"Pretty" or "Smart" consumer unit options.

[mrwkuk]

Disclaimer: Not a pro sparky, so i have no intention of doing this myself, but I am looking for options that I can then take to someone qualified.

I am looking to replace the consumer unit in our house for a number of reasons, and its location means that it is directly visible by anyone coming into the house. As such I would like something thats a little more cosmetically pleasing than the normal consumer unit. If it can intergrate smart features too, that would be a bonus.

It needs to be at least a 12 way unit. A neat flush mounting unit might work, but that will require some alerations to the construction, so a good looking surface mount unit would be better.
Ideally it would be vertically orientated as the space the current unit is in is quite slim ( ~320mm) but quite tall (~650mm) with a bit of wiggle room.

I was spurred to look for better options after seeing a video about the US smart panel made by span: SPAN® Home | Electrify your life - https://www.span.io/ however after spending a couple of hours looking there doesnt appear to be anything even slightly similar in the UK, and definitely not with any smart features.

The best I can find is the regular, but smart looking, Schneider Easy 9 Plus, but thats a bit big for my available space unless it was mounted at 90 degrees. The Easy 9 Multi-Row might work, but doesnt look as good.

So my questions are two fold:

Firstly, does anyone have any suggestions of any options that are out there that look better than a regular wylex or whatever, and/or have any smart features? (power monitoring, remote control, etc).

Secondly, does anyone know if there is any reason a regular consumer unit cant be mounted at 90 degrees? (Its not like the electrons are going to spill out)

Thanks.

 

[DefyG]

The Contactum Defender 2 range is quite aesthetically pleasing in the surface and flush mount models although not sure of the dimensions of a 12way unit.

 

[SJD]

Perhaps look at dual row consumer units.

Hager make a few, here is just one example that is 299mm wide:

8 + 10 Dual Row Dual 100A RCD Split Load Metal Clad Consumer Unit

8 + 10 way split load consumer unit

www.cef.co.uk

 

[littlespark]

Is it the easy9 that has a magnet on the badge, so it can be turned 90’ and badge can still be right way up?

The door cover is perfectly flat, and again I think it can be painted to match wall decoration.

Is that 12 outgoing ways? Add another 2 for an SPD if required… and any Smart features may take up spare ways too.

What Smart functions do you need?

 

[kropaske]

Another option would be Hager Design 50. It's great looking one. Can't see a problem installing it sideways as long as manual does not prohibit it. Just need labelling correctly especially main switch.

12 Way 100A Switch SPD Flush • VSR112SPD | Hager

Find products, 12 Way 100A Switch Type 2 SPD and more on Hager United Kingdom

hager.com

 

[kropaske]

What Smart functions do you need?

Switching individual circuits and main switch on/off with your phone, that would be great feature...

 

[DPG]

Switching individual circuits and main switch on/off with your phone, that would be great feature...

Why would you want to switch circuits or main switch off with your phone?

 

[Electro-tech]

I don't think Alexa would be up for that yet.

 

[nicebutdim]

Why would you want to switch circuits or main switch off with your phone?

Help to teach kids about turning lights off?

 

[pc1966]

Being able to monitor each circuit's usage would be nice but possibly not worth the cost of doing so. I think Schneider has some option along those lines but from dim memory at one recent show it was over £100 per device.

 

[pc1966]

Secondly, does anyone know if there is any reason a regular consumer unit cant be mounted at 90 degrees? (Its not like the electrons are going to spill out)

The main issue is fire containment.

A lot of CU have covers designed to close under gravity and they would not be acceptable in odd orientations, however, others that have some sort of catch or magnet might be acceptable. Checking the manufacturer's instructions would be important.

 

[DefyG]

You could fit one of these, adapted for single phase usage. Plenty of room for 'smart accessories)

 

[kropaske]

Why would you want to switch circuits or main switch off with your phone?

You could set up some automation to have some circuits disconnected during night, when at work or away, that could potentially save you hundreds of pounds a year by not wasting your energy to keep unnecessary stuff on standby.

 

[davesparks]

You could set up some automation to have some circuits disconnected during night, when at work or away, that could potentially save you hundreds of pounds a year by not wasting your energy to keep unnecessary stuff on standby.

The same can be achieved by turning things off when they are not in use.

