Consumer unit
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A consumer unit is a box of fuses or breakers, usually arranged in a single row. This is unlike a distribution board which has multiple rows of fuses or breakers and usually serves two or more locations, which may be split phase, two phase, two phases taken from three phase), or three phases.
A consumer unit fitted with just fuses is often referred to as a "fuse box".
Modern consumer units usually use DIN-rail mount breakers.
The box pictured is a "Wylex standard" fitted with rewirable fuses. These boxes can also be fitted with cartridge fuses or miniature circuit breakers (MCBs). This type of consumer unit was very popular in Britain until 2001 when wiring regulations mandated residual current device (RCD) protection for sockets that could "reasonably be expected to" supply outdoor equipment (BS7671:2001, ISBN 0863413730). The Wylex design cannot have RCDs added.
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