Consumer units · Portsmouth
Consumer unit replacement in Portsmouth
Consumer unit and fuse board replacement across Portsmouth and Southsea, planned around where your board actually is.
- Both options priced where the board could move
- Planned around access and parking
- Free, no-obligation quotes
- NAPIT registeredRegistered competent electrician
- Fully insuredInsured on every job
- 15+ years' experiencePeter has been doing this a while
- Covering PO1–PO6Local to you
Where the board tends to be
In Portsmouth the board is usually in one of three places: under the stairs, in a cupboard by the front door, or in a meter box on the front wall. Which one it is changes the job more than people expect. A board in a shallow cupboard leaves little room to work and even less to add to later. A board in an outside box is weatherproof but awkward to reach when you need to reset something in the dark.
Tell me which of those you have and I can picture the job before I arrive. If you are not sure, a sentence describing it is plenty.
When the meter and the board are not together
Plenty of terraces here have the meter at the front and the board somewhere else entirely, with a long run of tails between them. That is not a fault in itself, but it does affect a replacement: the new board either goes back where the old one was, or moves closer to the supply, and the second option means new cable rather than a simple swap.
Both are legitimate. Which is sensible depends on the length of the run and where you actually want to be standing when something trips, and you will get the price for each rather than a decision made for you.
If you rent the flat, or let it
A board change is work on the building’s fixed wiring, so the person who owns the installation has to be the one who agrees to it. If you rent, that means your landlord or their agent instructs it, even where you are the one who noticed the problem — and I am happy to be the electrician they ring.
If you are the landlord, the useful thing is to tell me at the start who is living there and who holds keys, because a full day with the power off has to suit them as well as you.
Planning the day
A board change is most of a day with the supply off for a good part of it, and the van needs to be close enough to carry materials in and out. On a Portsmouth street with residents’ parking, a visitor permit for that day is the difference between a straightforward job and one that starts with twenty minutes of circling.
Sort that out when you book rather than on the morning, and tell me if anything in the property cannot lose power for long — a freezer, a home office, medical equipment. That changes the order I work in, not the price.
Questions
Consumer unit questions from Portsmouth
The board is in an outside meter box. Is that a problem?
Not a problem, just a different job. The enclosure has to suit being outside, and I will check the condition of the box and the tails while I am there rather than fitting a new board into a housing that is past it.
Can the board be moved somewhere more sensible?
Often, yes. It means new cable between the supply and the new position, so it costs more than a straight swap. You will get both prices and can decide whether the convenience is worth it.
I rent. Can I just book it myself?
You can ask me to look, but the work itself needs your landlord or their agent to instruct it, because it is their installation. Pass my details on and I will deal with them directly.
Do I need a parking permit for you?
On most streets here it helps a great deal. A visitor permit for the day means the van is outside rather than three roads away, which saves time you would otherwise be paying for.
Related
Where to next
Board needs doing in Portsmouth?
Tell me where it is and I will tell you what the job involves.