 

[DPG]

You could set up some automation to have some circuits disconnected during night, when at work or away, that could potentially save you hundreds of pounds a year by not wasting your energy to keep unnecessary stuff on standby.

This would be better done with snart sockets and smart switches. You don't really want to be switching RCBOs on and off remotely.

 

[kropaske]

The same can be achieved by turning things off when they are not in use.

It can but if I have a choice between me going around the house switching things off before I go to work or sleep or setup a device that will do all that for me, i choose the latter

This would be better done with snart sockets and smart switches.

Yep, that would be another way of automation

You don't really want to be switching RCBOs on and off remotely.

We will have to wait and see if they actually invent such device

 

[davesparks]

It can but if I have a choice between me going around the house switching things off before I go to work or sleep or setup a device that will do all that for me, i choose the latter

Just turn it off when you finish using it.

We will have to wait and see if they actually invent such device

Wait? Such devices have existed for a long time. Motor operated circuit breakers or auto-reclosers have been around for years.

 

[DPG]

It can but if I have a choice between me going around the house switching things off before I go to work or sleep or setup a device that will do all that for me, i choose the latter


Yep, that would be another way of automation



We will have to wait and see if they actually invent such device

I don't think there's much demand for a domestic RCBO that you can switch off remotely. In any case, it's not good practice to use such a device for frequent switching.

And a remote mains switch is fine until you remotely switch it off, kill the whole installation and can't switch things back on again until you get back home to flick the switch.

Remotely controlled smart switches and sockets are the way to go.

Having said that, I do think consumer units with built-in power monitoring per circuit are a good idea.

 

[Taylortwocities]

You can add smart features to an electrical installation, even integrate them in the CU.
Have a look at the Shelly range. This may be of particular interest.

Shelly Pro 1 | Shelly Store UK | Smart Home Automation

Purchase Shelly Pro 1 from the only Shelly authorised reseller in the UK. Shop Wi-Fi smart home automation now!

shellystore.co.uk

 

[mrwkuk]

Perhaps look at dual row consumer units.

Hager make a few, here is just one example that is 299mm wide:

8 + 10 Dual Row Dual 100A RCD Split Load Metal Clad Consumer Unit

8 + 10 way split load consumer unit

www.cef.co.uk

These are already on my list of maybes. Multi row gives a fair bit more flexibility space wise.

Is it the easy9 that has a magnet on the badge, so it can be turned 90’ and badge can still be right way up?

The door cover is perfectly flat, and again I think it can be painted to match wall decoration.

Is that 12 outgoing ways? Add another 2 for an SPD if required… and any Smart features may take up spare ways too.

What Smart functions do you need?

It is, but theres no mention of 90° rotation, only 180.

The number of total ways needed are still up in the air. I am contemplating moving to a more european style radial system per room rather than the traditional UK "ring" system. Being able to isolate discrete areas seems to make a lot more sense to me than isolating entire floors of your house. If we do that, then we will need at least 20 breakers (MCBs or RCBOS), plus another 3 or 4 spaces for the main breaker and SPD. And a couple of spare ways for smart modules (see below, in response to Taylor).

I mostly want to be able to monitor circuit usage, but depending how clever the hardware is, real time readings of things like residual current leakage, or any other fault indicators would be useful but not essential. I dont really need the ability to switch things as I do that already at a more granular level, but as others have mentioned, it could be good to be able to isolate high power items at times. The ability to cut power to specific areas in response to water, or smoke/fire, sensors would also be beneficial. But obviously not something I would rely on. Just an extra safety feature, along side proper accredited alarms.

Another option would be Hager Design 50. It's great looking one. Can't see a problem installing it sideways as long as manual does not prohibit it. Just need labelling correctly especially main switch.

12 Way 100A Switch SPD Flush • VSR112SPD | Hager

Find products, 12 Way 100A Switch Type 2 SPD and more on Hager United Kingdom

hager.com

These are better than most but I'm not a big fan of the kind of "bubble" design. I would prefer something a bit more squared away.

The main issue is fire containment.

A lot of CU have covers designed to close under gravity and they would not be acceptable in odd orientations, however, others that have some sort of catch or magnet might be acceptable. Checking the manufacturer's instructions would be important.

