Why Would You Replace Your Old Fusebox or Switchboard?

Have you ever considered if your electrical switchboard needs upgrading? If it looks anything like the picture above, the answer is most likely yes.

When Should You Replace a Fuse Box or Switchboard?

Switchboards need to be replaced or upgraded if they are unsafe, not coping with the demands you are placing on them and overheat or frequently trip fuses, or not able to be extended to cover the demands of new appliances such as air conditioners or pool pumps. If you have the old porcelain fuse boxes with fuse wire in your home, then you definitely need to upgrade your fusebox to one with circuit breakers and safety switches that protect both people and your property.

How Long Does It Take to Replace a Fuse Box?

Fuse boxes, like most things to do with old houses, vary from house to house. As a result, there are a few different answers to the question of the time taken to install a new fuse box. If you have a house older than 25 years, then generally you may need to have your mains power upgraded to comply with increased power requirements. This means upgrading the size of the cable to your fusebox and will take approximately 8 hours.

Then there are the left-field scenarios. In the olden days, fuseboxes could be pretty much anywhere on the property, which made it tricky for the poor meter reader. These days, there are a raft of legal requirements about where a switchbox must be located. If your box is being upgraded and the location does not comply with legal requirements, then the box needs to be relocated to be less than 2 metres from the ground and within 2 metres of the front of the house to be readily accessible for meter readers and emergency workers to access if required. This takes a few more hours to do. In these situations, we will discuss options and timing with you first to give you an accurate estimate of cost and timing for the fuse box replacement.

How Much Does It Cost to Replace a Fuse Box with Circuit Breakers and Safety Switches?

Replacing a fuse box is not as simple as unplugging the old and plugging in a new one. By law, when you upgrade your fuse box, your electrician must bring your home’s electrical wiring system up to current legal standards. This means that the cost to replace your fuse box will vary depending on what needs to be done. Because we understand that people need to know upfront what the costs are, we will provide you with a detailed quote before we start.

To give you some rough costs, a basic fusebox upgrade with safety switch protection on all necessary circuits costs between $900-$1200 depending on the number of circuits you have in your house. If we need to upgrade your mains or relocate your fusebox, then there are additional costs involved and you could be looking at anywhere between $2000-$3500. However, this depends on multiple factors including access, cable run, location of the new switchboard, location of the old switchboard, and more. We can arrange a site inspection and quote for you to give you an accurate quote for timing and costs associated with your switchboard upgrade.

Should You Replace Your Circuit Breakers?

The basics of fuses or circuit breakers are the same – they detect a problem and then open the circuit to stop the current. The difference is the time it takes, what faults trigger their operation, and what they protect. Fuses and circuit breakers have undergone rapid technological changes, with recent models significantly safer and working more quickly than earlier versions. They now also combine circuit breakers and safety switches into a single module to not only protect the cabling in your house from overloading but also to protect against earth faults – essentially protecting you as the consumer.

Ceramic Fuses

Ceramic fuses (SERF – semi-enclosed rewireable fuses) are old forms of electrical protection for a home. These are the sort where you run fuse wire around some screws (usually in the dark while holding a torch) before plugging them back into your fuse box. They provide short-circuit and overload protection and provide limited protection to your property and no protection from electric shocks. Not only is it inconvenient when these blow and you need to replace the fuse wire, but most people these days have not experienced these fuses or know what to do when they blow. There are issues with not having them seated properly, wrong size fuse wire being installed, and the live exposed terminals at the back of the fuse when the fuse is removed. This is why it is a great idea to have all rental properties up to date when it comes to the electrical fuse or switchboard.

Plugin Circuit Breaker

The next development in fuses was a replacement plug-in (plugin MCB) circuit breaker that plugged into the old porcelain fuse base. These were a step forward from juggling fuse wire in the dark, but still only had the same protection as fuses. Home handymen used to swap them around with the wrong current ratings and overload the cabling which created fire risks due to the cable not being correctly protected to the amount of current it could handle.

Hardwired Circuit Breakers

The first hardwired circuit breakers (MCBs) were a step up for safety in that they couldn’t be swapped around by enthusiastic DIYers. Although quicker acting than fuses or plug-in breakers, they still only provide short circuit and overload protection.

Safety Switches

Safety switches (RCDs) were the next huge step forward, as they not only protected a number of circuits, they also protected against electric shock for the first time. Generally, you had one safety switch linked to a number of circuit breakers. The main drawback of this was that when they were tripped, they would take out the supply to the multiple circuits that they protected.

Combination Circuit Breaker and Safety Switch (RCBO)

The most modern type of switches are combination circuit breaker and safety switches (RCBOs). These protect single circuits from short circuit, overload, and electric shocks. This means any problem is confined to that one circuit and will not take out the circuits for the rest of your house. The other advantage is that nuisance trips become a virtual thing of the past as each circuit has its own “earth fault” limit as opposed to having one safety switch protecting numerous circuits.