Your new Redrow home is designed is for convenience, and you'll quickly discover how simple it is to confidently manage your electricity supply using the consumer unit.

 

 

It’s simple to turn the electricity supply off in specific parts of your home with your inbuilt consumer unit. This is where you’ll find all the main switches and fuses that control the electrics around the property.

Whether you need to change a lightbulb or anything else, the fuse box is easy to access and even easier to use.

Read on for a quick guide to your consumer unit, or watch our video for more information.

 

What is a consumer unit?

The consumer unit is essentially the fuse box for the house. Flip up the front of the consumer unit to reveal a range of switches and levers. Each switch will be labelled for each part of the house - so there’ll be a switch for the first-floor lights, or the ground floor electrics.

This is particularly useful for electrical jobs around the property, so you don’t need to turn off the entire supply. So, if you’re changing a lightbulb upstairs, you can specifically isolate this part of the supply and turn it off.

Where can I find my consumer unit?

Within every Redrow home, the consumer unit is located out of the way, usually fixed to the wall in the utility room, garage or cloakroom.

How do I use the consumer unit in an emergency?

You probably won’t need to access the consumer unit all that much, though we recommend having a look at it to familiarise yourself with the switches. That way, if there is ever an emergency or you need to turn off some electrics, you’ll know where you need to go.

You’re most likely to need to use the consumer unit if there’s a tripped circuit breaker somewhere. This happens when the system is overloaded - usually because of a blown fuse or another issue. If this happens, you’ll just need to find the relevant switch on the panel in the consumer unit and flip it back up.

How to test your consumer unit

It’s important to regularly check your consumer unit to make sure it’s in working order. We usually recommend doing this seasonally, about four times per year.

To test the fuse box, you’ll just have to open the front and press the ‘T’ button. This will turn the unit’s power off, and you should notice one of the switches flipped. Flick this back into the right position and the power should turn back on.

If you struggle to turn it back on, or nothing happens when you press the ‘T’ button to test, it’s worth making an appointment with a professional to check it out.

If you’re struggling to locate your consumer unit or have any other questions, contact a member of your local development team.