Consumer Unit

[Tony 1]

Hi, i have an old standard type wylex consumer unit the one with the pull out fuses fixed into the exterior wall. More or less directly behind it on the outside is the electric meter. The cold draft on the inside of my house from the consumer unit is unbelievable and i wondered if i can insulate the holes from the cable routes from the meter to the consumer unit with expanding foam or insulation?

Many thanks

 

[ericmark]

When cables run through insulating material they need to be thicker to be able to handle the same current.

I have seen some old installations with under size cables to start with so I would advise you to get some one on site to advise rather than remote on a forum.

 

[ajrobb]

Chances are an old fuse box is going to have meter tails and bonding that are too small for modern regulations anyway. Work on consumer units (probably including meter tail installations) is notifiable to your local building control. Although you can legally carry out the work yourself, the cost of BC inspection can be more than getting an electrician in.

If you've got the pennies, consider a new consumer unit as well. They provide much better protection to vulnerable cables (that's most of them) and your family. Stir in a periodic inspection report and you can rest assured.

 

[Inky Pete]

Or just build a little cupboard with a draught proofed door around the consumer unit .

Easiest and cheapest thing might be to get hold of a small wood bathroom cabinet or similar cheap from one of the big DIY chains. Assemble it with no back on, little cutouts in the sides, top or bottom as required if you have surface mounted cable runs. Draught proofing strip round the door. Hang it round the consumer unit, decorators calk to fill any gaps to the wall if your walls aren't even, and paint it any colour you like.

Just don't drill into any cables while you're hanging it!!!

 

[ajrobb]

Just don't drill into any cables while you're hanging it!!!

Hang it with No Nails/Gripfill etc and you don't have to worry about cables and you get draft-proofing.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

I think I'd like to see a batten or small gallows brackets to take the weight of the cabinet.

Good idea to pick a cabinet large enough to keep fusewire, a torch, etc.

 

[Inky Pete]

I think I'd like to see a batten or small gallows brackets to take the weight of the cabinet.

Good idea to pick a cabinet large enough to keep fusewire, a torch, etc.

Bit overkill there with the batten or gallows bracket.

Wouldn't do any harm, but those little bathroom cabinets weigh next to nothing on their own and the fixings they come with would be more than adequate. After all, they're designed to hold the thing on the bathroom wall when it's chock full of all of the crap a woman would fill it with!

This one's just going to be full of a wall mounted consumer unit.

 

[tonyelectric]

"it's chock full of all of the crap a woman would fill it with!"

ain't that the truth

 

[bernardgreen]

i wondered if i can insulate the holes from the cable routes from the meter to the consumer unit with expanding foam or insulation?

Get a spiece of plywood large enough to cover the area where the cables are. Plot on this the position of all the cables. For each cable drill a hole slightly larger than the cable for that hole.

Cut a slot from top to bottom through the centre of each hole so the pieces can be fitted to the wall without interfering with the cables. use adhesive NOT screws

If your saw has a very thin blade then this will work even though there will be a few thin gaps around the cables the air flow will be reduced significantly

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Bit overkill there with the batten or gallows bracket.

Remember that that suggestion was in reply to the idea of gluing it to the wall, not mechanically fixing it.

those little bathroom cabinets weigh next to nothing on their own and the fixings they come with would be more than adequate. After all, they're designed to hold the thing on the bathroom wall when it's chock full of all of the crap a woman would fill it with!

Will those be the fixings that go through the back panel of the cabinet?

Easiest and cheapest thing might be to get hold of a small wood bathroom cabinet or similar cheap from one of the big DIY chains. Assemble it with no back on ...

 

[ajrobb]

Assemble it with no back on

So you might be stuck with glue.

 

[1john]

save all this messing about and get yourself a nice coat, wear that instead!

 

[Inky Pete]

Last one I fitted just had a flimsy hardboard back and was hung on a number of mirror plates screwed into the rear edges of the top, bottom and sides.

 

[shetland]

All sounds a bit dramatic. Can you post a photo so we can see the extent of the hole and the cables? I am taking it you mean just the meter tails rather than all the final circuit cables?