Upgrading old consumer board - off peak and basic questions

[JohnW2]

I'm not so sure about that. If Andy didn't consider the leaky element to be a hazard, then he would presumably regard it as an argument against RCD protection, since he would then regard what he described as a 'nuisance trip'

I suppose but that is nothing to do with whether an RCD must be fitted or not.

As you will have seen, Andy has now confirmed that such was his meaning/intent. No-one has suggested that this part of the discussion was really anything to do with whether or not an RCD must be fitted. It arose because sparkwright suggested that, personally, he would probably elect to install an RCD, even though an option would be to 'leave things as they are', with no RCD.

i.e. do you see a L-E leak in an element (not large enough to rapidly operate the OPD), in the absence of an RCD, to be a potential hazard or not?

Firstly, has it ever happened?

You tell me - I didn't postulate such a happening! I can, however, well see that moisture getting onto/into a (usually fairly exposed) S/H element could well result (at least until it heated up!) in enough of an L-E leak to trip and RCD, yet far far too little to cause an OPD to operate.

Is that not a narrow view of the (probable) intent, based on considering of only certain regulations? ... Why has there for a long time been a requirement for RCD protection of sockets likely to be used for outside equipment?

I was only referring to the storage heater.

OK - fair enough - you seemed to be making a more general statement about requirements for RCDs. Mind you, as sparkwright has pointed out, before deciding that a S/H circuit did not require RCD protection (under current regs), even if there were no concealed cables, one would have to make sure than none of the heaters were in a bathroom and that no-one has slipped a socket into the S/H circuit.

Kind Regards, John

 

[stu550]

Hi all

Thanks for all the replies that I have tried to understand.

To provide a bit more detail that I should have added from the start:

- the house is a holiday rental so people do all sorts of daft things so we need to make sure we are covered as much as possible.
- the night storage heaters are only for background heat - but are left on between October - March time ish regardless of whether the house is occupied. They have rooms thermostats wired inline with the supply to them so they don't come on during warmer periods or when the heating is cranked up in the house.
- we have owned the house for 25 years and plan to have for the next 25 years too...

So....

I presume in an ideal situation the whole lot should be replaced - is it best to have one board or two? (second being for the off peak)
What would be the approximate difference in cost?

Do I also take out and replace the newer CU in the conservatory?

Should I ideally be going for RCBO's across the whole lot?

Again, some very approximate costs would be handy for the various options please?

thanks

Stuart

 

[OwainDIYer]

- the house is a holiday rental so people do all sorts of daft things so we need to make sure we are covered as much as possible.
Should I ideally be going for RCBO's across the whole lot?

Probably; it may reduce your emergency call-outs when someone does a daft thing if only one circuit is affected.

 

[stu550]

Deleted because I now understand (slightly better) how an RCBO works..