Should I leave alone?

[bufferz]

Hi, Moved in my house a year ago, only starting to "DIY it up" now. First thing I've noiced is that I have ONE 30A ring main supporting the whole 3 bed terrace. (Fused CU 2 light circuits, immersion heater(15A), shower(30A) cooker (30A), on a 60A CU)

Right, firstly there appears nothing wrong so should I just leave it till it does? If I should rewire then I know I need to contact the LBC thingy, but if I were to have access to the old style wiring(black/red), would I need to inform anyone without it affecting me insurance wise, or selling the house wise as it would be the old "it was like that when I bought the house" syndrome?

 

[Maxxy]

May not be easy finding the old colours now adays (maybe off ebay). I wouldnt recommend using the old colours though.

If its not broke, dont fix it i'd say. Unless you start running into problems, eg you want to run a few electric heaters, a toaster and a kettle at the same time and it keeps tripping your circuit protective device, then its prob best (and cheaper) to leave it how it is.

To rewire you would be looking at around 2k getting someone in, probably around 500 quid if you did it yourself for materials (plus any building control fees, and loss of earnings whilst doing it).

And then of course you may have to redecorate most rooms to put the damage right thats done when chasing walls etc.

The other thing, is that as your CU is only a 60A one, then theres not much point having two individual ring final circuits, as there is more chance of overloading your CU if you do so.

If you do come across problems, then you could get your Consumer Unit upgraded, and the main incoming fuse changed to 80A (depending on certain conditions)

 

[ricicle]

You might want to check for the presence of earth wires to water and gas/oil.Also for any sign of earthing to bathroom copper pipework or on copper pipework in an airing cupboard/boiler cupboard.
It is recommended that the shower and any sockets likely to supply equipment outdoors be protected by a 30mA rcd so if there is no evidence of this you might want to think about an upgrade or getting an electrician to confirm this in the near future while you are knocking things about

 

[Steve]

The other thing, is that as your CU is only a 60A one, then theres not much point having two individual ring final circuits, as there is more chance of overloading your CU if you do so.

I disagree with the statement. Splitting the house to 2 ringmains will not increase overall loading on the consumer unit.

 

[Maxxy]

The other thing, is that as your CU is only a 60A one, then theres not much point having two individual ring final circuits, as there is more chance of overloading your CU if you do so.

I disagree with the statement. Splitting the house to 2 ringmains will not increase overall loading on the consumer unit.

Overloading one 32Amp circuit as opposed to overloading two 32Amp circuits.

60Amp main fuse. Ok so in reality the main fuse can take a huge whack more, but with two ring finals at max capacity you will be over the limit.

 

[ricicle]

Same amount of appliances equals same load on the main fuse regardless of how many rings they are spread over

 

[BJS_Spark]

The OP mentioned a 60A CU but no mention of the fuse rating.

 

[Maxxy]

But its only a 60Amp Consumer unit. There for if you only have one ring final, you cant physically use Current to reach the 60Amps that the Consumer unit can take.

Using 2 ring finals, means that you could. Thats all i was saying. Wasnt looking to de-rail the thread.

 

[Steve]

Sorry Maxxy, understood. But our 100A CU has way more than 100A of MCBs.

And if he's never overloaded a 32A ringmain, what chance has he got of overloading a 60A CU?