On Thu, 10 Jul 2003 08:08:59 +0100, Andrew McKay
wrote:

Consumer units aren't so expensive, sales people aren't going to make
their targets by selling individual consumer units, so there has to be
some other value-added sale to this.

I suspect the price quoted would make it a very profitable
enterprise.

On a separate note entirely, having lived in houses which had no
consumer unit with RCD protection and houses that do, I'd be inclined
to want to change to RCD protection regardless.

When I built this house I specifically excluded RCD protection in the
Consumer Unit. It contributes little in the way of overall safety.
Each socket used for outdoor jobs or in the garage is individually
RCD protected.

They can be life savers, and also prevent fires from starting up.

The can also be killers if fitted to lighting circuits. They don't
usually contribute much to fire prevention as the most usual causes
of electrical fires (and true electrical fires are relatively rare)
are simply overloaded circuits which they won't trip on.

You can't put a price on these things.

Yes you can - everything you do in life is a risk and you make
economic decisions with risk consequences every day. In the case of
RCD's it isn't a simple "these are good things to be had at any
price". They have advantages and disadvantages. Their benefits are
quite limited and installed on the incorrect circuits they increase
risk of harm significantly. If a Consumer Unit is being replaced
then replacing it with a split one with only a few circuits protected
by an RCD makes sense. Replacing a Consumer unit purely to achieve
this would probably be a waste of money. Putting in a single RCD
covering all circuits would be folly. Using an RCD on DIY tools and
devices used outside is a very wise move :-).

--
Peter Parry.
http://www.wpp.ltd.uk/