I hadnt considered the CU fire aspect. But I would imagine thats mostly contained inside the metal CU itself isnt it ? Definitely an aspect i will have a read up about.

You can add smart features to an electrical installation, even integrate them in the CU.
Have a look at the Shelly range. This may be of particular interest.

Shelly Pro 1 | Shelly Store UK | Smart Home Automation

Purchase Shelly Pro 1 from the only Shelly authorised reseller in the UK. Shop Wi-Fi smart home automation now!

shellystore.co.uk

Yes, I do already have a lot of shelly hardware installed around the house for more discrete control, and I am a member of their FB group so I am aware of their pros and cons. The problem with going with the pro's is that you do also need an RCBO for each circuit as well. Effectively doubling your space requirements. Also I understand they get quite hot, so its preferable to space them out a bit if you can making the space requirements even worse. If i were to install the quantity I am considering (for a radial setup mentioned above) it would need around 50-60 spaces in the CU to accomodate everything with that kind of install. That would definitely require a multi-row panel. Probably a 3 or 4 way one. Not withstanding the cost. I might install a couple of them, but I dont think a full-smart system is really practical with these.


Thanks all for your responses so far. If you have any other suggestions they would be greatly appreciated.

 

[MJPD29]

Smart real time data on earth leakage current etc is absolutley available right now as I'm have recently installed such devices but in a domestic setting they are a huge cost if going one per circuit etc, as will wiring radial per room which really isn't nessecary imo

 

[pc1966]

Smart real time data on earth leakage current etc is absolutely available right now as I'm have recently installed such devices but in a domestic setting they are a huge cost if going one per circuit etc, as will wiring radial per room which really isn't necessary imo

What module, etc, was that?

The only ones I have seen at the rather expensive adjustable EL add-ons for tripping MCB/MCCB where they give you an idea of how close to threshold it is running.

 

[MJPD29]

I'll take details and a few photos of it tomorrow for you as I'll be headed back to site. Was supplied to me to be fitted on a bank of 200kw EV chargers due to recent issues with tripping. Didn't set up smart side but seen their remote monitoring for it, looks a decent bit of kit.

 

[mrwkuk]

Smart real time data on earth leakage current etc is absolutley available right now as I'm have recently installed such devices but in a domestic setting they are a huge cost if going one per circuit etc, as will wiring radial per room which really isn't nessecary imo

Of course its not nessecary. Neither are RCBOs, or AFDDs. RCDs are fine (at the moment, until the regs madate otherwise). But like RCBOs, Radials give you more granularity of control over your power, and make isolating faults a lot easier and mean you can have lower rated breakers in the CU which is safer. Yes it costs more, but its a one-off cost for an ongoing benefit.

Ring mains are primarily a legacy configuration from cabling resource limitations of post-war britain. Most eu countries, where those limitations never happened, have radials everywhere instead because they just make more sense.

As I said though, I am not definitely doing that, but I am considering it, subject to discussion with whichever spark i get to do the work.

 

[pc1966]

Ring mains are primarily a legacy configuration from cabling resource limitations of post-war britain. Most eu countries, where those limitations never happened, have radials everywhere instead because they just make more sense.

It is more complicated than that.

The difference is we have fused plugs. So we can have a 32A supply and still use 0.75mm cables to appliances quite safely (even 0.5mm with a 3A fuse) and the added diversity means we can typically have more sockets and appliances than the x1.5-2 factor in supply rating w.r.t. EU radials suggests.

Given the high cost of AFDD the RFC might be quite a saving! True it wont detect a serial break but then that is not arcing enough to be detectable and the evidence from widespread use suggests it is not a common fire risk.

Also the RFC has greater fault tolerance due to the two connections of the CPC at each point, sadly tested by many builders & DIY modifications, and in the days before RCD were common that helped reduce the risk of an open CPC causing a fatal shock.

However, the prevalence of TN supply in the UK along with the historical insistence on reliable polarity (i.e. neutral really is the one referenced to Earth) and prompt disconnection on earth faults (due to design for worst-case fault current and over-current protection) also meant RCD were a bit slower to appear in the UK. Much of the EU was on TT supply where RCD are often the only reliable means of disconnection, so that pushed faster adoption there.

