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How was your week? (feddit.uk)
submitted 6 months ago by blackn1ght@feddit.uk to c/askuk@feddit.uk
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[-] tetris11@feddit.uk 1 points 6 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

Got my electrics sorted (kinda). I had previously a weird mess of two different sets of circuit breakers, some with unknown Amp fuses, and an eclectic mix of sockets sharing breakers with the lights. Did not trust myself to Youtube it after all (I did indeed heed the warnings of Mr Hitachi) and got an electrician in.

Technical Rant

He installed a new fuseboard, separated the lights from the sockets at the MCB^ref1^ and expanded it 10-slots. I was extremely thrilled, except that I did not see any RCDs^ref2^, and could not see any SPDs^ref3^ either.

Had a slightly miffed conversation with him where he patiently explained that modern circuit breakers come with the RCDs integrated into the fuses called RCBOs^ref4^, but I was right to point out the lack of SPD which should just slot in like a normal fuse into one of the slots.

Also, no Earth wire. Apparently normal for old buildings. The solution is to take the earth wire in the house, and link it to the main neutral wire before the meter, and let the PME^ref5^ take care of the earthing. Anyway, I had to call up my DNO^ref6^ and ask them to install one.

If you have enjoyed this alphabet soup, you now have some inkling of how fun it was for me to learn all this as a non-electrician.

spoiler References

  1. Mini Circuit Breaker, a.k.a "The Fuse", usually 6A for lights or 20A/32A for sockets
  2. Residual Current Device, auto shuts down the MCBs if a difference in current of ingoing and outgoing > 30mA is detected
  3. Surge Protection Device, shuts the whole fusebox down on a sudden ingoing voltage surge
  4. Residual Current Breaker with Overcurrent, massive fuse, essentially an RCD in the top part and an MCB in the bottom, is now the standard for modern fuseboxes
  5. Protective Multiple Earth, essentially the main returning neutral wire is earthed at multiple points outside the house, and it's therefore safe to link your home's main ground wire bar to it
  6. Distribution Network Operator, main supplier and maintainer of energy infrastructure in the area, not the electric company :::
this post was submitted on 16 Mar 2026
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