On 2014-12-16, Tim Watts wrote:

On 16/12/14 11:44, Adam Funk wrote:
On 2014-12-16, Charles F wrote:

I'd agree with Dave re the requirement for massive CUs on systems with no
plugtop fuses. We have regularly rented houses in France, and watched (in
newish houses) the number of MCBs and circuits going up over the years. Of
late I've seen two bank and (once) three bank CUs - with between 20 and 30
circuits for a 3 bed house. The much maligned 30A ring main and fused plug
system does get rid of a lot of this.

But you do get better discrimination with massive CUs, whereas a
nuisance trip in the UK cuts off half the sockets in the house.


I'm certainly not one to think that "everything done here is the best and
only way" - but I do think that actually our electrical system is pretty
good in international comparisons.

Yes.


Well, 1/4 in my case...

I like 32A rings. It means you can have a reasonable number of circuits
(like 3-4, not 10+) but if someone sticks 3 heaters on one circuit
randomly it is likely to cope.

Yes, I agree. But from what I've seen it's still routine for that to
be 1/2 unless the customer insists on splitting the circuits up.