Your home’s electrical system is more than just a bunch of wires – it’s a complex system, carefully designed to deliver all the power you need for modern life. An expert electrician knows his/her way around your home electrics – but how much do you know, or need to know?
If you rent or own your home the domestic electrical system remains a mystery to most home dwellers. Unseen and silent, it delivers powers for heating, cooking and entertainment 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. How it works only becomes of interest when something goes wrong.
So back to basics:
National Grid
The National Grid own the transmission network in England and Wales, helping to connect homes and business to the substations across the UK.
Our transmission network consists of over 4000 miles of overhead lines, nearly 1000 miles of underground cables and 346 substations. It’s their cabling that provide the electricity direct to your home. If you have a power cut in your area, you should call 105 for help and advice.
Electricity Provider
Your electricity supplier is the company you choose to buy your electricity from, and who you pay your bills to. Part of what you pay is is given to the UK Power Networks for running and maintaining the electricity cables in your areas. Electricity enters your home at the service bow and a meter measures how much electricity flows into your system. Gas and electricity suppliers are responsible for providing and fitting smart meters for everyone in Britain by 2020.
Smart meters offer automatic meter readings, avoid estimated bills and provide an in-home display in pounds and pence. You can check with your energy provider whether smart meters are available in your area.
Consumer Unit
Your consumer unit also referred to as fuse board is the box that distributes the electricity around each circuit of your house. The consumer unit contains the main switch which is used to turn off the power to your entire home if necessary.
If newer, your consumer unit may contain an RCD or a residual current device, this clever switch will trip and disconnect the supply if dangerous conditions arise.
Each circuit of your property should be protected individually by an MCB or miniature circuit breaker. These trip when detected a fault on the circuit such as an overload. These can be easily reset, but if a circuit continually trips it would be best to contact an electrician to investigate the issue.
