Seven signs it is time
- Rewirable fuses — ceramic carriers with a strand of fuse wire — rather than switches. These boards are usually 40+ years old.
- No RCD. Look for a button marked T or Test. If there is none, socket circuits have no protection against electric shock.
- One RCD for the whole house. Better than none, but a fault on one circuit takes everything down, including the freezer and the alarm.
- A plastic enclosure in a cupboard, hallway or under the stairs. The 18th Edition requires new consumer units in homes to be non-combustible (metal).
- Scorch marks, discolouration, a warm cover or a smell of hot plastic. The board in the photo above had terminals that had been overheating for years.
- Nuisance tripping that is getting more frequent, with no appliance identified as the cause.
- No spare ways. If you are adding an EV charger, an electric shower, a hot tub or a garden office, an old full board has nowhere to put the new circuit.
What a new consumer unit gives you
A modern board has a metal enclosure, a main switch, surge protection (SPD) to protect electronics from spikes, and either dual RCDs splitting the house into two halves or — the option we recommend — an RCBO on every circuit, so a fault on the outside lights does not take down the kitchen. Every circuit is labelled and every circuit is tested before it is connected, which is why a consumer unit change often finds and fixes faults that were quietly there for years.
The after photo below shows the same property: RCBO per circuit, SPD, labelled, and a certificate on file.
What it costs in Leeds
A dual-RCD consumer unit replacement starts from £450 and a full RCBO board from £550, both including the metal enclosure, surge protection, testing of every circuit and an Electrical Installation Certificate. If testing finds a faulty circuit that cannot be connected to the new board, we tell you and quote it separately — we do not connect faulty circuits and we do not add silent extras. The full breakdown is on our pricing page.
How long it takes
Half a day to a day. Power is off for most of that time, so we agree the timing with you. For rental properties an unsatisfactory EICR with a C2 for missing RCD protection is the usual trigger, and we can do the board change and the re-inspection in one visit. See our consumer unit replacement service for more.
Common questions
Is it illegal to have a plastic fuse box?
No. Existing plastic boards are not illegal. An EICR will note it as a C3 (improvement recommended). New boards fitted in homes must be non-combustible.
Can you just add an RCD to my old board?
Sometimes, but on a rewirable or very old board it rarely makes sense — the parts are hard to source and the board will still be at the end of its life. A replacement usually costs little more.