Consumer units - any fancy ones for inspiration?

[EFLImpudence]

You could populate it with Eric's £300 'intelligent' RCDs - nice LEDs telling you what it's going to do.

You could put it above the telly.

 

[u587162]

Downsides are:

I would say go RCBO all the way, and don't forget to have CAT6 everywhere you can imagine ever needing it, wired back to a common point

There will be no shortage of Cat 6e points, that I can guarantee...planning 2 for each room except Multi media areas / cinema room where I might go for 3 or 4. I could always opt to put 1 in each room instead of two and then have a local network switch with an additional 4 Ethernet ports on there though couldn't I, without it impacting anything?

 

[u587162]

You could populate it with Eric's £300 'intelligent' RCDs - nice LEDs telling you what it's going to do.

You could put it above the telly.

Is that a joke?

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Not much point having a display in an Amd. 3 board, the door will always cover it!

There are no regulations which would prevent displays.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Downsides are:

1) Take up more room in the CU so can make wiring a pig.

Get a CU with a larger enclosure.

2) Less likely to notice one has tripped.

Same with MCBs.

3) You don't know if they have tripped due to overload or earth leakage.

That is true, but I'm not sure how much of a downside it is.

4) That old argument on whether they are allowed on a TT supply / only isolate the line.

Use DP ones.

 

[Iggifer]

You could have local switches, that's what I've got, but it's not what I'd choose if I was wiring from scratch now.

It just makes your network overly complicated, added connections, added overhead. If you've only got a switch connected to a switch, it's not that bad, but why not just do it properly whilst you've got the chance?

If you've got upwards of 4 devices in one position, then by all means, have a switch there, but a 48 port switch in a cabinet, with your modem, maybe a NAS etc, definitely the neatest way to go.

And yes that's a joke, Eric always posts a post about X-Pole RCDs, that auto reset etc, etc. Not that I've ever seen one for sale, or in the wild. I can't even find one on google. Don't worry about it.

I do think there are better options for energy monitoring than something in your consumer unit though, a wifi connected energy monitor would probably be much more useful (depends where you're putting your CU I guess)

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Could always go for the mad-scientist laboratory look, with lots of large meters, and open knife switches. The latter could be made to do things if they are used in ELV control circuits.

Adding in a Jacobs Ladder would provide a talking point of interest.

None of this, of course, is likely to result in any seriously useful function, but it might satisfy the desire to incorporate pointless toys.

 

[Iggifer]

If you want to add stuff, you could have a doorbell transformer in there (not that anyone wants a mains doorbell anymore), a timer connected to a photocell for outside lights, so they come on when it goes dark, and then go off at whatever time you choose each night.

Don't forget to have a socket (ideally on it's own circuit) for your networking hardware