Hi,
I've just bought an ex-council house, built in the sixties, that needs rewiring from top to toe. As I don't have the three thousand pounds or so required to do it all in one go, I was going to stick in a new CU for now and start replacing/adding new circuits as I go. The current fusebox has 4 circuits. One for the sockets, one for the lights, one for the cooker (which I think is actually powering the kitchen sockets!) and another one I'm not sure about. There is also a separate fuse for the shower.
What I was going to do was to pull the fuse out of the incoming live feed, as the tails from the meter go to an unswitched junction box and thence to the main board and the shower board, and then disconnect the tails connecting the junction box to the old main board and attach them to the new CU. Actually, maybe I'd be better attaching them to a Henley switch and then to the new CU. The main fuse does have a wire seal on it and a torn paper seal that states it is illegal to tamper with the equipment. I've read a lot of posts about people just removing the main fuse, so what exactly is the legal situation.
So, I've come up with the following split layout for the new CU. I reckon I'll need the following circuits, the first part will be on the RCD protected circuit, the second part on normal MCBs :
- Sockets - Downstairs
- Sockets - Upstairs (including loft)
- Sockets - Kitchen
- Cooker Extractor Hood =========
- Lighting - Downstairs
- Lighting - Upstairs
- Fridge/Freezer
- Gas Boiler Electrics
- Cooker
- Shower will stay on the separate board.
I'm not sure if I really need the cooker hood or the boiler electrics on separate circuits. What is the general opinion on this and also of the overall layout?
If I go ahead and do the actual wiring for the sockets and the lights, but not the kitchen and bathroom, will I need to declare under part 'P' or would the separation of the current socket and lighting circuits into upstairs and downstairs circuits constitute replacement rather than new work? How likely am I to find a suitably qualified electrican who would be prepared to certify any work I did?
TIA, Organoman.