A consumer unit or fusebox is used to control and distribute electricity around our homes. People have different names for distribution boards, they are known as: Fuse boxes, fuse boards, electric consumer box, consumer boards, consumer fuse boxes.
A distribution board usually contains:
Mains Switch
The main switch in the distribution board allows you to turn off the electricity supply to your electrical installation. Some electrical installations have more than one mains switch.
To give an example if your home is heated by electric storage heaters, you may have a separate consumer unit (fuse box) for them. The consumer unit should be easy to get to, so find out where the mains switch is to turn the electricity off in an emergency.
Fuses
Re-wirable fuses have a piece of special fuse wire running between two screws. When a fault or overload current flows through the fuse wire it will become hot. The heat will melt the fuse wire when the current goes above an acceptable level.
The melted fuse breaks the circuit, disconnecting the faulty circuit. With this type of board you have got to replace the wire inside the fuse holder when it blows.
Circuit Breakers
Circuit breakers are automatic protection devices fitted in the consumer unit which switch off a circuit if a fault is detected. Circuit breakers are similar in size to fuse holders but provide more precise protection than fuses.
When they ‘trip’, you can simply reset the switch. However, you first need to find and correct the fault.
Residual Current Devices
An RCD is a switching device that trips a circuit under certain conditions, and disconnects the electricity supply and should disconnect the supply within 0.4 of a second = 40ms. If your electrical installation includes one or more RCDs then test them regularly.
You can do this by following the instruction label which should be near to the Residual Current Device. The label should read as follows: “This installation, or part of it, is protected by a device which automatically switches off the supply if an earth fault develops. Test (every six months) by pressing the button marked ‘T’ or ‘Test’.”
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