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Have you heard about Type A RCD's? Are you trying to find out more about why you might need one? DNA Father and Son's Electrical in Corby are here to answer all your questions.
But hold on, what is an RCD?
It is an essential, lifesaver device that monitors your electricity 24h a day 7 days a week and it’s job is to immediately disconnect your power if there is an issue on the circuit, saving you from having an electric shock!
You might already have one in place ,but wondering why is your electrician telling you that the RCD you have needs replacing or upgrading, so I created this document to explain the importance of having the new type.
First of all there are 2 types of electricity in your home:
AC and DC
No, we not talking about the famous band AC\DC , these are 2 different type of electricity that can be found in your home! There are equipment’s and appliances that uses AC type of electricity for example : Cooker, Iron, Kettle, Lawnmower, Shower ect, and there are others that uses DC power, which would be anything with electronic components such as TV, Computer, Mobile Phone Charger, Alexa , Google Home, LED Lighting, Smart features all these new modern accessories are using DC. Or if you have solar panel installed, they produce DC electricity all day long!
So what is the problem?
The problem is that all of these modern equipment that uses DC Electricity have a small amount of electricity leakage to your system which can blind your AC RCD as it is not designed to be able to detect DC electricity so it will NOT DISCONNECT the power if there is a problem. Putting you and your family at risk.
The first RCD’s been around for ages but they become a legal requirement in all new and rewired homes in 2008, so ever since then most of the household were updated , but there are still some that are not and back in 2008 there was not as many equipment that used DC type of electricity. If you think about it nowadays everything is electronic or have some type of electronic components. Just think about LED lights, most of your lights if not all of them are LED. They all require protection by a Type A RCD and not a Type AC.
To find out which one you have installed if you have one, look for a device in your consumers unit that has a test button (T) and check the symbol:
Type AC: 
Type A: 
If you have any further questions or want to know more about why you need a type A RCD, contact us here at DNA Father and Son's Electrical in Corby.