Fixington has a network of qualified and insured electricians who can install a new fuse box (known in the trade as the "consumer unit"). You might need to upgrade your fusebox from one with old-style fuses to one with modern RCD tripswitches. Our electricians can be booked online and your booking will go directly into their smartphone calendar.
The fuses or circuit breakers in the fuse box (known to electricians as the “consumer unit”) protect each circuit against overloading (and, in the case of modern installations, against. If a circuit is overloaded the circuit breaker will trip to stop the cables overheating and creating a risk of fire. In an old-fashioned fuse box with actual fuses instead of circuit breakers, the wire inside the fuse will melt to break the circuit and the fuse wire will then need replacing. If a circuit breaker trips, it can be reset by pushing the switch back up (but, unless you have fixed the fault which caused it to trip in the first place, it will likely just trip again).
Circuits in the UK installed since 2008 will have an RCD on every circuit. An RCD is different to a circuit breaker. A circuit breaker just trips if the circuit is overloaded, but won’t necessarily trip if the circuit is unsafe (for example, if a cable is cut by a drill or lawnmower). An RCD will trip if the cable is cut or damaged. An RCD works by detecting a momentary imbalance between the live and neutral cables. As you (accidentally) cut through a cable, you would inevitably cut one or other of the wires (live or neutral) before the other. At that brief moment, the power flowing through the uncut wire will be greater than through the cut wire, and the RCD should detect this within a fraction of a second and cut off the power. (Although no safety device is perfect: the RCD is your last protection against fatal electrocution. Test it by pressing the test button on the RCD, not by applying your lawnmower to a power cable).
Replacing a fusebox (also known as a consumer unit) is definitely a job for a professional, but if you have an older style unit it is well worth investing in a modern one to give you complete RCD protection.
Book one of our local, independent electricians online to get your fuse box replaced.
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