How much might a new consumer unit cost me?

[rflook]

Hi, hoping I am posting to the right place.

We are looking at doing up our new house with some serious renovations to our kitchen. When we looked at the consumer unit, it was pretty clear that it was both ancient and had been added to/extended many times. We are pretty sure that if we are going to get a new kitchen with new appliances that we will need to replace it and maybe (a friend mentioned this) getting the kitchen main ringed off.

Would anyone be able to give me a rough idea how much this might cost. I have attached an image to give you an idea of the current situation. Any advice gratefully received.

 

[Sidney]

First of all I would employ an electrician to come round and carry out a periodic inspection to ascertain the condition of your installation. Only then can you get a true indication of any potential problems and how to proceed.

Depending on location and what type of board/protection you go for it could be anywhere between £250 and £800...

 

[Doc Hudson]

Welcome to the forum,. The simple part of your question is that the physical Consumer unit with its associated protective devices to give overload and shock protection for all circuits (MCB's and  RCD's)  will probably be somewhere between £75 to £125 based on current screwfix prices, dependant upon preferred choicer of manufacturer.  But to replace a fuse box would also need the following;

1/ verification that all earthing and bonding is compliant with current regulations.

2/ confirmation that all of the circuit cables are electrically sound in terms of polarity, continuity and integrity of the insulation.  (this requires full testing of all circuits, I would allow approx half hour per circuit, to identify and test what accessories each fuse actually supplies)

3/ a full BS761 electrical certificate with a signed declaration saying it complies with current wiring regulations should be supplied.

4/ a building regulation compliance certificate should also be supplied for the new fusebox.

So realistically it will be labour plus fusebox, plus any additional bonding cables, plug screws fixings & connectors to extend any of the existing cables that are too short to reach the connections in the new fusebox.

I would guess we are talking at least £450 as a starting cost, depending upon where you are in the country.

Doc H. 

 

[Rob.]

It may cost you the price of you and your family's lives though if done incorrectly and not tested.

May sound a little blunt, but keep it in mind when getting quotes. If one is a lot less than the others, there's a reason.

 

[Murdoch]

Welcome to the forum,. The simple part of your question is that the physical Consumer unit with its associated protective devices to give overload and shock protection for all circuits (MCB's and  RCD's)  will probably be somewhere between £75 to £125 based on current screwfix prices, dependant upon preferred choicer of manufacturer.  But to replace a fuse box would also need the following;

1/ verification that all earthing and bonding is compliant with current regulations.

2/ confirmation that all of the circuit cables are electrically sound in terms of polarity, continuity and integrity of the insulation.  (this requires full testing of all circuits, I would allow approx half hour per circuit, to identify and test what accessories each fuse actually supplies)

3/ a full BS761 electrical certificate with a signed declaration saying it complies with current wiring regulations should be supplied.

4/ a building regulation compliance certificate should also be supplied for the new fusebox.

So realistically it will be labour plus fusebox, plus any additional bonding cables, plug screws fixings & connectors to extend any of the existing cables that are too short to reach the connections in the new fusebox.

I would guess we are talking at least £450 as a starting cost, depending upon where you are in the country.

Doc H. 

Which is a very misleading statement .............. I never fit dual RCD boards and prefer the solution of a board with RCBO's which means the initial outlay is higher, but when a fault is detected, only 1 circuit would trip and means any time and costs for tracing a fault would be less.

A building regulation compliance certificate if more commonly refereed to as a Part P certificate - this applies to England and Wales

The OP is London based so I would say the prices could well be higher ................ much higher if he gets Pimlico round!

 

[Doc Hudson]

Which is a very misleading statement .............. I never fit dual RCD boards and prefer the solution of a board with RCBO's which means the initial outlay is higher, but when a fault is detected, only 1 circuit would trip and means any time and costs for tracing a fault would be less.

Very misleading? I don't think so, I never mentioned a Dual RCD board either? There is what looks like a perfectly good and serviceable small CU to the left of the picture, and I don't know how many circuits are actually inside the Wylex item that needs replacing, so I took an initial guess a six. And as you can get a twelve module unit, equipped with six RCBO's from Electricfix £114.99. [Note: The Screwfix price is quoted higher than Electricfix]  https://www.screwfix.com/p/british-general-12-module-6-way-populated-main-switch-consumer-unit/1460x  It is possible that this may be adequate. Not sure where you read the OP say they were in London? But as they were only asking for rough ideas of what it might cost, not an actual quote to do the work, and I thought Electricfix prices are the same nationally, without any geographic adjustments, its hardly "Very misleading"  when both a dual RCD board or a 6x RCBO equipped board are within the figures I quoted and as I said it was a "starting cost, depending upon where you are in the country".   possibly you didn't read all of my post?

Doc H.

