Knowledge base
Short, plain-language guides to the parts inside your panel and the rules behind our checks.
What is an RCD?
The device that saves lives: how a residual current device detects leakage and disconnects in milliseconds.
Read articleRCD vs RCBO vs MCB: which protects what
Three devices, three jobs: overload, earth leakage and both at once. When a shared RCD is enough and when a circuit deserves its own RCBO.
Read articleMCB trip curves explained: B vs C vs D, with a comparison table
What the letter on a circuit breaker means, the trip current bands for B, C and D curves, and why B is right for almost every home circuit.
Read articleCable cross-sections explained
Why 1.5 mm² pairs with B10 and 2.5 mm² with B16, and why oversizing the breaker is the most dangerous DIY mistake.
Read articleWhy wet zones need a 30 mA RCD
Water plus electricity is the deadliest combination in a home. Here is why 30 mA is the magic number.
Read articleWhat is an AFDD?
Arc fault detection devices catch the sputtering sparks inside walls that ordinary breakers never see.
Read articleEarthing systems explained: TN-S, TN-C, TN-C-S, TT and IT
What the letters mean, how to tell which system supplies your home, and what each one demands from your consumer unit.
Read articleSurge protection (SPD): when you need it
Lightning near an overhead line can push thousands of volts into your wiring. An SPD shorts the spike to earth.
Read articleWhy leave spare space in the panel
Households grow: an EV charger or a garden line will arrive sooner than you think. The 20–30% rule keeps upgrades cheap.
Read articleSelective (type S) RCDs in cascades
Without selectivity, a leak in the bathroom trips the main RCD and blacks out the whole home.
Read articleWhen to call an electrician
PlanMyPanel covers typical residential panels. Here is what lies outside that scope — and what always needs a professional.
Read articleWiring a wooden house safely
In a wooden house the wall itself is fuel. Three extra requirements keep it from becoming kindling.
Read articleHow total load is calculated
Room estimates plus appliance nameplates, corrected by a demand factor, checked against the main breaker.
Read articleVoltage relays: cheap insurance for appliances
A lost neutral can push 380 V into a 230 V home. A voltage relay disconnects everything before appliances burn out.
Read articleBalancing loads across three phases
A 3×25 A supply is not one 75 A pool: each phase has its own limit, and skewed loads trip breakers.
Read articleHow a panel is wired inside
Busbars, combs and wire sizes: how power is distributed inside the panel and why every neutral must stay within its RCD section.
Read articleHow to read your panel plan
The exported PDF has six parts. Here is what each one shows, and how to read the text single-line diagram, the device labels and the numbered assembly steps.
Read articleHow a home is split into circuits
Why lighting and sockets never share a breaker, how many points belong on one line, and how the app groups rooms into circuits.
Read articleAppliances that need their own circuit
Stove, oven, water heater, EV charger and the rest: why each gets a dedicated line, and what breaks when they share a socket circuit.
Read articleRCD types: AC, A, F and B
An RCD only trips on the kind of leakage current it was built to see. Modern appliances leak currents that older types simply cannot detect.
Read articleChoosing the panel enclosure
The enclosure decides how many circuits fit, how safe the panel is in a fire and how easy the next upgrade will be. It is the one part that is expensive to change later.
Read articleHow to read the shopping list
The generated shopping list describes every device by its electrical properties, not by brand. Here is how to decode each line and what you still have to buy yourself.
Read articleWorking safely in a panel
A panel can kill you in the time it takes to change your mind. Isolate at the source, prove it dead, and leave the final connection to a licensed electrician.
Read articleRCD keeps tripping: how to find the cause
Overload, short circuit and earth leakage each fail in a recognisable way. Here is how to tell them apart, how to find the guilty circuit, and when to stop and call someone.
Read articleSolar, generators and battery backup
What changes in a panel when a PV inverter, generator or UPS is present — and why this part always needs a licensed electrician.
Read articleEU HD 60364 vs CIS PUE: what the profile changes
A rule profile decides which checks run on your panel and how strict they are. Here is what actually differs between the two.
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