Explained
Consumer unit vs. fuse box: what's the difference?
The terms get used interchangeably, but there's a real difference — and it matters for your safety.
'Fuse box' usually refers to older boards with rewireable fuses (thin wires you had to replace). 'Consumer unit' refers to modern boards with miniature circuit breakers (MCBs) and residual current devices (RCDs) that protect against electric shock.
Why upgrade?
Modern consumer units disconnect a faulty circuit within milliseconds — protecting against fire and shock. Rewireable fuses simply cannot match this. Plastic consumer units, even relatively recent ones, no longer meet current standards for most domestic properties.