Mark Jeisman – Clipsal by Schneider Electric
Introduction
It doesn’t seem long ago the only defence in electrical safety at home was the humble fuse wire.
In fact, many Australian homes still use these rudimentary ceramic fuses which are there to protect the overloading of an electrical circuit’s cabling. Thankfully, in the 1980’s this one-shot wonder gave way to better technology in the form of miniature circuit breakers (MCB) which can swiftly restore the power supply after doing their job, simply by pushing a button or switch to reset.
RCD
Electrical safety was further elevated in the 1990’s with the safety switch or the residual current device (RCD).
An RCD protects life and property by detecting earth leakage, an often-dangerous situation where a potentially exposed metal equipment part may become live or suffer a short circuit. The power is cut in milliseconds and minimises the risk a fatal electric shock.
RCBO
As a result, recent changes to the Australian standards AS/NZS3000:2018 has mandated all final sub-electrical circuits in new residential properties or renovation works shall be protected by an RCD, which now includes devices such as lighting, hot water systems and EV chargers, in addition to general electrical circuits. Most new homes today generally install combination units of MCB & RCD called ‘RCBO’ to reduce space and cost inside the electrical board.
Adoption
To make adoption of this new life-saving technology simpler and more convenient; Clipsal, manufacturers of electrical safety products in Australia since 1920, have recently released a single multi-functional circuit breaker (MCB), safety switch (RCD) and arc fault detection device (AFDD) combined into one unit. The Arc Fault Detection RCBO device which must be installed by a licensed electrician, is also compact in size which means that it will fit into many existing electrical boards as well as provide optimal safety enhancement on new homes.