Consumer and breaker options

[GeoH]

Hi

I am getting my consumer unit changed from an old Wylex MCB to a new split one with RCD protection.
What is the best and most cost effective brand.
Also I have been recommended to use C type breakers but most of the offers with complete units are offering B type.
What would be the normal and best option.

Ta

Geo

 

[industryspark]

Hi

there are a few decent brands out there, naMed brands i know of are crabtree, proteus,MerliN ,MK to name but a few.

seen as i work in industry and dont do many CU changes perhaps one of the other guys would be best advising you on this.

all i would say is though dont be scared to pay that little extra for good kit-its worth it!

who's adviced type C breakers though and for what reason? i believe that most domestic CU's are type B.

 

[dingbat]

I am getting my consumer unit changed from an old Wylex MCB to a new split one with RCD protection.

Good lad.

What is the best and most cost effective brand.

How long is a piece of string? Crabtree, as mentioned are actually made by Wylex. I use them all the time and they are my current favourite.

Also I have been recommended to use C type breakers but most of the offers with complete units are offering B type.

That's because Type B is what you want. Whoever told you to go for Cs is a chimp. (Unless, of course, this is for a commercial/industrial application.)

What would be the normal and best option.

Employ a registered spark to do this notifiable work properly and accept his recommendations. In order to certify this job he will have to test your whole house. It should take him a full day (unless you have a very simple and compliant installation) he will probably have to do some remedial work and don't be surprised to see him under the sink, muttering about bonding.

Cost? £300-700-ish, depending on the remedials, your location and how difficult it is to find all the hidden connections.

 

[Spark123]

there are a few decent brands out there, naMed brands i know of are crabtree, proteus,MerliN ,MK to name but a few.

That's the first time I've seen the words decent and Proteus in the same sentance . Have City got their act together with them? I had them down on par with Volex.

Since I am an industrial type Spark / Instrument dogs body myself I don't see much of this type of stuff myself now, Hagger always had a good reputation, Merlin Gerin is good although expensive, the GE stuff I played about with was OK, as was the Square D although all these were 3 phase boards.

 

[RF Lighting]

there are a few decent brands out there, naMed brands i know of are crabtree, proteus,MerliN ,MK to name but a few.

That's the first time I've seen the words decent and Proteus in the same sentance . Have City got their act together with them?

No. Still on par with Volex, and being from city, they are over priced.

Since I am an industrial type Spark / Instrument dogs body myself I don't see much of this type of stuff myself now, Hagger always had a good reputation, Merlin Gerin is good although expensive, the GE stuff I played about with was OK, as was the Square D although all these were 3 phase boards.

Hager have just redesigned their MCBs but they still seem OK to me.
Merlin and square D are quality stuff.
MK MCBs have gone down the pan, so we have stopped fitting MK CUs

 

[Spark123]

Merlin, Square D and Telemechanique are the same co, telemechanique MCBs are completely different to the other two. With Square D if you remove the spring clip from them they fit a Merlin board.

 

[JohnD]

If you are not counting every penny, then instead of a split-load CU, get one with RCBOs for the socket circuits. This will work out a bit more expensive (though not a high proportion of your total installation cost) but because each protected circuit incorporates its own RCD, you will not suffer the inconvenience of losing all your power if, for example, you cut through the lawn-mower cable, or the shower springs a leak. Instead of being stuck with the standard 4 (or whatever) RCD-protected ways in a split-load, you can choose to have on an RCD just one socket circuit, or all 15 circuits, or any combination, and can readily change the configuration if you feel like it later. The more things you have on the RCD side of a split-load the more chance you have of nuisance tripping, since the individual leakages add up.

Be sure to get a CU with a few spare ways to facilitate later changes and upgrades.

I am especially fond of the MEM brand which seems to me to be very good.

 

[Pensdown]

The next time the MEM rep pops in I'm going to ask him if he lives in Hampshire and if yes, does he drink with a guy called John

 

[industryspark]

Spark123 wrote:
industryspark wrote:

there are a few decent brands out there, naMed brands i know of are crabtree, proteus,MerliN ,MK to name but a few.


That's the first time I've seen the words decent and Proteus in the same sentance . Have City got their act together with them?

I never said they were decent, just that they were a named brand i knew of

JohnD

definetly on a RCBO crusade or some commision somewhere!



spot on though

 

[JohnD]

The next time the MEM rep pops in I'm going to ask him if he lives in Hampshire and if yes, does he drink with a guy called John

definetly on a RCBO crusade or some commision somewhere!

spot on though

Alas no, just a satisfied user.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

That's because Type B is what you want. Whoever told you to go for Cs is a chimp.

Mmmmm.

Mightn't the chimp be the person who didn't recognise that Type C's are a good idea for lighting circuits, in order to reduce nuisance tripping?

 

[Steve]

you will not suffer the inconvenience of losing all your power if, for example, you cut through the lawn-mower cable, or the shower springs a leak.

given the frequency of these 2 occurences in my house, loosing all the power in the event of them would not make a huge impact on my life. shower last leaked about 10 years ago, and we have never cut through a lawnmower cable.

though if you bring washing machines and irons into the equation, there the benefits of RCBOs start to show!

 

[JohnD]

yep, steam irons here too.

 

[dingbat]

That's because Type B is what you want. Whoever told you to go for Cs is a chimp.

Mmmmm.

Mightn't the chimp be the person who didn't recognise that Type C's are a good idea for lighting circuits, in order to reduce nuisance tripping?

And the other circuits?

 

[Spark123]

Why wouldn't you use a type C? Fair enough in most instances a type B is adequate. You might still want to use a type C for discrimination. As long as your EFLI is low enough you can use them.