Why your home needs an RCBO

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Electricity powers everything from your phone and computer to your freezer and oven. While these appliances are integral to our daily routines, we rarely pay attention to the safety and security issues they may bring. So, having suitable safety components (like the R9D87820 RCBO) ensures that you can continue using these appliances without risk or injury. And few other devices do it as well as an RCBO.

What does an RCBO do?

A Residual Current Breaker with Overcurrent protects you from electrical faults in your wiring or connection.

Most homes today already have an MCB (Miniature Circuit Breaker) which generally protects your appliances. But they can fail in preventing shocks to humans. Your electrical system may also have an RCCB (Residual Current Circuit Breaker) which are meant to prevent shocks, but these units cannot prevent damage to appliances.

As you can imagine, both the MCB and RCCB (or RCD) are valuable units but often inadequate to ensure maximum safety. That’s where the RCBO steps in by offering you the best of both devices.

An RCBO combines the MCB’s and RCCB’s functions into a single component so that you get protection for humans and equipment alike.

How does an RCBO protect you?

The RCBO secures you and your appliances against residual current and over-current.

Let’s get a brief idea of what these two issues are.

  • Residual Current

This issue happens when there is an unexpected break in your home’s circuit. A common cause is when your electrical wirings were faulty, to begin with. Over time, the poor quality wiring may create earth leakages and shock the person who comes into contact with the wiring.

Very often, it can also come about from accidents during renovation or home maintenance works. So, if you inadvertently drill through one such faulty wire, you risk getting shocked if there’s no circuit breaker in place.

  • Over-current

The second type is over-current. It can happen in two instances.

The first is when there are excessive devices drawing power from the circuit. The magnitude of power being drawn can be too much for your cable or plug. The resulting surge of power can fry your pc or blender and cause a lot of inconveniences.

The other instance is when there is a short circuit. This issue happens when a neutral conductor comes into contact with a live one. Standard circuit integrity can prevent it from happening. But it can still happen from faulty wiring, old circuits, damaged insulation, etc.

Your home would need both an MCB and an RCD (RCCB) to negate the risks involved in these instances. A reliable RCBO will ensure that damage and injuries are avoided even if they happen.

Which RCBO should I get?

Based on expert consultancy, market research, and industry standards, few RCBO makers check all the boxes. But among the handful that do, Schneider’s Acti 9 RCBOs surely stands out.

As a brand that excels in electrical parts and circuitry, Schneider offers a healthy variety of RCBO variants. You get standard types (Type A, Type C, etc.) as well as variations in ratings (10 Amp, 20 Amp, etc.).

Regardless of the electrical infrastructure in your home or business, Schneider’s Acti 9 RCBOs will have a variety that suits your needs.