Ever wondered how much does it cost to have a fuse box changed? Especially if you are moving home and the conveyancing solicitor asks how old the fuse box is; or you have had an electrical condition report, that has highlighted major observations and suggested it be changed to comply with current regulations. Well, there are several factors that will affect the cost.
The first one is will the new board fit where the existing one is situated. New boards are now much bigger than older boards. Why? Well, more room for cables so that the terminations are easier to get to for regular maintenance and inspection. New boards are also designed to allow for more heat dissipation between conductors, circuit breakers and the busbar (the piece of copper bar that links all the circuit breakers). Modern boards are also designed to fit RCBOs, which is a circuit breaker and residual current device (RCD) combined. These are usually taller than a regular circuit breakers and require more room in the board. If the new board needs to be fitted outside the existing meter cupboard, then there is quite a difference in cost to join out and extend the existing cables to the new position, both in time and materials.
Next is the amount of circuits in the existing board. If there are just 6 circuits and the board is replaced with another board that just has 6 circuits, then the cost will be less than if it is replaced with a 10-12 circuit board. It is recommended, providing the supply is adequate, to fit a new board with some spare ways for future use.
Accessibility. In the UK, in days gone by, it was acceptable to fit the incoming supply and consumer unit in a little cupboard under the stairs, or low down in a kitchen base unit, all tucked away and out of sight. The latter may have been okay when the electricity supply went in the house, but now it is as the back of a little kitchen cupboard, it is very difficult to get in to work on. This is exacerbated if the electrician is a six-foot two muscle bound gym monkey, like one of our guys. If the board is in a garage, say, and is 1.4 meters off the ground, with plenty of room around it, Then it will be much easier and quicker to install.
What is in the board. RCBOs are more expensive than miniature circuit breakers (MCB). However, there are more advantages to having RCBOs than one or two RCDs protecting several MCBs. The main one being is if there is a fault to earth, just the one circuit is taken out rather than several.
The amount of circuits can also affect the cost of changing a board. When the board is changed, all the circuits being reconnected to the board must be tested to ensure that they are safe to re-connect. Testing 15 circuits will take approximately an hour to an hour and a half, whereas 6 circuits will take approximately half an hour.
All that being said the average time to change a consumer unit is 8 hours and with the cost of the board, new supply cables (meter tails) and the labour, you should be looking at £700 to £1,000 plus VAT for a good quality consumer unit installation.
