- Look for a unit that has been tested and approved by an accredited body.
- Consider your home’s design when selecting a new consumer unit.
- Check if the existing wiring in your house is still up to date – it may be more expensive to rewire than just buying a new 18th Edition Consumer Unit.
- Make sure that the breaker on the new unit matches those in your current panel.
- Look for units with an energy efficiency rating of A or B
- Consider installing a unit with built-in surge protection, which can help prevent power surges from damaging appliances and electronics in your home.
- Keep in mind that there will always be some wires running through walls when installing an electrical consumer unit so make sure there is enough space for installation.
- If hiring a professional electrician, be sure they are licensed and insured. Book NICEIC Qualified Contractor Today.
Introduction
In the UK, any electrical installation that is over 50 amps requires an 18th Edition Consumer Unit RCD Protection. This blog post will cover what you need to know about these safety devices and how they protect your home or office from being shocked.
This blog post will be a walk-through of everything you should know before deciding on which brand and model of 18th edition consumer unit RCD protection device to purchase. We’ll also go over some helpful tips for choosing an appropriate device based on your needs so that you can keep yourself safe while keeping costs in mind.
1 Look for a unit that has been tested and approved by an accredited body.
There are several factors to consider when choosing a suitable 18th edition consumer unit, and the first factor is, to choose a tested and approved unit.
It’s crucial to know the fact that all the new 18th edition installations must be designed and installed based on the regulation. More accurately, the consumer unit you pick must be configured and designed in the right way and with the right devices. According to AFDDs regulation, section 421.1.7 includes that all devices must be configured correctly.
The second factor is to consider the safety of your home from fire damages that could cause a wrong circuit or installation.
It’s vital to you to purchase a device configured with the correct devices. In addition, the consumer unit you choose must be tested and approved by the RCD under the regulation of 411.3.3.
2 Consider your home’s design when selecting a new consumer unit.
It’s highly recommended to know what type and size of the consumer unit you want, and how it will fit in your home.
Commonly, many people buy their consumer unit and when it comes to installing it they find that the size of the unit they just bought won’t fit in.
Therefore, my second tip is to know your house designs, walls and choose a consumer unit that fits.
3 Check if the existing wiring in your house is still up to date – it may be more expensive to rewire than just buying a new 18th Edition Consumer Unit.
Before choosing a new 18th edition consumer unit, it’s advised to make a wiring inspection, because if your wiring system in your home isn’t up to date you will have serious problems such as:
- Your wiring system is not safe according to the wiring regulation, which may leave your consumer unit circuit vulnerable to overload and earth leakage.
- If it’s outdated, you may feel that your RCD is tripping, and that could be the result of a false circuit.
- Renewing the wiring system of your home may be more expensive than you think, at this point, it’s advised to make a periodic inspection to avoid such complications.
4 Make sure that the breaker on the new unit matches those in your current panel.
To install a new 18th edition consumer in your house having a match between the consumer unit breaker and your current panel’s matter. In many accidents, outdated panels and unmatched panels are the first reason that causes fire accidents.
If the breaker doesn’t match your property panel, not only will it cause serious electrical problems, you will face financial and health problems.
What an outdated panel could cause
- The purpose of your panels is to prevent fire, but if you have unmatched or outdated panels their purpose is completely defeated.
- If the breaker of the new 18th consumer unit doesn’t match your panel you will notice that your light is flickering all the time
- Your breaker will trip since your panels can’t support your home electrical needs
- You will notice burn marks on your breaker box as a result of the overheat.
5 Look for units with an energy efficiency rating of A or B.
It is important for you to buy an 18th edition consumer unit with an energy efficiency appliance rating A or B, the most preferred A.
On the efficiency rating, A is the more efficient and B is lesser, It’s another reason to look for A efficiency energy rating.
The purpose of having an A or B efficiency energy rating in a consumer unit is to decrease your household energy consumption while obtaining the same function. You will be able to consume less energy compared to regular consumer units.
The benefits of having a consumer unit with higher efficiency energy rating are enormous. For starters, it conserves your energy and reduces utility bills, which we all know installing a new consumer unit may get costly.
It saves money and improves your financial and physical health.
And the most important part in improving your quality of life and your household value, in a chance you chose to put your home on the market for sale.
6 Consider installing a unit with built-in surge protection, which can help prevent power surges from damaging appliances and electronics in your home.
Another thing to consider before choosing the right 18th edition consumer unit is to find a unit built with surge protection. If you don’t know what it means and what it does, it is okay.
If your new consumer unit is built with surge protection it will prevent your appliance from getting damaged.
How is that?
First, as the name implies a surge protector helps your consumer unite and protect it from power surges. For example, if the voltage of your home increases, the potential of facing fire accidents is high. That’s when a surge protector role will be, to protect your united consumer from electrical damages and accidents.
Here are set of examples and benefits of installing an 18 edition consumer unit with a surge protector:
- Protect your consumer unit from power surges
- Protect your appliance
- Prevent potential electrical damages
- Protect your HVAC system
- Saves money
7 Keep in mind that there will always be some wires running through walls when installing an electrical consumer unit so make sure there is enough space for installation.
At this point there are two major aspects to consider, the first one is where your consumer unit should be installed. According to the regulation, your consumer unit must be installed in an overlooked place but easy to reach and that’s for your safety concerns.
The second section is to have enough space in the place you choose, and that’s according to the wiring system regulation. Section 314 suggests that installation for an electrical consumer must be divided, and the only way to do that is to have sufficient space.
Careful consideration of where you should install your new 18 edition consumer unit is required for your protection.
8 If hiring a professional electrician, be sure they are licensed and insured.
It’s important for you to avoid installing a new consumer unit edition on your own, and that’s for many reasons. It’s the single and the most important thing to hire a qualified electrical contractor.
Keep in mind that a professional electrician from NICEIC or NAPIT is a qualified one, and he is mostly aware of all electrician issues that could surprise you. A qualified contractor is well known of the UK wiring regulation that requires all circuits must be protected from overload and earth leakage.
