1 it's not allowed to have a consumer unit and meter in a shower room (NB property located in Scotland)
2 is it Ok to have the consumer unit / meter in a bedroom?

Thanks

 

[ban-all-sheds]

The obvious thing to do is to turn the meter cupboard contents round

When you find out from your DNO how much that will cost it may no longer be the obvious answer.....

1 it's not allowed to have a consumer unit and meter in a shower room (NB property located in Scotland)

It's not ideal. You'd have to have a door that sealed really well - you obviously don't want water splashing in there, nor do you want steam getting in.

Also, what would access be like, and would it be convenient to have people going into the shower room to use the CU or read the meter?

2 is it Ok to have the consumer unit / meter in a bedroom?

Yes, but ditto on the convenience aspect.

 

[bhm1712]

Also, BS7671 states a requirement to select electrical equipment which reflects external influences - in this case humidity and condensation. As B-A-S has already said, the cupboard would have to be well sealed. Another thing to consider is that the meter and CU are on an external wall. Not so much an issue at the moment, but once it becomes a shower room that external wall is likely to get condensation on it if the room is not vented correctly. Same again - make sure the cupboard is suitable and sealed well and vent the shower room nicely with a decent sized fan.

 

[securespark]

No, not in a shower room, certainly not one that small!!

If it was 3m from the cubicle, I'd say it was OK.

I would say it's OK in a bedroom but some worry about locating beds near to meters, worrying about electromagnetic fields.

 

[flameport]

I would NOT put the CU or meter in a bedroom.

Been to several properties (rentals) where the CU was in a bedroom, and the three worst scenarios were that
someone had placed a heavy wardrobe in front of it
someone was still sleeping in that room so could not get access
someone had decided it was the ideal place for their very large aquarium, meaning the only way to get to it would be to drain the entire thing and then move it. That one had cabinets of snakes and other similar things as well.

 

[westie101]

Been to several properties (rentals) where the CU was in a bedroom, and the three worst scenarios were that
someone had placed a heavy wardrobe in front of it
someone was still sleeping in that room so could not get access
someone had decided it was the ideal place for their very large aquarium, meaning the only way to get to it would be to drain the entire thing and then move it. That one had cabinets of snakes and other similar things as well.

And if the main fuse blows or the cut-out or meter needs changed, the DNO or supplier will walk away until access is provided by the customer!