Consumer Units
Consumer Unitsand the 18th Edition
Consumer units are oſten much more about what goes into them than what is already built in. Crabtree, one of Electrium’s leading brands in circuit protection, talks to Electrical Wholesaler about choosing the right consumer unit and what to put in it.
W
hen they say ‘the whole is greater than the sum of its parts’, they may not be talking about
consumer units… but the analogy certainly fits! A correctly selected and installed consumer unit plays a vital role in the safe use of electricity in the home. Its devices protect the installation and more importantly, the users, from faults and risks such as fire, and electrical shock. Starbreaker consumer units have been
designed to be easier, safer and faster to install and whether it’s a first-time installation, a re-fit or an upgrade, the range has been designed to be both backwards compatible as well as future-proofed. Nothing demonstrates this better than the latest development in the circuit protection market.
New regulations in the 18th Edition With the release of the 18th Edition of the wiring regulations, which was published on July 1st, a new type of circuit protection device was included under regulation 421.1.7 regarding AFDDs – which stands for Arc Fault Detection Device. Starbreaker consumer units are the only consumer units that can accept AFDDs without the need for special busbars or assemblies, or on site adjustments. And because the busbar hasn’t changed since its launch, AFDDs can be instantly fitted to any Starbreaker consumer unit, regardless of its age.
Starbreaker consumer units use an innovative instant self connection system by employing a unique busbar system that devices simply plug into for instant push fit connections that give guaranteed factory quality connections. This makes the installation of devices easier, safer and faster. AFDDs can be simply plugged into the fully insulated plug in busbar system for an easy installation that meet 18th Edition standards for additional protection against electrically ignited fires.
30mA RCD protection extended Today’s typical domestic installation will have 30mA RCD protection on every circuit, especially as another new regulation in the 18th Edition (regulation 411.3.4) has extended the use of 30mA RCDs to include all lighting circuits in dwellings. All of which means that each circuit in a consumer unit needs to have several types of protection against a variety of potential faults. By combining Crabtree AFDDs (Arc Fault
Detection Devices) with the new Miniature RCBO (Residual current Circuit Breaker with Overcurrent protection) Crabtree has created a single device, capable of providing protection against all the fault conditions as necessary. This device includes MCB technology, RCD technology and AFDD technology, providing protection against overcurrent, short circuit, earth leakage and arc fault conditions, all in one DIN mounted plug in 2 pole device that
With the release of the 18th Edition of the wiring regulations, which was published on
July 1st, a new type of circuit protection device was included under regulation 421.1.7
regarding AFDDs – which stands for Arc Fault Detection Device.
www.ewnews.co.uk
Crabtree AFDD: AFDDs detect the types of arc faults that cannot be detected by RCDs or MCBs.
●Continued over August 2018 electrical wholesaler | 29
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