Fuses below (almost) every light switch in the house

[maximjc]

Hello.
I've searched the forum and searched Google, but I can't find an answer to this question.

We recently bought a house (built 1979) that we will be decorating in the New Year.
Every light switch has a corresponding fuse mounted just above the skirting, directly below the switch. There is one exception which is the hall double switch which controls hall and landing lights.

There is a triple switch on the landing which controls hall, landing, and 2nd floor landing. This has two fuses below it.

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• maximjc
• 20 Oct 2013
• 1

The main fuse box looks like the traditional type with circuit breakers rather than wire fuses.

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• maximjc
• 20 Oct 2013
• 1

There are also no double power sockets anywhere in the property, except the kitchen.

My main question is: why are there fuses in every room?


I'm also intersted to know:
If I upgrade to an RCD will that allow the fuses in every room to be removed when we redecorate?
If I want to upgrade to an RCD, have more power sockets installed, and remove the light switch fuses, am I pretty much looking at having the whole house rewired?

any advice much appreciated. Thanks.




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[riveralt]

Do you have storage electric heaters?

 

[maximjc]

no we have gas central heating with radiators.

(there is a combi boiler now , but I know that originally the house had an open vented system with hot water storage tank on the first floor.)

 

[Spark123]

They could be for anything, heated towel rail in the bathroom is a possibility.
If you want to do away with them then you also need to do away with the wiring to them, also need to find out what they are for.

You'll have to consult an electrician to see how much remedial work is involved in adapting the existing system to your needs, if it ends up needing a full re-wire then now is the time to do it before you decorate.

 

[Lectrician]

Your photo shows a timeswitch for use with a dual rate tarrif, which does suggest they could be from removed storage heating. Could be anything though. A sparky could determine their purpose and quote for any works.

 

[ccam108]

Are all of the lights on their own circuit(s), or are they on the socket circuit(s)?

 

[vera121]

The unswitched fuse spurs below each light switch are most likely the supply for the lights in that particular room. Some time ago there was an idea to do away with a separate lighting circuit and supply the lighting for each room from a fused spur which is part of the final ring main (socket circuit). To find out if this is the case, put your lights on and then go to your fuse board and turn of the circuit breaker supplying your socket circuit.

 

[PrenticeBoyofDerry]

My main question is: why are there fuses in every room?

I to would have thought this to be the remnants of wall heaters.
But it could be possible for each room light to be individually fused, but not something I have ever come across.

If I upgrade to an RCD will that allow the fuses in every room to be removed when we redecorate?

They could only be removed if some alteration to the circuit was made and the fuse in the protective device within the CU was correctly rated for the circuit, you could have problems though with jointing cables on removing the fuse connections, as they will need to be accessible or of the maintenance free type.

If I want to upgrade to an RCD, have more power sockets installed, and remove the light switch fuses, am I pretty much looking at having the whole house rewired?

I would consider in great depth, rewiring the lighting circuit if they are connected to the fuse connection, it could be possible if to extend the socket circuit to allocate additional sockets but the installation is knocking on a bit now and if finances allow I would opt for a full rewire and it designed to your requirements.

 

[AndyPRK]

Also try flicking the white switch on that B6 in your consumer unit and see if none of the lights work anymore.

Could of had underfloor heating.

What rating fuses are in the fuse holders? 3A, 13A ?

 

[maximjc]

thanks very much for the replies.

Your photo shows a timeswitch for use with a dual rate tarrif, which does suggest they could be from removed storage heating. Could be anything though.

There is a time switch that is still powered (I can hear it ticking) but doesn't control anything noticeable. The electricity meter also has 'normal' and 'night' readings, but the 'night' reading never changes. I could agree that in the main rooms they might have supported storage heaters, but there isn't sufficient space on the landings where there are also fuses. There are only doors off the landings so no wall or floor space for heaters.

Are all of the lights on their own circuit(s), or are they on the socket circuit(s)?

According to the fuse box labels (and my tests) there is one circuit for both lights and sockets per floor. So the lights are not on their own circuit.

The unswitched fuse spurs below each light switch are most likely the supply for the lights in that particular room. Some time ago there was an idea to do away with a separate lighting circuit and supply the lighting for each room from a fused spur which is part of the final ring main (socket circuit). To find out if this is the case, put your lights on and then go to your fuse board and turn of the circuit breaker supplying your socket circuit.

I did this test for each floor. Ground and first floor the lights went off with the rest of the circuit when I flicked the circuit breaker for that floor.
The same happened on the second floor except the 2nd floor landing light stayed on!

Is the next test then to turn off the power to the whole building; remove one of the floor level fuses in a room; turn the power back on; see if the lights, or anything else in the room no longer functions?

If I do this and find no effect with the fuse removed, can I conclude that the fuse is redundant?

 

[JohnW2]

I to would have thought this to be the remnants of wall heaters.

From the prose description, that's what I would also have guessed - however, the one FCU we've been shown, on a tiny bit of wall between two doors, seems to be in a pretty unlikely place for one for a wall heater. Also, it would be a considerable co-incidence if, as the OP has described, every one of the FCUs were vertically below a light switch, if they had been serving heaters.

But it could be possible for each room light to be individually fused, but not something I have ever come across.

FWIW, I have (just once!) seen an arrangement such as vera121 mentioned, with every light supplied by its own FCU from a sockets circuit.

Kind Regards, John

 

[Lectrician]

Seen it on some 90s houses so that bathroom and ensuite lights are on an FCU, and therefore RCD protected. Seemed to be a craze doing that around here for a little while. Never seen a whole house dine like this though.

If you have turned off all breakers except the white one, and there re no lights, it does seem your lights are fed from the socket circuit, so a lighting rewire would be needed to remove the FCUs.

 

[maximjc]

so a few more bits of information:

B6 is just for the porch circuit (one light & one socket).

I removed a few of the room fuses in question, as no rating on the case. The two I checked were both rated 13A. Once removed, the lights in that room did not work.

So, the lights on each floor are on the same circuit as the sockets; however the lights also have their own fuse directly below the light switch. The only exception is the 2nd floor landing where the light switch has it's own fuse but is not on the circuit to that floor.

 

[maximjc]

thanks again all for the replies!

If I return to my original questions then:

Q: why are there fuses in every room?

A: these are FCUs for each individual room light.

Q: If I upgrade to an RCD will that allow the fuses in every room to be removed when we redecorate?

A: No. To remove the FCUs I need a lighting re-wire.

Q: If I want to upgrade to an RCD, have more power sockets installed, and remove the light switch fuses, am I pretty much looking at having the whole house rewired?

I could still do with a bit more advice here please (although I think I know the answer)....
If I'm considering a new fuse board; a lighting circuit re-wire; and extra sockets in every room in the house, then surely there can't be much of the whole house electrics left that won't be affected?

 

[JohnW2]

Q: If I want to upgrade to an RCD, have more power sockets installed, and remove the light switch fuses, am I pretty much looking at having the whole house rewired?

I could still do with a bit more advice here please (although I think I know the answer)....
If I'm considering a new fuse board; a lighting circuit re-wire; and extra sockets in every room in the house, then surely there can't be much of the whole house electrics left that won't be affected?

As you imply, you've more-or-less answered your own question. What you are describing really doesn't fall far short of a 'full re-wire'.

Kind Regards, John