Switchboard upgrades
Switchboard upgrades in Herne Bay
A switchboard upgrade in Herne Bay usually means taking out a board that was put in decades ago and fitting one built for the load a modern house carries, with circuit breakers and RCD protection. Where the new board counts as high-risk mains work, we arrange the licensed electrical inspector, so the job is finished properly on paper as well as on the wall.
What is on the wall now
Open the meter box or the cupboard in the hall of an older Herne Bay house and you could find almost anything. Some houses have had their board replaced two or three times since they were built; others still rely on rewireable fuses, where a fault melts a length of fuse wire that someone then has to replace by hand, often by torchlight.
A modern board does the same job with circuit breakers, which switch off on overload or a short circuit and reset with a flick, and with residual current devices, or RCDs, which watch for current leaking to earth and cut the supply in a fraction of a second. The board is also laid out and labelled, so anyone opening it later can see which breaker feeds the kitchen and which feeds the heat pump. If the wiring behind the board is as old as the fuses, it is worth reading our page on rewiring older Herne Bay houses before deciding on the scope.
Common reasons to upgrade
No room for new circuits
A renovation, a new kitchen or a heat pump on its own circuit needs space on the board that an older one often does not have.
Fuses instead of breakers
Rewireable fuses are slow to restore and easy to get wrong. Breakers reset safely and trip at the rating they were made for.
Little or no RCD protection
RCDs add protection against electric shock that many older boards were never built with.
Trouble that keeps coming back
Breakers that trip for no obvious reason, or a board that is warm or smells hot, need finding out. If it is happening now, call our emergency electricians straight away.
Selling, buying or insuring
A buyer's inspection or an insurer may raise the board, and certificates for the new work answer the question cleanly.
When a new switchboard has to be inspected
Not every switchboard job is treated the same way under the electrical safety rules. The Electrical Workers Registration Board sets it out plainly in its guide Is this high-risk work, and do I need an inspection? Installing a higher-capacity board to cope with increased use is an alteration classed as high-risk work, and it has to be inspected. So is moving a board when that means extending, jointing or rerouting the existing mains. Replacing a damaged or faulty main switch or fuse like for like, on the other hand, is low-risk repair work that does not need an inspection.
The inspection is carried out by a licensed electrical inspector, and arranging it is the electrician's job, not yours. We are electricians, not inspectors, so where your upgrade needs an inspection we book the inspector, have the work checked, and give you the inspection record together with the certificate for our work.
Who looks after which part of the supply
A switchboard sits in the middle of a chain with three owners, and it helps to know where the lines are drawn. Vector, the local lines company, generally owns the network up to the point of supply, which is usually an isolating fuse on your boundary or on the nearest pole. The service line from there to your meter belongs to the property owner, and the meter is the responsibility of your electricity retailer. Everything from the meter into the house, including the switchboard and the wiring behind it, is work for your electrician.
On a large or sloping section the service line can run a long way from the street to the house, overhead or underground. Vector's advice is to check where it enters the house for a line that is old, repaired or frayed, from a safe distance, and to keep trees clear of it. If yours worries you, mention it when you book.
What happens on the day
The power to the house has to be off while the old board comes out and the new one goes in, so we agree a time with you in advance and tell you roughly when it will be back on. Each existing circuit is identified, connected to its own breaker on the new board and labelled. Before the job is handed back, every circuit and every RCD is tested. Where an inspection is required it is booked as part of the job, and the paperwork for the work and the inspection comes to you at the end.
Switchboard questions
Is a switchboard upgrade the same as a rewire?
No. The board is where the circuits start; the wiring is what runs from it to every socket and light. Old wiring can sit behind a new board and still need replacing, so we test both and tell you what we find.
Do I need to tell my power company?
The meter is your electricity retailer's responsibility, not yours or ours. If a job means the meter or the supply has to change, we will tell you before work starts who needs to be involved.
What paperwork will I get?
A certificate for the electrical work and, where the work was inspected, the inspection record. WorkSafe suggests keeping the inspection report with your other certificates for the house.
Can the switchboard be moved somewhere more convenient?
Often, yes. Moving a board that involves extending, jointing or rerouting the existing mains is high-risk work that has to be inspected, so we plan the inspection into the job from the start.
Can you upgrade a switchboard in a shop or office?
Yes. We do commercial electrical work as well as residential, and the same inspection rules apply to high-risk work in a commercial building.
Find out what your board needs
Call 021 156 4005 or describe your switchboard in the enquiry form, and an electrician will come back to you about what it needs.
More electrical work we do in Herne Bay
Villa and House Rewiring
Replacing tired wiring room by room in older Herne Bay houses, tested and certified when it is done.LED and Interior Lighting
Pendants, wall lights and insulation-rated LED downlights, planned around how each room is used.Garden and Outdoor Lighting
Lighting for decks, steps, paths and gardens, with fittings chosen for life near the harbour.Heat Pump Installation
Wiring, isolating switches and outdoor units placed with sea air and the look of the house in mind.Alarms and CCTV
Alarm systems, security cameras and sensor lights installed and wired for houses and businesses.24/7 Emergency Electrician
Fault finding and urgent repairs any hour of the day or night, every day of the week.Enquiries
Contact us
Call 021 156 4005 at any hour of the day or night, or leave the details below and we will get back to you.
021 156 4005- Auckland
- Call-outs 24 hours a day, 7 days a week