Replace FCU with standard socket for off peak electricity

[dusto66]

And very well done for taking the brilliant pictures before

Thanks! I'm not just a pretty face

 

[crystal ball]

Does that dual rate meter rely on the teleswitch to change from Normal to Lower?

Yes first appeared in the 80s, supposedly getting phased out.

 

[dusto66]

No way has he messed up, that is a complete and utter F**k*p call him and ask him to restore it or you will inform your energy supplier.

The guy is a total a*****l* for doing that to you.

Do you have a full set of paperwork and how much did you pay?

Thanks for confirming he did something without telling me! I thought I was going mad...but I had a hunch cause when I spoke to him on the phone he sounded like he was hiding something!
Well I guess I won't bother replacing the FCU now lol.

I rent, so will contact the landlord and explain the situation.

 

[crystal ball]

What are the odds the cut out seal is missing too?

 

[dusto66]

What are the odds the cut out seal is missing too?

What's the cut out seal?

 

[SUNRAY]

Does that dual rate meter rely on the teleswitch to change from Normal to Lower?

yes, it's this wire that does the actual switching

The really nasty thing he did to you is rather than leave it all in place and use the wire shown with a green arrow and made the wire shown with a red arrow safe everything would have fine.

 

[SUNRAY]

What's the cut out seal?

The cutout is another name for the service head or company fuse and it is at the distant end of the big fat black cable, probably in the basement or entrance hall etc

 

[sparkwright]

He could have quite easily done your job, without resorting to that. Presumably he did what he did for ease, and because he thought he was saving space.

If you didn't require the off peak supply, he could have terminated the tails in an isco block or something.

If you did require the off peak supply, he could have made that consumer unit into a dual tarriff board. To gain extra space in the board, the two RCDs could have been removed, the MCBs substituted for RCBOs, thus leaving room for another main switch for the off peak, and any additional circuits.

Get him back.

 

[dusto66]

Thank you all for your input! Thanks to you I finally realise what has happened and I'm glad I wasn't imagining things!
Will postpone the replacement of the FCU for a socket and get the landlord to contact the electrician.

Cheers!

 

[flameport]

There are 2 RCDs in the consumer unit. As it was upgraded a few months ago.

Photo is a bit blurred on the RCDs but they look like Type AC which is now obsolete.

 

[flameport]

Does that dual rate meter rely on the teleswitch to change from Normal to Lower?

Yes, there is a switched output from the teleswitch to the meter to change to the second register.

As configured now, the teleswitch will do nothing as it's not connected, and the meter will record 100% of use at the high rate.

 

[dusto66]

Photo is a bit blurred on the RCDs but they look like Type AC which is now obsolete.

Does that make it to not comply with regulations or the law?

 

[flameport]

Regulations, BS7671 is not law.

If that was installed in August 2022, then it complied at the time as the new version of BS7671 did not apply until 27 September 2022.
It's still a very poor effort, as the new version of BS7671 was published 6 months earlier in March so all of the changes were known about for months before.
Looks like someone just using up obsolete end of line stuff that was on sale cheap in B&Q or similar.

It's also missing surge protection, and with almost everything on a single RCD, good luck with that when something goes wrong.

 

[dusto66]

Regulations, BS7671 is not law.

If that was installed in August 2022, then it complied at the time as the new version of BS7671 did not apply until 27 September 2022.
It's still a very poor effort, as the new version of BS7671 was published 6 months earlier in March so all of the changes were known about for months before.
Looks like someone just using up obsolete end of line stuff that was on sale cheap in B&Q or similar.

It's also missing surge protection, and with almost everything on a single RCD, good luck with that when something goes wrong.

Ok thanks a lot

 

[SUNRAY]

Hi.
Slightly long story short..
I'm on eco7 and used to have 2 storage heaters in my 1 bed flat.
I removed the storage heaters and I'm wondering if it's possible to replace the FCU that they were connected to with just a standard socket so I can make use of my night time tariff by connecting a
2KW oil heater in the off peak circuit.

Hope this makes sense.


Cheers

This is starting to sound like a nightmare,
did you remove the storage heaters with your landlords permission?
did he consult his EPC inspector? This has potentially made the property unrentable.

It's good for you this illegal work was commissioned by a landlord,
I expect it has been done on the cheap like so many rental jobs.
Is the electricity account in your name?
Is there a managing agent? They can be useful as mediators when sorting out a mess like this. I'd ask them for a copy of all the documentation applicable to the CU change.