Is Consumer Box Big enough to take 45A trip for Shower

[kevin12345]

Only just started to research is I could have a 10.5KW electric shower installed. There is no shower or wiring at the moment.
Looking at shower requirements it asks for a 45A fuse with 10mm cable.
I don't intend on doing the wiring up myself, I'm just weighing up the costs involved (New consumer unit fitted, price for getting it wired etc.)
Before I actually get anyone to come have a look at the job just wondered if the consumer unit was suitable to fit 45A fuse, looking it appears to have 2 spare spaces.
Wanted to know if anyone could tell from my photo if it could still be used?
What Ball park figure should I be looking at to have a 10kw electric shower wired in and signed off with safety certificate? The shower would already be plumbed in and I won't hold anyone to price quote.

 

[DetlefSchmitz]

I think you are going to find that the type of CU is now obsolete and spare MCBs are no longer available. So you will certainly be looking at a new CU.

 

[JohnW2]

... I don't intend on doing the wiring up myself, I'm just weighing up the costs involved (New consumer unit fitted, price for getting it wired etc.) ... Before I actually get anyone to come have a look at the job just wondered if the consumer unit was suitable to fit 45A fuse, looking it appears to have 2 spare spaces. ... Wanted to know if anyone could tell from my photo if it could still be used?

As you say, there appear to be two spare ways, so adding a 45A MCB for a shower should (conceptually) be perfectly possible - but see below about availability of a suitable MCB.

I would, however, add that not only is that a fairly old consumer unit, but it has only one RCD protecting all the circuits - which (at least, in most people's eyes) would not be compliant with current regulations. Although there is no 'retrospective' requirement for it to be brought into compliance with current regulations, the problem it presents is that a fault on any of your circuits would result in your totally losing all of your electricity supply (which is the reason the regulations changed). You might therefore want to explore the possibility of having your cosumer uniut changed to a more 'modern' one.

What Ball park figure should I be looking at to have a 10kw electric shower wired in and signed off with safety certificate?

Installing an additional MCB (assuming one was available, which might well not be the case for that old mosel) would be a fairly trivial part of the job. The amount of work, time and cost would largely be dependent on how easy (or otherwise) it was to rote the new cable between CU and shower (in an aesthetically acceptable manner) - so it's not easy to even guess a figure from here.

Kind Regards, John

 

[kevin12345]

Thanks for reply, if electrician had spare MCB would it be possible?

 

[JohnW2]

Thanks for reply, if electrician had spare MCB would it be possible?

Yes, but see my comments above, which essentially echo what Detlef said.

Kind Regards, John

 

[AndyPRK]

Mcbs for these are very expensive on eBay. £35. £60 ish.

 

[DetlefSchmitz]

If the electrician had the same type, it would almost certainly have been removed from another replaced consumer unit, and at the age those things are, I wouldn't advise reinstalling them. By the way a couple of years ago I did an extensive search from that type and even the original manufacture checked if they had one spare in a drawer, but didn't.

 

[kevin12345]

Thanks for reply.
Problem we have is that the house is rented housing association owned and they have given permission to have a shower put in at our cost and as long as we give them safety certificate. Consumer unit there at the moment meets their safety standards, was hoping that could be left in place

 

[DetlefSchmitz]

The ones on ebay are definately second hand. I bought a couple which said 'new', and returned them after I saw the real condition.

 

[DetlefSchmitz]

A good electrician could probably fit a Henley Block before the CU and then add a suitable mini-CU for the shower. However, whatever the electrician does, he will issue a certificate.

 

[JohnW2]

Problem we have is that the house is rented housing association owned and they have given permission to have a shower put in at our cost and as long as we give them safety certificate. Consumer unit there at the moment meets their safety standards, was hoping that could be left in place

An alternative possible strategy you could discuss with an electrician would be to not feed the shower from a 'new' MCB in that old CU but, rather, to have the electrician 'circumnavigate' the CU and feed the shower via a new small enclosure ('mini-CU') containing just an RCD and MCB (or, probably more sensible, an RCBO, which combines the functions of both) - thereby avoiding the need to replace the CU.

Kind Regards, John
Edit: damnit - typed too slowly again

 

[kevin12345]

Thank you for help. Are the mini CU costly?

 

[JohnW2]

Thank you for help. Are the mini CU costly?

I suppose that depends upon your viewpoint - but you could probably get one for around £25 or so (with an RCD and MCB).

Kind Regards, John

 

[kevin12345]

That sounds OK

 

[Taylortwocities]

Thats £25ish plus the cost of installation/certification/notification. The installer would need some henley blocks too.
Job for a registered electrician.