AFDD Consumer Units in Sussex

In most owner occupied homes, no. Amendment 2 of BS 7671 recommends arc fault detection devices on socket circuits in HMOs, high rise buildings and other homes with a sleeping risk, and building types like student accommodation are treated more strictly. For an ordinary Sussex house they are a recommendation rather than a rule, in the same way smoke alarms once were. For an HMO or student let anywhere in Sussex we think the case is strong enough that we always raise it, and many local landlords now specify AFDDs at every board change.

Far less than their early reputation suggests. Normal household arcs from drill motors, vacuum cleaners and light switches have a recognisable pattern, and a modern AFDD compares what it hears against the signature of a dangerous arc before it acts. When one of our customers reports repeat tripping, the device has usually found something real: we have traced trips to a nail through a cable and a flattened flex under a bed in a flat. If a device ever does misbehave, we investigate under the 6 year workmanship guarantee rather than leaving you to live with it.

The risk is lower in newer wiring, but it never reaches zero. Arc faults come from life as much as age: a screw through a cable during shelf fitting, a flex crushed behind a sofa, insulation chewed by mice in a loft. In a newer home, such as those on the new build estates around Burgess Hill, Horsham or Chichester, we would usually suggest arc fault detection on bedroom and socket circuits, which starts at £845, rather than the full board. In a period property, or anywhere people sleep in rooms above old wiring, the full RCBO and AFDD board from £1,095 is the option we would pick for our own families.

Socket circuits first, because that is where flexes get crushed behind furniture, plugs work loose and extension leads chain together. Circuits serving bedrooms matter most of all, since a fire that starts while people sleep spreads before anyone smells it. Long cable runs through the floors and voids of Victorian terraces in the coastal towns and of older village cottages are also prime candidates, as is anything feeding an HMO letting room. Fixed lighting circuits carry the least risk, which is why our selected circuit option concentrates arc fault detection where it earns its keep.

Treat it seriously. A healthy consumer unit is silent, so a fuse box making noise, whether a buzz, a hum or a crackle, usually means a loose connection arcing behind the cover, and arcing is how most electrical fires begin. Do not open the board to investigate. Call us on 0333 360 8691, we answer 8am to 8pm, 7 days a week, and we reach emergencies the same day across Sussex wherever we can.

Turn the installation off at the main switch if you can reach it safely, leave the cover alone, and call us straight away on 0333 360 8691. A burning smell from a fuse box, often hot plastic or an oddly fishy odour, means insulation is overheating at that moment, not at some point in the future. We treat it as an emergency and aim to be on site the same day anywhere in Sussex.

Mild warmth near a heavily loaded circuit can be normal, but a consumer unit overheating, with a case or breaker that is uncomfortable to touch, points to a loose or corroded connection resisting the current passing through it. Resistance makes heat, heat loosens terminals further, and left alone the cycle ends in a burnt fuse box. Switch off what you can, call us, and we will inspect it. A fuse box getting hot has never once fixed itself.

Replacement, almost always. Heat fierce enough to leave a burnt or melted fuse box has usually damaged the busbar, the terminals and the enclosure itself, and no honest electrician can certify that as safe again. A damaged fuse box is also evidence that its connections were failing, so we fit a new board, test every circuit and issue an Electrical Installation Certificate with Part P notification. Dual RCD replacements start from £425 if budget is tight, and every board includes a Type 2 surge protection device.