This week we will discuss the top 10 reasons why we think it is important to upgrade your old switchboard.

1. Reduces risk of electrical Fires

Over-crowded connections can become loose connections over time, causing at best a wiring fault but potentially leading to electrical fires

2. Removes unsafe circuits

If you re-wire re-wirable fuses yourself, you could potentially use the wrong size fuse wire making the circuit protection non-compliant with the size of the cable, which again can lead to electrical fires

3. Add circuit protection

RCD’s provide a greater deal of protection against electric shock. RCDs should trip within 0.4s in fault conditions

4. Removes re-wirable fuses

When a fuse wire blows it’s not a quick fix

5. Saves on future costs

Additional work completed on a property with an old switchboard will be costlier, as the electrician will have to upgrade the circuit protection on each individual circuit that has been altered and/or installed

6. Allows for renovations

Upgrading your switchboard will allow additional room for future renovations

7. Neat and labelled

All circuits will (to the best of abilities) be labelled and identified so no guesswork will be required, if you need to identify a circuit in your switchboard

8. Removes Asbestos from your home

Old switchboard panels can potentially contain ASBESTOS. Removing them will remove any risk of this being disturbed in the future.

9. Identifies issues

Upgrading your switchboard may lead to other issues on the electrical system being identified, for example, poor main earth connections and or bonding connections.

10. Lastly, not the most important reason but definitely a good one, a new switchboard is aesthetically pleasing and gives you confidence that your electrical switchboard is no longer the hazard it once was.

Thank you for reading. If you are interested in upgrading your switchboard or finding out more please contact us here or for more related electrical topics head over to read about What causes electrical fires in the home?  Arc Fault Detection Devices and What are RCD’s and how to test them.

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