Insulating around fuse box

tommythecat

Hi

My fuse box is beside my front door behind a little door that is flush with the interior wall. So it is letting in a lot of cold air as there is only the external brick wall and then a flimsy door. Is it safe to insulate around the box? What would you recommend? Any help appreciated.

Thanks

Garret

tommythecat

Pic attached

Bruthal

The easiest method would seem to be to make up an insulated door and make sure it's well sealed.

2011

I certainly wouldn’t recommend insulating around the board, it looks difficult to access as it is. This may become a fire hazard if insulation were packed tightly around it. It would be best to mount the board on the insulated wall. The current carrying capacity of cables can be reduced if insulation is packed tightly around them. Cables buried in an insulated wall should be in conduit or similar cable containment to avoid direct contact with the insulation. I appreciate that this may not be easy to do, but that is my opinion.

Bruthal

Doors like the one in this setup are often very draughty. Making a good seal might be enough. The small area of the door wouldn't lose much heat if everywhere else is good, but a free flowing air flow often seen behind dry lined walls and out a leaky door might.

tommythecat

Thanks everyone

I guess I’ll focus on improving the door seal as it seems the safest. It definitely has a poor seal and there are large gaps around it so that might be the simplest thing to fix.

Thanks.

2011

I just looked at it again and realized that the picture was posted sideways. Not as bad as I first thought :D
Perhaps cement board which has a high U value could be slid up behind it? It is a great product and is available in different thicknesses including 12.5mm. It is also fire retardant as far as I know. Obviously you would need an electrician, but it might not be that difficult. The cement board can be fixed in place with an adhesive.

tommythecat

Thanks everyone for your help. I’ve managed to seal up the door pretty good now so it’s much improved. I have a question above the attached pic. Basically at the bottom in the picture is just a hole into the cavity so lots of cold air entering. I bought pipe insulation and cut it and opened it up and just covered the area. My question is, is this safe? It’s not near the fuse box but just want to make sure.

Thanks

Garret.

2011

From what I can see it looks ok. If it were my home I would consider installing the cables in min trunking. I would be hopeful that this would be possible to do without disconnecting any cables. Then I would fill the void with rockwool. I would then finish off as per the photo. The idea of the mini trunking is that it would prevent direct contact between cables and insulation.

tommythecat

Thanks a million. I will try and get that done so. It sounds very sensible! Don’t want any worries about it in my mind. Thank you.

2011

Just be aware that moving these cables in any way (while installing trunking) carries the risk of loosening connections which would not be good. Therefore all connections should be carefully checked by a suitably trained / qualified person. To comply with the letter of the law this should be a registered electrical contractor but for me the important thing is that this is done properly.

DublinDilbert

I assume the cavity is dry, as per above i would put rockwool in any of the holes to seal them up. Also as per above, clip some mini trunking around the cables for additional protection, once the trunking is around the cable you could even use some expanding foam.

2011

+1

Expanding foam would be even better from an insulation point of view.

tommythecat

I was concerned about the expanding foam being a bit of a fire risk? I guess with the trunking it would be ok? The whole thing is a wooden frame except the bottom is open to the cavity. I will try stuffing in the rock wool and trunking the cabling without moving any too much.

Thanks

DublinDilbert

tommythecat wrote: »

I was concerned about the expanding foam being a bit of a fire risk? I guess with the trunking it would be ok? The whole thing is a wooden frame except the bottom is open to the cavity. I will try stuffing in the rock wool and trunking the cabling without moving any too much.

Thanks

If the bottom is open to the cavity, get some rigid insulation in there and maybe put some foam around it. Most builders skips will have some off cuts of rigid insulation which you could use. There is a pink expanding foam which has a fire-rating, it is not much more expensive.

If you've never used foam before, wear gloves, cover the floor and bring in a big bucket with ya to put the can in when you are finished.

LeBash

Grab some rubber seal for the door or cut up a few of those brush style draft excluders you see on the bottom of doors. Just stopping the air movement into the house will probably be enough

tommythecat

Thanks everyone. Yes I have the door sealed well now and it is a huge improvement but if I can fill in this cavity section that should help also. Thank you all for your help.

TheBully

+1 on the fire rated expanding foam

Risteard81

It's worth pointing out that a distribution board shouldn't be located inside a press.