Consumer unit replacement in Christchurch

Where the board is in a bungalow

In a lot of Christchurch bungalows the board is somewhere inconvenient: high in a hallway cupboard, above a worktop, or tucked behind a coat rail. That matters more than it sounds, because a board you cannot reach is a board nobody tests and nobody resets in the dark.

Moving it is usually possible. It adds cable work, so it is a trade-off rather than a free choice, and I will price both options and let you decide rather than quietly putting the new one back where the old one was.

Second boards left by old extensions

Properties that were extended decades ago often have two boards: the original, and a smaller one added for the extension, the garage or an annexe. One normally feeds the other, which means the order of isolation matters and that turning off what you think is everything sometimes is not.

Sorting that out is part of the job, not an extra. Whether the answer is one board or two depends on the distances involved, and either way you should end up knowing which one does what.

If the property has been standing empty

An empty house is worth testing before it is brought fully back into use rather than after. Damp finds its way into outside sockets and unused circuits, and the sensible order is to establish what is sound with instruments first, not by switching everything on and seeing what trips.

It usually costs less than people expect, because an empty property is the easiest kind to work in.

Labelled properly at the end

Every way on a new board should say what it actually feeds, not what somebody guessed, with the spare capacity noted. It takes a few extra minutes at the end of the job and saves the next person — which might be you in ten years, or whoever buys the place — a great deal of time. You get the certificate for the work as well, which is what a buyer’s solicitor will ask for.