A consumer unit above the kitchen ceiling, really!

[Vortigern]

Call out today, RFC dead in kitchen. Owner had switched all the switches on but rfc still off could not figure it out so called me to sort it. Looked everywhere, it was apparent there was another CU somewhere (to me) Owner insistent there was not as he knew the house and there was no way there was another one. Had to insist there was. Noticed hatch in ceiling in kitchen, lo and behold the impossible was true. Owner actually admitted he was thinking how dare I come in his house and suggest I knew more about it than him. It was quite comical really. Never seen this before. Still mystified as to the thinking. It was a sub-main off of a sub-main. Offered to put everything into one for circa £600, didn't say no didn't say yes....

 

[davesparks]

I'd love to say it's the first time I'd seen a CU above a ceiling hatch!

 

[MJPD29]

Wonder who came up with that fantastic idea. Had the owner lived there long?

 

[Dustydazzler]

I wonder which came first , the access hatch or the consumer unit....?

presumably this was for some kind of extension previous owners built

 

[ipf]

Not usual.....but not particularly unusual, either.
Is it an extension?
If it's properly protected, where's the problem.
Not very clear but that swa feed looks decent.

 

[Vortigern]

Well @ipf over forty years of going into houses for electrical work, in London, Scotland and the south west, I can say that is the first time for me, must have lead a sheltered life! Are you really saying you encounter that often????? Indeed it was an extension but all rewired (the whole house) at the same time so they could have put it all in one. Just odd, very odd. @Matthewd29, about a year but had put off looking into the hatch, until that fateful day I arrived.

 

[nicebutdim]

Must be no teenagers in that house - nosy buggers would have squeezed through that hatch on moving in day.

 

[Dustydazzler]

I can’t help but think that there must have been a better place to situate the sub board...
I personally wouldn’t be overly keen on a loft hatch in my kitchen ceiling

 

[ackbarthestar]

I know of two ext. CCUs tucked away in loft spaces. Several under the stairs - quite common in two up two downs, several in utility rooms, toilets, the best one is a PILC supply to a CCU half way up the bend on a staircase - needed a ladder and tressel to access it. More guidance is needed...lol

 

[Dustydazzler]

I know of two ext. CCUs tucked away in loft spaces. Several under the stairs - quite common in two up two downs, several in utility rooms, toilets, the best one is a PILC supply to a CCU half way up the bend on a staircase - needed a ladder and tressel to access it. More guidance is needed...lol

Changed loads of under the stairs fuse boxes , not too bad if you can sit and do it but had a few right in the foot of the stairs where you had to lay flat on your belly to reach it...

 

[telectrix]

I can’t help but think that there must have been a better place to situate the sub board...
I personally wouldn’t be overly keen on a loft hatch in my kitchen ceiling

loft hatch may be there for access to water pipes etc., as well as the CU. better a hatch than having to cut holes in ceiling.

 

[ipf]

I know of two ext. CCUs tucked away in loft spaces. Several under the stairs - quite common in two up two downs, several in utility rooms, toilets, the best one is a PILC supply to a CCU half way up the bend on a staircase - needed a ladder and tressel to access it. More guidance is needed...lol

Overhead supply, I take it?

 

[ackbarthestar]

Oh yes, completely forgot about the one that was hidden inside a fitted wardrobe. Access was inside the wardrobe after all the clothes had been removed. Then walk in turn left then left again and the CCU faced you in a small alcove above a small wall safe.
Supply to the house was overhead TT.
The previous owner of the house did not want to see any cables or wiring. The feed to the cooker went from the first floor, up past the second floor and disappeared into the roof space and then down the opposite wall to the ground.

 

[Gavin John Hyde]

Come across a 2 bed house in Bristol that was built on side of an existing semi where the garage used to be.
initially as a sort of granny annex for the mother in law. the consumer unit was in the original house next door fed via henley blocks...
At some point the houses had changed hands and were now rented out. called to a tripping shower circuit. no consumer unit to be found in the house. eventually worked out fed from next door. what amazed me was that they had changed hands been sold etc...
the current owner had bought them from his cousin, being a solicitor had handled all the paperwork themselves.which explains how the house was sold without a proper electric set up. as a sale between unrelated parties would have rang alarm bells with the solicitors and surveyors and likely non mortgage-able. the asian community in Bristol tends to be very insular i find

 

[Dustydazzler]

Come across a 2 bed house in Bristol that was built on side of an existing semi where the garage used to be.
initially as a sort of granny annex for the mother in law. the consumer unit was in the original house next door fed via henley blocks...
At some point the houses had changed hands and were now rented out. called to a tripping shower circuit. no consumer unit to be found in the house. eventually worked out fed from next door. what amazed me was that they had changed hands been sold etc...
the current owner had bought them from his cousin, being a solicitor had handled all the paperwork themselves.which explains how the house was sold without a proper electric set up. as a sale between unrelated parties would have rang alarm bells with the solicitors and surveyors and likely non mortgage-able. the asian community in Bristol tends to be very insular i find

I have once come across a house where it was originaly 1 big house , split in to 2 houses around 2010 , and house 2 was still fed via house 1 electric meter &consumer unit...
i was shocked the work had some how got through building control with a shared consumer unit

 

[Vortigern]

asian community in Bristol tends to be very insular i find

Last job I did, just finishing the certs, was a mosque in Bristol. There is a further extension to it as well which I will be doing. I do a lot of work for the Asian (and Black) community in Bristol and have done for the past thirty years.

 

[freddo]

There is one in a local house in the loft, the installer helpfully installed a switch and maintained emergency light near it so you could see even when the power was off.

 

[ackbarthestar]

There is one in a local house in the loft, the installer helpfully installed a switch and maintained emergency light near it so you could see even when the power was off.

I know you could install a plug in emergency light in a hagar CCU but then it would need to be in at least 16way to cope with all the other interesting plug-in accessories ...

 

[freddo]

I know you could install a plug in emergency light in a hagar CCU but then it would need to be in at least 16way to cope with all the other interesting plug-in accessories ...

Lol I have one of those, the light pulls out so you can use it as a torch!

 

[pirate]

Mother-in-law had a big old house split into 3, with 2 bedsits. She found a"torch" under the bed in one when the tenant left...it didn't light up when she pressed the switch, but it did buzz a lot...

 

[Zerax]

Mother-in-law had a big old house split into 3, with 2 bedsits. She found a"torch" under the bed in one when the tenant left...it didn't light up when she pressed the switch, but it did buzz a lot...

Probably a faulty one... no wonder it was discarded like that under the bed !

 

[pirate]

Actually, that was exactly what she thought...I didn't enlighten her!
I simply took it and said I would bin it...but gave it to her daughter instead...how we laughed!