 

[davesparks]

But like RCBOs, Radials give you more granularity of control over your power, and make isolating faults a lot easier

Instead of spending money on the cost of installing a lot of radials you could spend money on a good electrician and prevent faults by having a good quality installation.

Breaking an installation down to help isolate faults suggests an assumption or acceptance that the installation will be susceptible to faults and faults will happen. A better attitude would be to have a good quality installation which is inherently far less likely to suffer a fault.

and mean you can have lower rated breakers in the CU which is safer.

Lower rated breakers are not safer! A good quality installation is safer.
A properly installed 63A circuit will be far safer than an improperly installed 6A circuit.

 

[mrwkuk]

Breaking an installation down to help isolate faults suggests an assumption or acceptance that the installation will be susceptible to faults and faults will happen. A better attitude would be to have a good quality installation which is inherently far less likely to suffer a fault.

Fault finding is just one reasoning. Say, for example, we want to re-decorate a room. Its easier to isolate just that room, then we can pull the sockets, and switches off the wall and have at it without worry, than either isolating the whole floor, or not turning the power off at all, and just "being careful".

Or as someone else has suggested in this thread, maybe you wanted to just isolate part of the house that you arent using for power saving reasons. You would have to manully disconnect or power off all devices in that area.

It just seems logical, and safer, to me to be able to switch things off in more discrete chunks.

A good quality installation is safer.

Depends on what you are protecting against. A ring circuit offers less protection against overcurrent because they have to (by design) have a higher rated breaker. The much lower breaker on a radial means that in a worst case scenario (assuming a short in the socket, or some other over current situation that bypasses the local fuse in the plug) the radial would trip quicker than a ring main would.

Also things do degrade over time. It might not be an issue now but what if theres a water leak, rodent ingress, appliance fault, or workman damage, being able to just isolate a smaller area and make safe makes more sense than making the whole house uninhabitable until a sparky can come and fix it.

Ultimately I am aware all of these are edge cases. And I am not saying I AM going to switch to radials, but I am saying I can see a lot of benefits from doing so.

Regardless of that, I do still need a few extra circuits installed above and beyond what we already have, and I do still want to add a couple of smart modules at the very least. That will require a replacement/bigger CU which will be visible to everyone, so the original post still stands.

 

[littlespark]

What is on the other side of the wall? Possible to move the CU into another room, so it isn’t in view as you come into house?

You can make the CU as pretty as you like, but you might still see a great ugly distributors head, fuse, meter and tails.

What about a well made cabinet around it all?

 

[pc1966]

A ring circuit offers less protection against overcurrent because they have to (by design) have a higher rated breaker. The much lower breaker on a radial means that in a worst case scenario (assuming a short in the socket, or some other over current situation that bypasses the local fuse in the plug) the radial would trip quicker than a ring main would.

This is not true.

If correctly designed both situations (RFC or radial) will have sufficiently low fault impedance Zs such that the breaker hits the "instant" magnetic trip point and then it will disconnect in typically 10ms or less. The disconnection speed once in the magnetic trip fault zone (rather than thermal overload trip) is not very sensitive to the degree of over-current.

In all cases for a typical UK home on TN supply the design has to disconnect in under 0.4s under hard fault conditions and in the case of MCB (and related RCBO) that always means hitting the magnetic trip point. There is some difference if fault let-through energy between MCB ratings (see below) but surprisingly small, but again the basic principle of electrical design is the cable size has been selected to meet both the operational current and the worst-case fault condition's heating effects.

As @davesparks has already said the key is to have it correctly designed, installed and tested so it is known that everything is meeting the regulations and nothing has a loose / high-resistance connection or dodgy insulation. Oddly enough this is an aspect where the RFC is better as the figure-of-eight test is very sensitive to even small excess resistance since every socket should be identical during the test so spotting a bad joint or socket with a dodgy switch, etc, is easier.

If you want multiple circuits to allow rooms to be isolated individually, etc, then radial make more sense than the RFC which is better suited to a whole floor, etc, that naturally forms some sort of a loop, but to characterise the radial as safer is completely wrong.

 

[mrwkuk]

This is not true.

If correctly designed both situations (RFC or radial) will have sufficiently low fault impedance Zs such that the breaker hits the "instant" magnetic trip point and then it will disconnect in typically 10ms or less. The disconnection speed once in the magnetic trip fault zone (rather than thermal overload trip) is not very sensitive to the degree of over-current.