 

[Murdoch]

Very misleading? I don't think so, I never mentioned a Dual RCD board either? There is what looks like a perfectly good and serviceable small CU to the left of the picture, and I don't know how many circuits are actually inside the Wylex item that needs replacing, so I took an initial guess a six. And as you can get a twelve module unit, equipped with six RCBO's from Electricfix £114.99. [Note: The Screwfix price is quoted higher than Electricfix]  https://www.screwfix.com/p/british-general-12-module-6-way-populated-main-switch-consumer-unit/1460x  It is possible that this may be adequate. Not sure where you read the OP say they were in London? But as they were only asking for rough ideas of what it might cost, not an actual quote to do the work, and I thought Electricfix prices are the same nationally, without any geographic adjustments, its hardly "Very misleading"  when both a dual RCD board or a 6x RCBO equipped board are within the figures I quoted and as I said it was a "starting cost, depending upon where you are in the country".   possibly you didn't read all of my post?

Doc H.

Don't agree.

We've disagreed on pricing before and people get ideas off the net which aren't realistic

Some people need to earn a decent living and some are cruising to retirement, mortgage paid off , kids left home etc

Then there are the massive regional variances ..... The op is I London ...

 

[ProDave]

Don't agree.

We've disagreed on pricing before and people get ideas off the net which aren't realistic

Some people need to earn a decent living and some are cruising to retirement, mortgage paid off , kids left home etc

Then there are the massive regional variances ..... The op is I London ...

What I think we can all agree on is the time the job will take.

Unless there are major issues to correct, I suspect most of us could do this in a day. The fact someone has already fitted a second CU hopefully means all earth bonding etc was updated then. If that is true then it's just a matter of testing what is there, correcting any faults and changing the CU which I believe most would do in a day.

So it comes down to what do people need to earn in a day which is a very regional thing, but probably £300 for a days labour is fair for most of us, so allowing for parts that is a £450 job so the Doc is bang on with his estimate. Unless of course there are loads of faults with the existing wiring and the job will take longer and cost more. And of course if you are in central London with no parking, congestion charge to pay etc then it will cost more.

 

[kerching]

As said before .....go for a board with an individual RCBO per circuit

split/dual,RCD boards are the work of the Devil and in my blinkered, bigoted, Intolerant, opinion ( based upon very little knowledge of things electrical, compared to certain people who seem know it all) are non compliant. Other opinions are available on the subject but are in my opinion wrong.

and yes....I am having another bad day

 

[Sharpend]

Ok we'll assume that every day is a bad day in kerchings world please only advise if a good day occurs!! 

 

[Murdoch]

 Not sure where you read the OP say they were in London?

On another forum he posted an identical post and photo on ..............

 

[ProDave]

On another forum he posted an identical post and photo on ..............

and what answer did he get?

 

[Zeespark]

Depending on where in London (Congestion Zone) you are or not, you would be looking at £60 - £80 alone, never mind other overheads.

Andy Guinness

 

[kerching]

Ok we'll assume that every day is a bad day in kerchings world please only advise if a good day occurs!! 

Could be a long wait...But it's getting better!

even managed to get out of the house today

 

[Tony S]

I really hate this type of thread, asking a complete stranger (although a qualified electrician) to give a price on an unknown job is an impossible task.

 

[Evans Electric]

rflook,  get a couple of local  electricians in to quote .  Apparently you're in London  so  most members on here  wouldn't be interested anyway to be honest .  

 

[Murdoch]

and what answer did he get?

A variety of responses from £600 to £1000

I suggested getting local sparks via recommendation to come and take a look

I find "internet" enquiries where people "demand" prices over the phone without seeing a job simply madness. The only thing I will price over the phone is PAT testing and my minimum charge.....

The poster has viewed the "other" thread later last night but not provided any feedback .............. as yet

 

[binky]

the old board defo needs replacing - it looks like a wooden backed Wylex, which is now regarded as a fire risk. 

I also much prefer to fit a board with RCBOs - costs more, but is so much less hassle when anything goes wrong in X years time and makes nuisance trips from appliances a lot less annoying or lileky to happen. 

 

[kerching]

I really hate this type of thread, asking a complete stranger (although a qualified electrician) to give a price on an unknown job is an impossible task.

I like the ones that want a fixed quote for repairing a fault that you have yet to find 

example 1).......Press Brake not working

time to diagnose and isolate fault   4 hours

materials.  £5

travel,time 14 hours

hotel

mileage etc

example 2)......time to diagnose and isolate fault 10 minutes

materials.   Approx £4k

travel,time 2 hours

some folk have no idea

 

[Evans Electric]

it looks like a wooden backed Wylex, which is now regarded as a fire risk. 

I understand what you're saying there Binky ...it prompts me to ask .....how many of us on here have witnessed  a wooden Wylex actually igniting  or suffering heat damage ?   (  To the wood not the plastic)