Main fuse query

[Garymcdee]

Hi I’m planning on getting my house re-wired soon, the installation at the minute is an ancient old fuse board with all sorts going on in there! My main fuse is rated at 60 amp and my question is should I get the dno in to upgrade if needed to 80 or 100 amp! Am I best doing this before or after re-wire?
Will 60 amp be ok staying put?
It’s a 3 bed semi.
Thanks for help

 

[DPG]

No wonder the planet's resources are dwindling.

 

[Megawatt]

60amp is the size not blown, leave alone. If you are concerned about the load, clamp it an see how many amps you are pulling on full load.

If I had a 60amp fuse that would start over heating and eventually blow. Since from what I understand y’all have higher voltage so as you know the higher the voltage the lower the current

 

[mhar]

New (WPD) domestic supplies are likely to be 3 phase their employees were informed last year

 

[Silly Sausage]

New (WPD) domestic supplies are likely to be 3 phase their employees were informed last year

I wonder how many fried customers WPD are planning for?
I'd love a 3P supply, I could run my monster compressor then.

 

[davesparks]

It’s called planning for the future. I can’t count how many people called me because they want to add swimming pools, out buildings etc. you get the point

Swimming pools don't need much power, unless someone was mad enough to have it heated electrically in which case a 3 phase supply is likely to be needed.

In the USA I am sure a higher capacity service is necessary, in the UK it rarely is for domestic use.
The general trend is towards reducing energy consumption so planning for the future shouldn't need a bigger supply.

I partially get the point, but at what point does planning for the future become a futile exercise?
A cost/benefit analysis is likely to show that the cost of the upgrade is high and the benefit zero.

 

[davesparks]

Rob in the USA the NEC is minimum requirements and I agree that everything doesn’t come on together at one time but we as Electricians have to figure worst case scenario and wiring it accordingly.

We don't work to the worst case scenario, we generally use diversity calculations which have been long established and proven to work. We still end up with supplies oversized for the actual demand.

It's not just everything not coming on at the same time, it's things like the cycling of the thermostats in heating loads which reduces the actual demand.

 

[davesparks]

We have electric hot water heaters at 4800 watts heat is 10000 watts stoves are 4000 watts dryer are 6000 watts plus all the other loads. I get what your saying but in the USA other than trailors 100 amp service no exceptions

Hot water and heating are normally gas or oil fired. If electric hot water is usually 3kW and heating is likely to be on an off peak supply
Cookers up to around 15kW work fine on a 32A supply due to diversity, and rarely draw even that.
And tumble driers are normally 2kW or less and usually only used when it's raining and not possible to air dry clothes outside.

 

[DPG]

If my house was pulling 70 Amps plus, then I'd be bankrupt from the bills!

 

[telectrix]

south yorks.... looks like a job for Glenn(Super)Sparks.

 

[Deleted account]

I’ve only done 3 pools but they where electric. One on a 5 kw heater all designed by pool people.

The other 2 on air source heat pumps.

Electric is the way forward. We need to prepare fro it now.

 

[GeorgeCooke]

Electric is the way forward. We need to prepare fro it now.

Why do you think that? Electricity is horrendously expensive compared to other forms of energy. Three times as expensive as gas per KWh.

 

[Megawatt]

Swimming pools don't need much power, unless someone was mad enough to have it heated electrically in which case a 3 phase supply is likely to be needed.

In the USA I am sure a higher capacity service is necessary, in the UK it rarely is for domestic use.
The general trend is towards reducing energy consumption so planning for the future shouldn't need a bigger supply.

I partially get the point, but at what point does planning for the future become a futile exercise?
A cost/benefit analysis is likely to show that the cost of the upgrade is high and the benefit zero.

Dave from what I understand she’s need a rewrite and I don’t know prices for materials but all your doing is going to 100 amps. I wouldn’t think 40 amps more and having some spares would be that much more expensive

 

[Deleted account]

Why do you think that? Electricity is horrendously expensive compared to other forms of energy. Three times as expensive as gas per KWh.

Because the British government are preparing now to stop, installing gas in new builds. Can’t remember the date, buts it’s recently been put back. Also as I said earlier EV is a big issue at the moment.

 

[Silly Sausage]

If my house was pulling 70 Amps plus, then I'd be bankrupt from the bills!

I'd be bankrupted on 7 Amps!
Worked it out once, over about 12 hours (electric usage average) a day, we use about 500mA.Why on Earth would I want a 100A 3P supply?

 

[Andy78]

Dave from what I understand she’s need a rewrite and I don’t know prices for materials but all your doing is going to 100 amps. I wouldn’t think 40 amps more and having some spares would be that much more expensive

As stated by Rob in post #4, if the main incoming cable was not capable of merely upgrading the fuse, then the cable itself would have to be upgraded. This would likely cost many thousands of pounds to provide a service that is not needed.
We are talking about the fuse that protects the whole household that is owned and managed by the network operator, not just a case of adding spare ways in the fuse board to accommodate future circuits.