In all cases for a typical UK home on TN supply the design has to disconnect in under 0.4s under hard fault conditions and in the case of MCB (and related RCBO) that always means hitting the magnetic trip point. There is some difference if fault let-through energy between MCB ratings (see below) but surprisingly small, but again the basic principle of electrical design is the cable size has been selected to meet both the operational current and the worst-case fault condition's heating effects.

As @davesparks has already said the key is to have it correctly designed, installed and tested so it is known that everything is meeting the regulations and nothing has a loose / high-resistance connection or dodgy insulation. Oddly enough this is an aspect where the RFC is better as the figure-of-eight test is very sensitive to even small excess resistance since every socket should be identical during the test so spotting a bad joint or socket with a dodgy switch, etc, is easier.

If you want multiple circuits to allow rooms to be isolated individually, etc, then radial make more sense than the RFC which is better suited to a whole floor, etc, that naturally forms some sort of a loop, but to characterise the radial as safer is completely wrong.

View attachment 104770

Ok I mis-spoke, saying a ring will trip "quicker" was perhaps poor wording. Obviously the breakers will all break at similar speeds.

I meant that with an increasing current situation, a smaller breaker will trip at a lower current threshold, i.e. "sooner".

So the plugs are rated at 13a, if you plug in a device that (for whatever reason) doesnt break the fuse at 13a and pulls say 25a, a 16a or 20a radial will trip, but a 32a RFC wont. It will keep feeding the full 25a to a 13a socket (potentially overheating it and causing a fire).

In this, admittedly very unlikely, scenario a radial is "safer" than a ring because the design implies a lower rating of breaker and that gives less headroom for unexpectedly high loads.

 

[mrwkuk]

What is on the other side of the wall? Possible to move the CU into another room, so it isn’t in view as you come into house?

You can make the CU as pretty as you like, but you might still see a great ugly distributors head, fuse, meter and tails.

What about a well made cabinet around it all?

It could be possible. I hadnt considered that, but it would mean raising it up higher, meaning my partner couldnt access it in my absense.

All the meter and tails are in the cupboard outside, the only stuff inside is the CU. I dont mind trunking and other boxing around the CU, as that can be tidied. I was just looking for nicer options for the CU itself.

There is already a kind of cabinet around it, but if we enlarge the CU, theres not really enough space for a surround on the bit of wall that the CU will be on, hence why it would likely be exposed where it currently isnt (hence my interest in making it look better).

 

[nicebutdim]

Ok I mis-spoke, saying a ring will trip "quicker" was perhaps poor wording. Obviously the breakers will all break at similar speeds.

I meant that with an increasing current situation, a smaller breaker will trip at a lower current threshold, i.e. "sooner".

So the plugs are rated at 13a, if you plug in a device that (for whatever reason) doesnt break the fuse at 13a and pulls say 25a, a 16a or 20a radial will trip, but a 32a RFC wont. It will keep feeding the full 25a to a 13a socket (potentially overheating it and causing a fire).

In this, admittedly very unlikely, scenario a radial is "safer" than a ring because the design implies a lower rating of breaker and that gives less headroom for unexpectedly high loads.

The breakers in your board aren't there to protect appliances fitted with a 13A plug, but to protect the cables supplying power to each of those plugs. There are many members with vastly greater experience than me, but I doubt many (if any) will have experience of the situation described above.

As @davesparks has stated, the best way to protect against faults is to have a well designed installation installed by competent electricians. Householders can further assist by learing about cable safe zones, to avoid unintended damage to the installation, and avoid potential fires by not directly importing unsafe electrical appliances. Of course appliance fires can also happen when every possible step is taken to mitigate the possibility, but these are generally attributed to design flaws and not the sort of situation you describe.

I'm not trying to be contrary, but simple don't see any merit in your argument.

 

[Joules]

You may find a CU that looks pretty smart but finding an electrician to compliment it is altogether another matter and remember electricians run businesses so their profit motive comes first, not you. In the UK the profit motive obliges the electrician to recommend a CU filled with RCBO for every circuit courtesy of 17th Edition Regs, its a win for both electrician and customer but is very expensive. There will be little or no nuisance tripping and the electrician does not need to go to the expense of buying an earth leakage instrument such as a Megger DCM 305E.

