New Circuits and Consumer Unit Upgrade - Penzance Basement Flat
The job
A landlord in Penzance was moving the flat away from gas and needed two new dedicated circuits - one for an electric cooker, one for an electric boiler - in a small basement flat with a vaulted ceiling. A previous EICR had also flagged the consumer unit as needing an upgrade, so all three jobs were combined into a single visit.
What I did
I installed a 6mm cooker circuit and a dedicated supply for the electric boiler, which was being fitted by plumbers I've worked alongside on a number of previous projects. Rather than lifting the carpet and floor to run concealed cables, or cutting into the vaulted ceiling, trunking was the chosen solution - it keeps the disruption minimal and avoids bringing in other trades to make good afterwards. Positioned alongside doorframes and sitting on top of skirting boards, it blends in better than you'd expect once the lid is on. I also upgraded the consumer unit as previously recommended on the EICR - the flat now has full RCBO protection on every circuit.
Nobody wants trunking. It’s always the last resort - but it has its place, especially in flats where the ceiling construction makes concealed wiring a much bigger job than the circuits themselves. The alternative in this property would have been lifting floorboards, cutting into the vaulted ceiling, and bringing in a plasterer or carpenter to make good afterwards. The trunking saved the landlord that disruption and cost, and once it’s installed neatly against existing features it tends to attract far less attention than people expect.
The combination of a consumer unit upgrade and new circuits in the same visit also made sense - the board needed to come out regardless, and with the new circuits to wire in at the same time it was more efficient than doing them separately.