Is it short-sighted not to replace a fuse board?

[ThisCatCanHop]

Just that, really. Mid loft conversion and have been given the option of a small additional circuit for the loft or a new fuse board altogether. We only rewired 7 years ago so was quite surprised it doesn’t meet current regs but there you go.

From a cost perspective, we’re inclining towards just getting the additional circuit as we’ve done more or less all the electrical work we plan to do to the house - but is this short-sighted?

Bumped as interested too

My mantra is to always do a job properly. So I would get a new fuse board. If you ever sell, buyers would prefer that too I suspect.

Thanks - normally I would agree with you about future proofing but it’s a big cost difference - we are happy to do it if it’s necessary but not really as a nice to have, if that makes sense. We don’t intend to sell for many years. Any other thoughts?

Is your cu a metal or plastic box ?

I guess if you are having an electric shower fitted in an en suite there could be a significant additional power requirement.

You need to get them to provide more information to you on the alternatives they are offering. Get them to explain the pros and cons of each to you and why they are offering them.

No electric shower - it’s lights and sockets only. I’m not sure whether the fuse box is metal or plastic! It’s from 2018. What’s the difference?

The regs changed. I don't know when. Maybe 2016. All installs post that had to be metal. I assume by "fuse board" you mean "cu".

If it is 2018 I think it will be metal unless it was not installed to regs.

If it is metal the issue might be that there is not a spare slot for an additional CB in the box for a new circuit. What that means is you have to run off an existing CB/circuit which is already loaded with other stuff on the circuit. That would mean you would have to run a higher trip current which is not ideal. Ideally when you had your new CU installed it should have had spare slots in order for you to be able to add new circuits. You can normally see the blanked off slots in the cu to see whether there are any available.

All this is hypothesis of course because I don't know your system or what the issues are precisely, it's just one possibility. As before, you need to ask your electrician for more details on precisely why they think you need a new cu.

I think it is metal, yes. Thank you - that’s helpful. We did have extra circuits put on there but did an extension a couple of years ago, hence there not being more capacity.