When the 18th Edition Regs came along two options presented themselves: the first carried across from 17th Edition in that the board must be entirely filled with RCBO. The second option allowed an RCD to protect a group of MCB just as long as the total leakage current measured down stream was less than 9mA. This allows for a split neutral board to be installed albeit with a risk of nuisance RCD tripping. There is however a third option which is a hybrid combination of the first two.

The CU is split into three parts each with separate neutral bars. The first is to leave spare module slots after the main breaker to accommodate RCBO. The second is for an RCD to monitor a group of MCB power circuits and the third an MCB to monitor another group of MCB for lighting. Have installed or as a prelude to install an audit of leakage currents is undertaken. Circuits like ring mains that feature higher leakage currents use RCBO as do any PV inverters and so on. The cost to the customer of such a CU should be around the £350 mark as opposed to between £700-£950 for a 17th Edition full RCBO board.

Youtube's eFIXX electrician explains the pros and cons of this in his Earth Leakage Currents video.

 

[westward10]

You may find a CU that looks pretty smart but finding an electrician to compliment it is altogether another matter and remember electricians run businesses so their profit motive comes first, not you. In the UK the profit motive obliges the electrician to recommend a CU filled with RCBO for every circuit courtesy of 17th Edition Regs, its a win for both electrician and customer but is very expensive. There will be little or no nuisance tripping and the electrician does not need to go to the expense of buying an earth leakage instrument such as a Megger DCM 305E.

When the 18th Edition Regs came along two options presented themselves: the first carried across from 17th Edition in that the board must be entirely filled with RCBO. The second option allowed an RCD to protect a group of MCB just as long as the total leakage current measured down stream was less than 9mA. This allows for a split neutral board to be installed albeit with a risk of nuisance RCD tripping. There is however a third option which is a hybrid combination of the first two.

The CU is split into three parts each with separate neutral bars. The first is to leave spare module slots after the main breaker to accommodate RCBO. The second is for an RCD to monitor a group of MCB power circuits and the third an MCB to monitor another group of MCB for lighting. Have installed or as a prelude to install an audit of leakage currents is undertaken. Circuits like ring mains that feature higher leakage currents use RCBO as do any PV inverters and so on. The cost to the customer of such a CU should be around the £350 mark as opposed to between £700-£950 for a 17th Edition full RCBO board.

Youtube's eFIXX electrician explains the pros and cons of this in his Earth Leakage Currents video.

Your second option is not really permitted by BS7671 in residential installations.

 

[Joules]

Your second option is not really permitted by BS7671 in residential installations.

Your interpretation of BS7671 stands as personal opinion. In the best interests of the OP please provide members with evidence to support your view so that it may undergo peer review

 

[westward10]

@Joules that is exactly what I will do when I get home. You are new to the forum so I will let your attitude pass.

 

[littlespark]

@Joules that is exactly what I will do when I get home. You are new to the forum so I will let your attitude pass.

Attitude?

He did finish with a smiley face. I’m sure no “attitude” was inferred.

Merry Christmas, Scrooge.

 

[Electro-tech]

This is a hotly contested debate amongst electricians. Dual RCD & split load boards were popular under previous versions of BS7671. Whilst these never really met the requirements for division of circuits, they were a safe compromise.
It should be recognised though, especially since RCBOs are so plentiful and relatively cheap, that an RCBO board is really the properly compliant with consumer unit regulations, specifically the parts of BS7671 related to dividing circuits to minimise inconvenience in the event of fault.
For a regular 30mA RCD the regular leakage current must not exceed 10mA under normal circumstances.
RCBOs not only minimise inconvenience to the end user, but they allow for much faster fault finding & rectification of issues as it obvious from the get-go which circuit is involved. Dual RCD boards do not allow this, each RCD can cover a multitude of circuits, thus complicating locating faults.

 

[JBW175]

I don’t know anyone installing split load boards these days, I’ve not done one for over 4 years.

I only ever quote for full RCBO boards with SPD.

 

[mrwkuk]

You could fit one of these, adapted for single phase usage. Plenty of room for 'smart accessories)
View attachment 104696

I missed this post on the first pass. What make/model is that ?