Cooker and shower on the same circuit

I am just debating if it’s appropriate to post a picture of the consumer unit I had the cover off yesterday.

The highest rated MCB in the consumer unit is a 32 amp, it supplies a 12 kW electric boiler for the central heating.

That is only one of the issues, another was a socket ring circuit supplied two B16 MCBs, one on each end of the circuit, and many other potential issues.

The consumer unit was replaced as part of a £15K package supplying PV, battery storage, solar diverter on the hot water cylinder and replacing the gas boiler with the electric boiler.

All the work is actually out of the scope of the OSG, because the supply is 116 amps and there are no standard circuits for a 53 amp boiler.

The IET urgently need to extend the scope and content of the OSG to actually keep up with changing technology and installation practices.

More guidance is required, not less.

I am just debating if it’s appropriate to post a picture of the consumer unit I had the cover off yesterday.

The highest rated MCB in the consumer unit is a 32 amp, it supplies a 12 kW electric boiler for the central heating.

That is only one of the issues, another was a socket ring circuit supplied two B16 MCBs, one on each end of the circuit, and many other potential issues.

The consumer unit was replaced as part of a £15K package supplying PV, battery storage, solar diverter on the hot water cylinder and replacing the gas boiler with the electric boiler.

All the work is actually out of the scope of the OSG, because the supply is 116 amps and there are no standard circuits for a 53 amp boiler.

The IET urgently need to extend the scope and content of the OSG to actually keep up with changing technology and installation practices.

More guidance is required, not less.

I installed a new small consumer unit for a couple that were having an all electrical boiler to provide hot water for their wet system radiators' heating. I only did the work at the origin of the circuit. The boiler installers ran the cable and connected up the boiler. The old system was an oil boiler as there is not mains' gas available. I wonder what the "green" couple are thinking now, what with the energy prices ascending. They considered electric heating to be "green".

Z.

The customer has PV panels on both sides of the bungalow roof to maximise yields and says it works well.

As it’s a 1980’s bungalow and right on the east coast with the winds blowing in from across the North Sea I would want some more insulation in the loft.

That is the way it is going, 116 amp supplies and 53 amp circuits in two bed bungalows, but many electricians have not grasped what it involves.

But with little winter sun and at night the solar panels will be of little use. The hot water will only store heat for a short time. It sounds very costly to run to me.

Z.

Sparkingchip said:

the supply is 116 amps

That seems remarkably precise.

It's probably OK if cropped so that the location is not obvious - so no personal photos in the background etc. The customer will not recognize the inside, having never opened it, and we will not see the outside...  need to know and all that. As this was presumably done by a scheme member as notifiable works, or at least existing mistakes were not spotted when the CU was changed, it does make you wonder how much value  the schemes and registrations actually add . And if they had an updated OSG, would they actually  bother to read it ?

Mike.