I need to spec up and buy a new consumer unit for my house...

There seem to be a number of manufacturers all at different prices..

Excel make a 12 way CU which I can get for just under £50 complete with 8 MCBs of my choice

Something from MK, Wylex etc would be around £60 for the CU plus the cost of MCBs..

Anyone know anything about Excel's quality? Is this one of those items where spending more on a bigger brand is the better choice?

check out Toolstation

Steve

hi how many way board do you need?

at work domestic side we just fit mk, but i have done a few wylex boards, and they seem not to bad.

screw fix where selling a 10 way spilt load board, for 80pounds

stuart

you need at least 2 rcds nowadays. Named brands are better quality but cheap ones do still work. Seen a cheap one in B&Q the other day, but cant remember the brand.

Actually its a minefield of information out there..

I can go split way over 2 RCds

Or use 1RCD to cover half the load, and then RCBOs on the others fed direct from the master switch... Might be more expensive than a normal split load over 2 MCBs though...

Having said that RCBOs are about £30 each... multiply that by 9 and OUCH!

I need at least 9 ways. plus one spare ideally.

Would a radial feeding a CU in the garage need MCB protection?

[Edited on 26/10/10 by tegwin]

Are you doing this yourself, if so it could be a minefield when it all goes bang!!

Hah. no... I am having a go at speccing it up so I can compare notes with my sparky...

Its not going to bang... have some faith

If a sparky's doing it, he'll probably have his preferred brand which he'll want to use, and can get cheaper than you can . I fit a Hager during my renovation - top quality. Avoid cheap chinese carp - you could be counting on this thing and the devices inside it to save your/your family's lives. A well known brand ought to still be around in the future for spares, too.

the radial to garage does need a fuse, yes.

RCBOs are a much better solution but as you've noticed, not cheap!