Unveiled: Major RCD Blunder in Heat Pump Installs

- Coming up on this week's news, an eFIXX investigation reveals that heat pump installers are routinely installing the wrong type of RCDs. We meet the apprentice electrician who's earning an annual salary of £77,000, and is it a bulb or a lamp? We shed light on the big debate. Welcome to "Electrical News Weekly" in association with Solar Trade Sales, your easy one-stop shop for all things solar. And whether you're listening in the van, onsite or down at the wholesale counter, I'm Joe Robinson, and I've been through the best of the electrical industry news to save you the trouble. And as always, if you think you spotted the two words that I've been challenged to slip into this week's show, comment with them below for the chance to win a prize. A concerning number of installers are fitting the wrong type of RCD to heat pump installations. That's the revelation of an eFIXX investigation into the way the units are connected to UK homes. Heat pumps are equipped with inverter-driven motors that regulate the output. The power electronics that control the motor speed can produce substantial DC leakage current, potentially impairing the electronic circuitry inside the RCD used to protect circuits. This is called the blinding effect, and it can result in the RCD failing to promptly respond to a fault. Additionally, many heat pumps feature water circulation pumps which also contribute DC leakage currents. eFIXX conducted a survey of installations shared on the popular Facebook group"Heat Pump Installers UK". Despite appearing to meet high standards, many installations were found to feature Type A RCDs when in fact type B are required. In discussions with installers, eFIXX discovered that many of them confused type B MCBs with type B RCDs. Additionally, they believe that type A ARBO devices, which combine RCD and MCB functionalities, offer adequate fault protection. Despite RCBOs being a favourite option for residential consuming units, there's no such thing as a single module RCBO device with type B Earth leakage protection. This discrepancy poses a challenge for installers tasked with integrating heat pumps into existing electrical installations. That's because devices with type B protection are much more expensive than the type A units used to protect most electrical circuits. BS7671 states that the type of RCD to be installed is governed by the level of smooth DC residual current produced under certain fault conditions. In simple terms, if you're certain that it's under six milliamps, then you can use an A type. If it's under 10 milliamps, you can use an F. If it's over this or you can't be certain, then you must instal a type B. Heat pump expert Paul Spence says good practise is to use a sub-board which completely separates out the heat pump circuit. This should contain the separate main switch, then a type B RCD, then surge protection, and then an MCB for the heat pump and one for the external controller. If all this RCD talk has made your head hurt and given you the collywobbles about your installations, don't worry, we've made an explainer video to clear up the confusion between type B RCDs and MCBs. It's well worth a watch, and I'll pop the link to that in the show notes. Still on best practise, new guidance has been published this week to help electricians and other trades maintain fire barriers in buildings. The unique document, dubbed,"Firestopping of Service Penetrations" is a collaboration between trade bodies and experts, and follows the Grenfell Fire Tragedy in 2017. It shows you how to maintain the right levels of fire protection when running cables, trunking, and conduit through walls, floors, and ceilings. The publication also features the nine golden rules of penetration and ceiling. The PDF is free to all contractors, and I've popped the download link in the show notes. Thanks to eFIXX viewer, regular commenter, and friend of the show Sergio Fernandez from Costa del Watford for the heads-up on that guidance. In other news, an apprentice electrician has revealed his annual salary is a staggering £77,000. The second-year trainee is working on the huge Queen's Wharf redevelopment in Brisbane, Australia, where many of the skilled workers earn six-figure sums. His online revelation, widely picked up by the newspapers, has sparked a debate about how various occupations are rewarded. Many have compared the youngster's bumper earnings with the more modest paychecks of nurses and paramedics, but others in the construction industry say it reflects the skill shortage in the country. Standard shifts on Queen's Wharf, which are 12 hours long and start at 6:30 AM, are complemented by frequent night shifts at the weekends. Second-year apprentices aged under 21 should earn a standard minimum wage of £9 an hour, according to the Electrical Trades Union. Those over 21 earn £13 an hour. In reality, many earn significantly more than this, especially on big projects. On this side of the globe, electricians in their 20s may not be pulling down such huge salaries yet, but some of them have been covered in glory in this year's 30 Under 30 competition in association with the Luceco Group. Last week, we unveiled this year's set of winners in a glittering online ceremony hosted by Gary and Gordon, a huge congratulations to them. Not Gary and Gordon, the winners. Presenting isn't a big deal; I should know. Anyway, to learn more about these outstanding young people and their inspirational backstories, check out our special report on the class of 2024 on our website. In the eFIXX poll this week, we asked you what you call this. For our audio viewers, it's a light source contained in a plastic-shaped envelope, so is it a bulb or is it a lamp? The results were surprising. A majority of you, some 56%, call it a light bulb, mainly to stop domestic customers thinking you're a weirdo. Only 44% of you call it a lamp, despite that being the industry's preferred word for it. Many people who first joined the trade remember being told lamps glow and bulbs grow. One commenter, MOPAX, claimed he'd get a metal ruler to the hand if he used a B-word. Also, firmly in the lamp camp is mercilyngono8955. He says, "The term bulb only came about because of the physical appearance of lamps that had the shape of sunflower seeds." He says to call a lamp a bulb shows a lack of knowledge and is unprofessional. Meanwhile, ditch3827 points out that Amazon calls them bulbs. He says, "Big tech is never wrong, so that's that." Our very own Gordon made a thought-provoking point when he asked if anyone has ever had a light lamp moment, and it made one clever wag come up with a question: why do we plant bulbs in the ground? The answer being, of course, so that the worms can see where they're going.