Sparky help!

[Rainbows41]

I have a fridgefreezer arriving Saturday, i'm assuming with a plug?
I pulled out my integrated fridge and freezer today to discover they each have one of these.
Q1. Can I simply turn the mains off - unscrew the front off and put the wires in a plug socket?
Q2. Do I have to pop in an appropriate fuse to be enough to power the new fridgefreezer combo?
I don't want to have to pay for an electrician if it's something I can do myself. I can change a plug and socket no bother. But don't have any experience with one of these.
Obviously don't want to blow myself up.

It is a fused spur. You need an electrician.

I always pay for installation and removal of old appliance, especially if integrated. Is that an option?

Do you know what fuse is in there? 13amp? What power is your new fridge freezer? You could perhaps lop the plug off the new appliance and wire in to replace what you have. Or what I’d probably do replace that with a switched FSU of the same rating and then run a single socket off that. This assumes you know how to isolate the circuit, have equipment to test that it’s dead and then do the work. If in any doubt get a professional in to do it for you. Hoping you don’t blow yourself up isn’t a good strategy with electricity.

To answer question 1 no you can’t. There is a reason there is a fuse in there and that is to protect the circuit from overload. When it was originally designed it will have been to cope with a specific load. If you just put a socket in there and then overload that leg of the circuit with your new appliance then you risk all sorts of undesirable effects such as melted wires, fire etc.

I ticked all the boxes and thought I'd take cked for installation, as I always do. I rang to check and was told I paid for removal but that they don't offer installation. I find this odd tbh.

No, I don't have any testing equipment. I was rather hoping I could turn the main circuit board off, take the plug off and wire it into the fused spur.

If the fuse in your new appliance and on the spur match you probably can but I’m not a professional electrician, so your life etc. Good place to ask would be the Screwfix forum. Quite a lot of tradies hang out there and I’ve had some great info to inform some of my DIY.

Thank you I will take a look now.

Electrician here

Its a fused spur, as others have stated - I would always advocate getting in a pro, but these are simple enough if you consider yourself competent and are confident in your understanding of wiring.

First turn off the mains supply, best to throw the main switch at the fuse box to be 100% sure it's off as I doubt you have testing equipment.

Remove the two screws and carefully pull forward the plate. You will see the three wires from the flex connected behind - remove them noting carefully which colour goes to which terminal. phone with a camera is your friend.

New fridge, cut off plug, strip outer insulation and inner insulation to match what was removed, and re-assemble exactly as before.

Turn on, should work fine.

Its a myth that the fuse in the plug protects the appliance, it protects the flex from overloading under a fault condition, on a fridge one would use a 13A brown fuse, the one in the plate should be fine.

I'd still advocate for a professional, as we would test the Zs (earth fault loop impedance) and circuit breaker tripping time as we don't take it for granted there is a good earth at the plate.

Problems can occur doing this kind of thing, nothing of concern to me, daily occurrences, for example the existing feed cables being loose and all falling out - but that can flummox a DIYer!

I would also add if you have solar, ensure that the solar supply is shut off, I've seen odd set ups where throwing the main switch does not turn off the solar, in which case every circuit breaker and the solar isolating switch need to be off.

I’d recommend getting an electrician in, they are the most reasonably priced of the trades too! That would be a £50 job by electricians I use.

That's what I would charge!

The difference between me and doing it yourself is I would first use safe isolation procedure to make sure its off.

Disconnect old fridge, test Zs and RCD trip time at the spur, and Ze (external loop) at the fusebox.

Connect new fridge and write up a minor works certificate, which maintains the fridge guarantee, your house insurance and gives piece of mind.

If there was adequate clearance for the plug I would replace the spur with a 13A socket to make it easier next time.

I very much prefer a plug and socket for appliances. As you have noticed, it makes cleaning, moving or replacing them infinitely simpler. The FCU is for fixed appliances that you never expect to move. Such as an extractor fan in the wall. In UK bathrooms, electrical sockets are usually not allowed because it is usually impossible to meet the location rules. But a room that does not contain a fixed bath or shower is not a bathroom. Washbasins and WCs are not baths.

There is no electrical or safety problem with competently removing the FCU and replacing it with a socket so you can use a plug. In both cases, there is a cartridge fuse.

Occasionally, with dishwashers mostly, the appliances have been designed for maximum size, and there is no room for a plug behind them. In these cases the socket can often be positioned to one side.

I hope you will forgive me contradicting you.

The FCU contains a cartridge fuse. A UK plug contains a cartridge fuse. The socket circuit is designed so that no single outlet can overload it because the capacity of the circuit is always greater that the load from any pluggable appliance.

Yeah fair enough. I did think that after posting but meh. Suppose for me I’d be reticent to wire it straight in and would prefer a socket spurred off and FSU. It’s what I’ve done for a recent project where I’ve got a spur and numerous high demand appliances like kettles, coffee machines and the such running off it.

Ideally you would never use an FCU in this kind of situation, if there is no space behind you can always get the socket in the back of the cupboard next to it.

It creates 2 issues, the one the OP is experiencing with replacing an appliance and the second that some manufacturers void the warranty if the moulded plug is chopped off.

In fairness its rarer to see this now, it was a fad on new build houses 10 / 15 years ago, which tends to be accompanied by a wholly un-needed grid switch unit above the counter when you can switch off your dishwasher/fridge/washing machine etc, why, god only knows, but we seem to thankfully have migrated back to using plugs in the back of cupboards.