in this video we'll be reviewing the Schneider Easy 9 compact consumer unit
Schneider produced a couple of consumer units under the Easy 9 banner there's the
Easy 9 plus which we featured as part of our EV charger install series of videos and then there's
the easy 9 compact which is what we'll be looking at in this video now it's been named compact as
it's designed to go into smaller spaces where traditional boards may not quite fit but with so
many consumer unit options on the market it's fair to ask the question what sets this one apart from
the others well for me it's flexibility there's a couple of things in here that make this consumer
unit really flexible and adaptable to whatever installation you're working in you can get this
consumer unit pre-loaded with the main switch and other devices pre-installed however it also comes
as just the unit by itself which you can then put together yourself now it's a bit like having a
blank canvas to work with if you will now that may just sound like more work however you'll start to
see the benefits when we look at the main switch here if you look at it closely you'll notice
that it doesn't have any markings on it for the terminals for which one is line and which one is
neutral and that's because you can install the main switch at either end of the consumer unit
giving you loads of flexibility when it comes to bringing your tails in especially helpful if
you're doing a consumer unit replacement as you can change the board to suit the existing cabling
and then place your bus bar as required either treating the left hand pole as the line connection
or the right hand one if the main switch is at the other end clever stuff so that's one feature
that adds to the flexibility of this consumer unit but what about the devices that go in here
there's a bit of a debate raging at the moment as to whether dual RCD boards are compliant or
if all consumer units should just contain RCBO's for the circuits that require RCD protection
well it's a good question and we've made a comprehensive answer to this in a free accredited
CPD module on circuit protection that we've made in association with Schneider so click the
link below to have a look at that and find out if split load boards are still compliant with BS7671
but Schneider have really neatly straddled the line with this consumer unit by making it
appropriate for either format if you look at the neutral bar at the top here you can see it's made
up of three separate bars that are joined together with these u-shaped links between them so with
the configuration we've got here the consumer unit is set up and ready to be used as an all
RCBO board and you'll notice that these RCBO's are all type A rather than AC which is good
as they can keep doing their job even when up to six milliamps of pulse DC current is being
leaked back into the system by various loads in a property however if you'd rather set it up as
a dual RCD board then you can remove one of the links and take a neutral tail out to each RCCB
and then cut the bus bar down and you're good to go you can go one step further by removing two
of the links and creating a split load dual RCD board with a section having no RCD protection if
needed for loads like this apply to an EV charger or something like that just while we're looking
at those neutral bars we'll take in the earth bar as well and you can see there that the terminals
are a really generous size and will accommodate the largest of cables that you're likely to find
in this kind of application in addition to these features you can see that there's loads of options
around the outside here with a variety of easily knocked out blanks in 20 25 and 32 mil along with
32 mil knockouts on the sides for bringing tails in if required so we've seen the flexibility and
adaptability of this unit but there's also some interesting points to be considered for
the installation surrounding the din rail now compared with other consumer units this din
rail has been dropped down creating additional wiring space at the top of the unit where it's
really needed as well as allowing more room for the extra height of the RCBO's to be installed
the din rail has also been brought forward thus giving you more space to wire behind and it can
really easily be removed meaning you can dress and root your cables with it out of the way completely
before you pop it back in to connect up critically it's also got this central support in the middle
of the enclosure that really helps to keep the din rail rigid and prevent it from bending sagging and
resulting in device droop we said at the outset that this board is called the compact and it's
designed with smaller installation spaces in mind and that philosophy extends to little things like
the front cover where there's this little molded indent making it easier to open the lid up
and access the breakers even if this is installed in a smaller space of course any modern consumer
unit needs to take account of the fact that our distribution systems are seeing increasing network
transients or surges as we tend to call them and these aren't just caused by lightning but are
far more likely in most properties to be caused by switching surges the 18th edition of BS7671
saw an increased requirement for the use of SPD's and this is likely to become even more stringent
in the second amendment the new Easy 9 compact consumer unit caters for this because there is a
simple SPD kit available that comes with all the bits you need to simply add surge protection to
your installation it maintains the flexibility of this consumer unit by allowing you to select and
configure the system to the installation needs so how does the Easy 9 compact consumer unit
from Schneider stand out from the crowd by being compact flexible and easily installed that's how
but as always we want to hear from you have you had any experience installing the Easy 9 compact
or the easy nine plus what other features did you spot along the way that we've missed
or what would you like to see in your perfect consumer unit please leave your thoughts and
questions in the comments below and as always thank you very much for watching