Recommended CU

[jfb]

Anyone got any recommendations/preferences for good quality CU?

my electrician used to use MK but says quality has gone down and are looking at contactum though I had less good experience with them a while back (before the days of all metal). 
I have liked hager .

 

[jfb]

It’s for a small dwelling with 11 circuits (so far!)

[JohnMo]

If your electrician doesn't know what he recommends, maybe you should be looking for a more experienced electrician.

[Jenki]

I've used FUSEBOX for RCBO's lots of room, and cheap as chips.  Had an issue with some RCBO'S on initial test a while back, they are now different, so assume was a manufacture / design error. no problems with the new design.

 

 

[willbish]

Another vote for FuseBox.

 

They do a frame which allows the CU to be recessed. Looks 👌

 

https://www.gil-lec.co.uk/fusebox-afmf18

 

 

[Temp]

If budget isnt an issue I recommended filling the CU with an RCBO for each power circuit instead of one RCD feeding lots of MCB. That way you aremuch less likely to loose power to the computer or TV when a heating element (toaster, kettle, oven etc) gets leaky. 

 

Edit: Ours is a 16 way metal Eaton MEM EAM16. Supplied by our electrician.

 

 

Edited July 28, 2022 by Temp

[Marvin]

RCBO's all the time for me.

[dpmiller]

SBS kit for me.

[Nickfromwales]

I’m installing Hager for one client, and have installed CPN, Contactum, MK and Wylex.

Hager is good kit but expensive, and the Contactum seemed very good quality and plenty good enough quality / robustness etc so will go with one of those again.

I’ve been installing Contactum for 20+ years, and I cannot recall a single issue. I’ve recently put the Defender CU in my shed / man-cave and have the previous one was their 3ph offering ( converted to 1ph ) which also impressed fore the money.

Can’t recall where I heard it, but apparently MK are getting out of the domestic CU market, so maybe support will dwindle too.

 

Defo all RCBO, that’s a no-brainier. Dual RCD boards should be removed from the market imo just on reliability / redundancy alone. Why we still accept losing all or half of the house for one failed device is beyond me.

 

A cheap ( £25 ) emergency light in the same room as the CU / in the CU cupboard is a help if the ‘lights go out’. On a current domestic 4-storey project I am installing strategic emergency light fittings ( annoying green status LED hidden or located remotely btw ) so the client can get up / down stairs and main thoroughfares in a blackout plus another in the CU room. 

[jack]

1 hour ago, Nickfromwales said:

Why we still accept losing all or half of the house for one failed device is beyond me.

 

Agreed. Even in just the 7 years we've lived here, I've had several situations where having an RCBO allowed much quicker identification of problems.

 

One was a heating element in a coffee machine intermittently causing problems.

 

Another was an UFH leak (due to our poor electrician accidentally hitting a pipe with a screw) that flooded an underfloor socket cavity.

 

Another was a bad earth on a light fitting.

 

I'm sure there were one or two others.

 

In each case, knowing exactly what circuit was affected was a massive timesaver. 

 

[Onoff]

https://sbstradesales.co.uk/