(recorded laughter) But let's allow christastic100 to have the last word. He says that the fact that a consumer unit manufacturer has named itself fuse box says it all. There's still time to cast your votes, I've put the link to the poll in the show notes. Still on "All Things Illumination", earlier this month we told you about the new LumXpert app in the UK. Developed by Signify, the manufacturer of Philips Lighting, the app has been specially made for electrical installers and it brings together all the necessary tools for day-to-day tasks such as quotes, lighting calcs, ordering and tracking. Additionally, you can get help and support and create exportable lighting calculations to share with your customers. We've had a few questions about its credit facility. To clarify, when a professional installer registers on the app with their company registration number, the credit provider, Hokodo, will auto-calculate your eligibility. If you are eligible, a credit option will appear at checkout stage as an additional payment method. The company is currently offering a credit period of 30 days. I've popped the link to the app in the show notes. If it's an office or classroom that you're lighting, you'll need to think of things like glare, flicker, and the light levels recommended by the official guidance but, luckily for you, we've just posted a video on this very topic featuring the Scholar Luminair from Robus, so make sure to check that out as well. And now, some huge news for this week's Question of the Week. We lifted this question from the free training package we created with Marshall Tufflex on the subject of Dado trunking, and it simply asked for trunking to comply with regulation 521.10.1, it must have an IP rating of what value? The correct answer is either IP4X or IPXXD, and a fairly respectable 64% of people got it right on YouTube, but in a shock twist, for the first time that I can remember, our LinkedIn viewers beat them to the punch with a massive 75% of you getting it right over there. Well done LinkedIn viewers, and to the 4% of you out there on that cantilevered limb thinking it's IP3X or IPXXC, the free training package in the show notes is the one for you. In product news this week, we also got our mits on the much-praised MFT Pro from TIS and asked: is it worth the hype? The punishments meted out to this multifunction tester included giving it to an apprentice for a day, to see its condition after that check out our vid in the show notes. And our usual reminder that we're in the market for your stories, your projects, and your recommendations, as we'd like to share them with the wider eFIXX community. April's nearly over, so we're coming to the end of our focus on cables and containment and industrial circuit protection, but there's still time to send us pictures of your instals or let us know if you've come across any new kit that's making your job easier. Turning to some points of order from last week's episode, in response to my face going bald, mikeedwards7173 asked,"What happened to the beard?" And dansparkyintraining wanted to know,"What happened to the chin whiskers?" Well, the official story is that now it's spring, I've shed my winter plumage much like an Arctic turn. The real story is a little more amusing, but I'm not sure I'm ready to share that just yet. Stay tuned to find out why and pop your theory in the comments. On the beard front, Recessio suggested I look good with the beard. I'm still waiting to hear if that means that I don't look good now. Also, I suggested last week that if the Prime Minister was listening, he should pop a cactus emoji into the comments so we'd know it was him. And you wouldn't believe it, but Mr. Sunak commented in disguise from about five different accounts so I had no idea of the reach of this show but what can't speak can't lie, so there you go. Thank you for tuning in, Prime Minister. Now, just before we get to your favourite bit of the show where I reveal last week's challenge words and winners, we want to thank our premium partners. We couldn't make the news without you. First up, they're the people who've created the Swiss Army knife of solar inverters, along with all-weather batteries, very much the Boy Scouts of the solar industry, It's Sunsynk. Now, if you want to get smart but don't know where to start, relax. Whether you need whole-home entertainment, commercial-grade infrastructure, or anything in between, Snap One offers countless solutions for connected homes and businesses. With their high quality and reliable EV charging equipment and industry-leading customer care, you could say they're leading the EV-lution, it's Hydra EVC. And with over 35 years of manufacturing and supplying components to the electrical industry, from connectors to terminal blocks through glands and enclosures, you could say they're making all the right connections, it's Hylec-APL. The best thing to come out of Yorkshire since stainless steel, the home of EV Ultra and other groundbreaking and quality products, it's Doncaster Cables. And if you want a lesson on how to reinvent a commodity product into a stylish but discreet feature, then look no further than D-Line Trunking. If you want to get your cables organised and tidy ity away in any situation, they've got a solution. With an incredible range of equipment from EV charge points through industrial sockets and switches, to kit for explosive areas. Plus, they supplied gear for a Campari factory, so they'll always have a place in my heart, it's Scame. Big thanks to you all, we really appreciate your ongoing support for the news. If you think you know the words that I've smuggled into this week's show, pop your guesses into the comments. We'll take all the correct guesses and select one at random to be the winner of an eFIXX goodie bag prize. Answers submitted after about lunchtime on the Thursday after release will not be entered into the draw. Now, let's reveal the winners of last week's challenge word competition. The words were "cactus" and "passion fruit," and you clever folks again broke the record for a second week running for the number of correct guesses. Let's see if we can do it again this week. We put all of your names into an electronic hat, and the first one to be plucked out as a winner was adrianthoroughgood1191. So well done to you, make sure you click the "Get Involved" link in the show notes to claim your prize. And speaking of prizes, we're up to date with shipping again. I sent a load out last week, so hopefully they should either already be with you or landing this week. So when you get them, do us a favour, share them on social media and tag us in on your posts. Thanks for listening to this episode of "Electrical News Weekly" in association with Solar Trade Sales, your easy one-stop shop for all things solar. Make sure you subscribe to receive the next update. Thanks for listening and, until next time, have a great week. Stay safe out there and, remember, there's no such thing as a talc-calibrated arm.