Consumer units · Poole
Consumer unit replacement in Poole
Consumer unit and fuse board work across Poole — including whether yours needs replacing at all.
- Smaller options ruled out first
- Planned around building work
- Free, no-obligation quotes
- NAPIT registeredRegistered competent electrician
- Fully insuredInsured on every job
- 15+ years' experiencePeter has been doing this a while
- Poole, Bournemouth & ChristchurchLocal to you
Keeping the board you have
Not every board that is bothering you needs replacing. A single breaker that has failed can be changed. A board with no RCD protection can sometimes have it added rather than be swapped wholesale. A spare way that has never been used can take a new circuit without anything else changing.
Where that stops being true is when parts are no longer made for your board, or when what you actually want is protection the board cannot provide. Then replacing is the cheaper answer over any sensible length of time, and I will say so plainly rather than selling you a part that solves half of it.
When new work forces the decision
A lot of Poole board changes are not really about the board. They happen because something else is being built: an extension, a garden room, a new kitchen, a shower. New circuits have to be protected to current standards and they need somewhere to go, and if the board is full or cannot provide that protection, it becomes part of the job.
That is worth knowing early, because it changes the order of work. The wiring goes in before the walls close, the board change sits best once those cables are in and before decorating, and the certificate for the new work comes out of the same visit. Tell me the builder’s dates and I will fit around them.
Supplies to garages and garden rooms
Running power to an outbuilding is the most common way people discover their board is full. The circuit itself is straightforward — armoured cable, its own protection, tested and certificated. The question is whether there is a way spare for it. If there is not, doing the circuit and the board together costs less than doing them a year apart.
One visit or two
Most board changes are a single visit: power off for a good part of the day, new board fitted, everything tested, certificate issued. Occasionally it needs two, and the reason is almost always the supply rather than the board — an old service head, or a main fuse that has to be pulled by the network operator rather than by me. That is arranged, not improvised, so I would rather find it at the quoting visit than on the morning.
Questions
Consumer unit questions from Poole
Can a board be repaired rather than replaced?
Sometimes, and it is worth asking. A failed breaker or missing protection can often be dealt with on its own if the board itself is sound and parts are still available. Where parts are obsolete, replacing works out cheaper over time.
The builder wants the board done before plastering. Is that right?
Broadly, yes. New cables go in before the walls are closed up, and the board is best changed once they are in place but before decorating. Give me the programme and I will work to it.
Will the network operator need to come out?
Occasionally. If the main fuse has to be pulled and the seal is theirs, that is arranged in advance rather than done on the day. I will tell you at the quoting visit whether yours is one of those.
We want a garden office. Will the board take it?
It depends what is spare and how the supply is arranged. If there is no room, the new circuit and the board become one job — which is usually cheaper than doing them a year apart.
Related
Where to next
Not sure whether it needs replacing?
Tell me what the board is doing and what you have planned, and I will give you the honest answer.