Shunt trip in a domestic CU? Looking for a complaint way of remotely switching off power

[Astro]

Hi. A thought of a domestic fire in my house terrifies me, so I installed a really sophisticated fire alarm in my house. This system optionally can even turn off the gas valve (it has a motorized arm which is installed on the main valve) and switch off electricity in case if the fire is detected in unoccupied house. It switches off electricity by sending a LV or 230V pulse through a wire which should be connected to a "shunt trip".
I contacted a local sparky, an older but very nice guy, unfortunately he couldnt really understand what i want to achieve and he has never seen such fire alarm in his life. After a discussion he suggested me that i would need a contactor installed on every circuit i want to protect this way, unfortunately this is not a feasible solution as i wouldnt have enough space in my CU.
Ive done some research online looking for a domestic shunt trip, but while such devices are widely available in EU i couldnt find any in the UK. Im assuming that's because British BR simply dont allow such devices to be installed in a domestic environment. Am i right here? A friend of mine, also an electrician but living in a different country, suggested me that i need a contactor which would forcefully trip my RCDs, but this doesnt sound like a safe solution to me (after all, i want to protect my house from fire instead of creating a starting point). Any advice how this can be installed? The solution needs to be "complaint enough" to get someone qualified to actually install it and sign it off.

 

[Astro]

Thanks for all your help, so basically i can ask someone to install a DP isolator and a contactor between the power supply and my CU?

Answering your questions, the house is a private owned dwelling, F/A does have backup power, im not modifying the gas installation whatsover, the (battery powered) servomechanism is installed on the top of main valve and physically moves the handle. I dont think i need to submit a notification nor if it does need to comply with any rules but i will have a boiler replaced soon so i will consult with a gas safe engineer prior to installing it.

 

[MFS Electrical]

How about using something like this?

Can see that making its way better into the regs in the future or at least the standard for consumer units

 

[tlangdon12]

If you do engage an electrician to install an DP isolator and contactor, and if your consumer unit is currently plastic, you might also ask them to quote for changing your consumer unit to meet the requirements of the 17th Edition Amendment 3. Fitting one of the EnviroBurst tubes would further improve the safety of an Amendment 3 consumer unit.

 

[Astro]

If you do engage an electrician to install an DP isolator and contactor, and if your consumer unit is currently plastic, you might also ask them to quote for changing your consumer unit to meet the requirements of the 17th Edition Amendment 3. Fitting one of the EnviroBurst tubes would further improve the safety of an Amendment 3 consumer unit.

Actually it is plastic and ive been thinking about replacing it. I never heard about enviroburst tubes before, but that's definitely something i would love to have installed (if i will have space for it of course). Do you know roughly how much the complete system can cost?

 

[Spoon]

Actually it is plastic and ive been thinking about replacing it. I never heard about enviroburst tubes before, but that's definitely something i would love to have installed (if i will have space for it of course). Do you know roughly how much the complete system can cost?

Theoretically, there should be no need to upgrade to an Amendment 3 CU if you are just adding an enviroburst tube.

 

[Astro]

Theoretically, there should be no need to upgrade to an Amendment 3 CU if you are just adding an enviroburst tube.

Well apparently metal ones are much safer if installed correctly, why would i want to pass on that? I just cannot do everything at once.

 

[Spoon]

Well apparently metal ones are much safer if installed correctly, why would i want to pass on that? I just cannot do everything at once.

Ask anyone on here. Plastic ones are safe, as long as they are installed properly.
If you wish to change to the metal ones then by all means do so.

 

[westward10]

You do realise that by adding more electrical gizmos you are actually increasing the risk of an electrical fire. Shutting off the electrical system is pointless, once a fire has started it will make absolutely no difference to the fire. It maybe safer for the fire fighters but that is the only benefit.

 

[Wilko]

Agree - it's a matter of statistics, the more things to go wrong etc. @Astro if I may ask, what has caused you to feel this way? My 20p worth is to think through why you believe there may be fire and address those causes directly. Clear out combustibles. Get experienced tradesfolk to inspect, report, repair or replace anything suspect.