Do I need to update my house's fuse box?

[ARW]

A lifesyle choice is not relevant to diy or general risks in the house.

[Robin]

draft at present:

summary from draft ex.memo:

"2.1 These Regulations require landlords in the private rented sector in England to ensure that a smoke alarm is equipped on every storey of their rented dwelling when occupied under a tenancy, and that a carbon monoxide alarm is equipped in any room which contains a solid fuel burning combustion appliance. They also require landlords to ensure that such alarms are in proper working order at the start of a new tenancy. In addition, the Regulations amend the conditions which must be included in a licence under Part 2 or 3 of the Housing Act 2004 ("the 2004 Act") in respect of smoke and carbon monoxide alarms."

Landlords responsible for testing alarms at start of each tenancy but AIUI *not* periodically thereafter.

No quarrel from me. I installed a possibly absurd 7 smoke/heat in this

3-bed terrace (including one in the loft) on the basis the earlier the warning of fire behind a closed door the better the chance of getting out. Just not what the draft regs require for run-of-the-mill lets.

[spuorgelgoog]

But both people get divorced; most of the time only one partner gets widow(er)ed.

So you have a 50% chance of getting less than half the money with divorce vs a 50% chance of getting all the money if you live or not caring if you die.

Should I sell my RCDs on ebay and buy lottery tickets with the money?

Owain

[John Rumm]

That's hardly an ongoing problem... it means you have either a fault, or too much combined leakage. Both fixable, neither relevant since no one will be fitting a single whole house RCD anyway.

That is nonsense, as you are well aware.

These are the cases where either an ambulance was called or someone went / was taken to A&E.

They will include the full range of injuries from a mild burn - no real treatment required, to life changing and permanent injury / disfigurement.

I have posted links to the stats before. Even if we are only talking about 20K serious injuries, that is ample justification for spending a couple of hundred quid on your home for your family's protection in my view.

If we apply your logic, there are only 10s of K serious car accident injuries a year, so why waste money on seatbelts or MoT tests?

[spuorgelgoog]

And of course we do some basic tests before we reconnect circuits (or even better, before we disconnect the old board) don't we...?

Having cut through a live cable protected by 30A fuse wire (which didn't bl ow) and seen the resulting fireworks (and hole in my cutters) I'm quite hap py to have MCBs and RCDs. A new dual-RCD consumer unit is only about £50 now.

Owain

[Robin]

And what would you estimate as the cost of fitting it plus putting right whatever the installer decides needs to be done before re-energising? I ask as it's unlikely the OP would have asked the questions he did if he were competent to DIY a change of CU.

[Jim x321x]

"ARW" wrote in news:mm9lev$mlf$1@dont- email.me:

I just looked. It DOES!! (I could KISS you! :) I cut along the groove with a stanley knife and hey-presto, I now have the cover back on, minus the face. Now it all looks so much more respectable!

It's as if Wylex anticipated the coming of the MCB!

Jim

[John Rumm]

I guess that depends on the size of the CU and the location in the country. I would have thought £150 - £200 would be the minimum including parts.

[John Rumm]

My emergency lights have been in seven or eight years so far - still on the same batteries.

[tabbypurr]

Risks and the cost of avoiding them are 100% relevant to risks and the cost of avoiding them

[tabbypurr]

its an issue with the op's plan. For an op with limited understanding it is also liable to be an ongoing problem, fwiw

by the op? I dont assume so

aiui the op was considering it

really? do tell

so obviously not the number of injuries. Maybe you're not familiar with how the nhs works on this point.

that has nothing to do with what I said

NT

[GB]

What a splendid question!

Assuming that you don't replace the RCDs:

About 1 in 1000 : You'll win some amount, probably modest, and never be electrocuted. You'll be a winner overall.

About 999 in 1000: You'll win nothing, and never be electrocuted. You'll neither win nor lose.

About 1 in 1,000,000 : You'll be electrocuted, in which case what you have won won't matter, and for some brief period of agony you'll regret your decision.

[John Rumm]

Probably depends on the area of the country... I would have thought a straight swap would start at £200 - £300.

[John Rumm]

Not only that, as had been pointed out at various times, one insures against losses that one can't otherwise replace. I would include wife and children in that category, so a one off premium of a couple of hundred for smoke alarms and RCDs sounds like a very worthwhile investment.

[John Rumm]

Let see if we can avoid the great throng of straw men wandering this way...

[John Rumm]

Remember you probably only play the lottery once or twice a week... you use electricity in the home many times every day.

[Robin]

I think that'd be v much the bottom of the range in London now the trade has picked up again.

And then there are the "extras" like one place near here told they needed *separate* main bonding for incoming gas and water. There was

10mm looped continuously MET-water-gas but the nice man even showed them the picture in his little book to prove they needed to be separate :(

[Harry Bloomfield]

Jim x321x a écrit :

Indeed..

In the 1970's, I was with a crew working in a massive basement, several hundreds of feet in size, pipes, obstructions, sumps and trip hazards everywhere - installing massive pipes and pumps for a pumping station. Total black out, even in full daylight outside. The site agent had heard of RCD's and insisted everything be protected by a single RCD on the 240v, which also supplied the 110v site transformer, which fed the only lighting in the basement.

Every 10 minutes to an hour the RCD would trip out, leaving everyone in complete darkness down there. Try explaining to a site agaent that the risk of electrocution on a 55v to ground system is considerably less than the risk of someone being seriously injured, with it tripping so regularly leaving everyone in such circumstances in complete darkness, feeling for the ladder to climb out.

[tabbypurr]

2 different issues lumped together, and a non sequitur. Maybe some of us just aren't into risk assessment.

NT

[ARW]

I do not consider telling a fat bastard to eat less less food to be DIY related.

Fitting a lock on a fridge is DIY related.