How easy would it be to move this Boiler Isolation switch?

[reoreborn85]

We moved into a house last year and are about to decorate the hallway. It's a smallish hallway and there is a switch (The boiler isolation switch) stuck right in the eyeline as you walk in. Our plan is it literally move in 3-4feet to the left and 'hide' it (not box it in) with a plant.

As you can see the cable runs along the bottom of it and in a conduit. That conduit goes along that wall the whole 3ft then up the wall. There is nothing else attached the the cable along that wall. To me it looks like a normal spur plug but with a sticker on it.

We don't have much money as we've since become carers for a family member (long story) and are doing everything on a strict budget. So called in three electricians who quoted us £250 to £300. Neither of them looked in the plug or even at the cable. They just looked at the outside of the plug and gave me the quote so i don't believe there is any hidden nasties.

Now, i know they're very skilled workers and I doubt I could do 99% of what they do but that seems a bit excessive for moving this box 3 feet along a cable that's already there. Am i wrong in thinking this?


So, this is my question. I have, in the past, moved a normal double plug back along the cable and it was very straight forward. Is there any difference for this? If it isn't recommended how 'easy' is it to change the facia to something a bit nicer looking?


additional: The holes next to the plug were from the old boilers wireless control.

 

[ETAF]

2 cables - 1 for the supply and 1 for the load/boiler ?

are they both running in the conduit =- OR does the cable come to the spur from behind in the wall

take the front of the spur off -
does the front of the conduit click off

wheres the boiler in relation to the Isolation switch

 

[reoreborn85]

2 cables - 1 for the supply and 1 for the load/boiler ?

are they both running in the conduit =- OR does the cable come to the spur from behind in the wall

take the front of the spur off -
does the front of the conduit click off

wheres the boiler in relation to the Isolation switch

The two cables are running through the same conduit (should have said that sorry).

The boiler is somewhat above the switch itself. I don't know why it didn't just go straight up through the ceiling tbh rather than half way to the kitchen then up.

 

[EFLImpudence]

take the front of the spur off

It is not a spur.

 

[ETAF]

The boiler is somewhat above the switch itself. I don't know why it didn't just go straight up through the ceiling tbh rather than half way to the kitchen then up.

the switch does NOT do anything else ??
Maybe the extractor fan in the Kitchen - as you say why go along the wall and then up - maybe the upperfloor was easier to get to , to run the cable from there - assuming it goes up through the ceiling

if it really is just 2 cables - Supply & Load coming into the Isolation switch , then no reason why it cannot be moved along

I have, in the past, moved a normal double plug back along the cable and it was very straight forward

- just a case of shortening the cables

But as i said - maybe open the front of the isolation switch - and take a picture of the cable - just to make sure - if it really is that simple to move

Maybe a photo of where the cable goes UP ?

s it to change the facia to something a bit nicer looking?

Well it will be a Switch with a fuse - lookup "fused spur/connection/isolation switch" on various sites and see what they look like - can have different finishes - for example

 

[ericmark]

Clearly, any switch can be moved, but I look at the wall finish, and that will be hard to copy so can't see where the switch was. So I would be looking for something which stays in the same place, but looks better. Maybe a flap

or trunking

maybe with a shelf under it. Or curved trunking

as to hide the damage the unit will have done to the wall will not be easy, a wall paper strip may hide it

but I simply hate wall paper as so hard to hide alterations.

I had the same with parent's house, originally the telephone was in the hall, and a shelf had been put up for the phone, on removal it looked terrible, also for some reason they had wall lights in the hall and on the stairs, all I could do was hang a picture over where they had been.

 

[CountryFan]

Does it actually isolate the boiler and has it been tested for being live if not?

 

[ericmark]

Does it actually isolate the boiler and has it been tested for being live if not?

Good point, my CU still has an RCBO labelled boiler, but for nearly 2 years, it has been on an UPS supply.

 

[morqthana]

Can you not move the switch to the floor above, where the boiler is, and have nothing in the hall?

 

[Jurassicspark]

Where does the cable feeding the FCU come from?

Does it come from a socket or straight from the consumer unit?

If the boiler is upstairs, and there is an adjacent socket nearby, you can feed the boiler from a closer socket. Be that a plug or a FCU. You can then remove the original wiring.

 

[crystal ball]

Quinetic switch & relay?

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Quinetic switch & relay?

Boiler isolation, or any sort of isolation - is not something I would trust to electronics, or any sort of remote control.

 

[crystal ball]

Boiler isolation, or any sort of isolation - is not something I would trust to electronics, or any sort of remote control.

Add a switch at the boiler

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Add a switch at the boiler

Wouldn't that make a Quinetic redundant/surplus/pointless?

Yes - the best place for a boiler isolation switch, is adjacent to the boiler.

 

[securespark]

Where are you located? Maybe that coloured the price?