Consumer unit and meter cupboard
How many circuits you need, when your consumer unit really has to be replaced and what is actually printed on all those breakers. Everything about the heart of your installation.
12 articlesWritten by Kevin Hermans
Articles
How many circuits do you need in your consumer unit?
Work it out room by room instead of guessing a number. And add four spare modules: that costs next to nothing now and saves a whole new consumer unit later.
Setting a time switch: analogue, digital and dusk-to-dawn switch
Analogue, digital, dusk-to-dawn switch or astronomical clock. And the reason your outdoor lighting is consistently half an hour out.
A separate kWh meter in the consumer unit: what for and how it should be done
When a sub-meter makes sense, when MID certification is required and why a wrongly set transformer ratio makes your invoice wrong by a factor of ten.
Adapting your consumer unit for an EV charger, heat pump or induction hob
Three questions decide whether it fits in your existing consumer unit. Plus the rewiring trick for induction hobs that sometimes saves you a connection upgrade costing thousands of euros.
Connecting an RCD: how it should be done and why it is not a DIY job
Where it sits in the chain, how it works and the neutral fault that explains nine out of ten RCDs that trip at random.
Separate circuits: what goes where and why
What needs its own circuit, what may share and the one rule that is ignored most often: lighting separate from power.
Upgrading your connection: how it works, what it costs and how long it takes
Two jobs that follow each other, two bills and six to twelve weeks of waiting. With the alternatives that are often cheaper.
Wiring in the consumer unit: which wire, which colour, which cross-section
Wire type, colours and cross-section per breaker, plus the mistake that most often causes a hot terminal. Background, not DIY instructions.
Which consumer unit brand should you choose? Hager, Schneider, ABB and the rest
All brands are equally safe. The difference is whether you can still add a circuit in eight years' time, and that is exactly what nobody tells you.
Meter cupboard dimensions: what fits and what are the requirements?
The standard sizes, how many modules really fit and the three things you need to measure before you order a bigger consumer unit.
Single-phase or three-phase: what is the difference and which do you have?
In ten seconds you can see what you have. And more often than salespeople say, you do not need that upgrade at all.
Consumer unit replacement: when it is needed, what it costs and how it goes
When replacement really is necessary, when it can wait and when you should not let anyone talk you into it. With prices, how the day runs and what you should get at handover.
Other topics
Choose a topic. Every article starts with a short answer.
EV chargers
Charging at home: single-phase or three-phase, which protection goes with it, load balancing and what makes an EV charger in an owners' association (VvE) diffe…
9 itemsSolar panels and home batteries
What panels and a battery do to your meter cupboard, why your inverter cuts out when the grid voltage is too high, and what…
11 itemsFixing faults
RCD tripped, a room without power, flickering lights. Explained step by step, including what you are allowed to do yourse…
10 itemsSafety and standards
NEN 1010 and NEN 3140 in plain language, which RCD you need, smoke alarms and what an insurer actually…
9 itemsIntercom and access
Choosing a video intercom for a house or flat, and whether it can run over your existing doorbell wiring.
8 itemsElectrics when renovating
When the electrician needs to come, how many sockets per room, what is allowed in the bathroom and who does what…
10 itemsLighting and switching
Dimming, LED, outdoor lighting and smart switching, with the pitfalls I come across in practice.
8 itemsNetwork and wifi at home
Cabling, wifi that does not reach everywhere, and what you can put in for next to nothing during a renovation.
8 items