Garage consumer unit
Updated: October 2026
A garage consumer unit is the small 230 V board for lights and sockets in a garage, shed or workshop, not a 12 V fuse block with a similar name. If you are adding that supply from the house, you are usually looking at a 6 A lighting circuit and a 16 A socket circuit on a 30 mA RCD, installed by a competent person. This page maps that job onto the four mains listings in our set. The twelve-row matrix is the [fuse box comparison](/hub/electrical-equipment/fuse-box). Prices are amazon.co.uk figures from 20 October 2026.
A garage consumer unit is the small 230 V board for lights and sockets in a garage, shed or workshop, not a 12 V fuse block with a similar name.
A garage consumer unit is the small 230 V board for lights and sockets in a garage, shed or workshop, not a 12 V fuse block with a similar name. If you are adding that supply from the house, you are usually looking at a 6 A lighting circuit and a 16 A socket circuit on a 30 mA RCD, installed by a competent person. This page maps that job onto the four mains listings in our set. The twelve-row matrix is the fuse box comparison. Prices are amazon.co.uk figures from 20 October 2026.
Our top picks
| Badge | Product | Ways | RCD | Breakers | Note | Price | Offer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best overall |  Lifegogo Lifegogo 2-way IP65 consumer unit | 2 | 40 A 30 mA | 6 A and 16 A | 6.3 | about £14.99 | View offer |
 cupeohome cupeohome 4-way IP65 consumer unit | 4 | 63 A 30 mA | MCB list conflicts | 6.6 | about £22.99 | View offer | |
 PATNFR PATNFR 2-way IP65 consumer unit | 2 | 40 A 30 mA | 6 A and 16 A | 6.5 | about £13.89 | View offer |
On this page
What a garage board is for
The board exists to protect 230 V circuits in the outbuilding. A typical small shed wants a light and at least one socket. The Institution of Engineering and Technology's outbuilding note uses that sketch: a 6 A breaker for lighting and a 16 A breaker for sockets, with 30 mA RCD protection. Regulation 411.3.3 in BS 7671:2018 calls for 30 mA RCD protection on socket-outlets up to 32 A.
It is not the board for a leisure battery or a blade-fused solar split. Connecting a blade block to garage sockets is the mistake this search result encourages. The four units here are plastic, and none states BS EN 61439-3. If you are still unsure of the voltage, use the fuse box buying guide. A light and a socket is two ways. A heater or a spare is three or four.
2-way or 4-way in this set
Three listings match the 6 A and 16 A sketch under a 40 A 30 mA RCD. PATNFR is £13.89, rated 4.1 from 36 reviews. Lifegogo is £14.99, rated 4.6 from nine reviews. JIODEKEYI is £15.45, rated 4.0 from seven reviews. On paper, any of them is a 2-way garage board, both ways under the same RCD. When that RCD opens, the light and the socket go off together. The how to test a fuse box page is the button check, not the reason to buy.
Two ways is enough only if your list really is two circuits. The only extra-way option is the cupeohome 4-way at £22.99, with a 63 A 30 mA RCD. Its title lists five MCB ratings against four ways.
PATNFR is the one to be wary of: instructions that transpose live and neutral. JIODEKEYI says 40 A in the title and 20 A in a field. cupeohome has little cable room for 10 mm steel-wire-armoured cable.
IP65 and plastic
Buy the IP65 claim when the board will get wet, not because the title says garage. A unit on an outside wall is where dust-tight and water-jet language matters. All four listings state IP65. None states an RCD type.
Plastic is the limit for indoors. Regulation 421.1.201 requires a non-combustible enclosure for a consumer unit inside domestic premises. Electrical Safety First says that does not apply to a unit mounted outside the building. You should not hang any of these four in the hallway. A Hager metal enclosure was £74.95 on amazon.co.uk.
Who is allowed to connect it
A new circuit from the house to the garage is electrical work, not a fitting you copy from a leaflet. In England, Approved Document P makes a new circuit, and replacement of a consumer unit, notifiable. A garage fed from the dwelling is in that scope. A registered competent person can self-certify. Wales also treats a fuse-box replacement as notifiable. Scotland uses building standards, not Part P. Electrical Safety First says Northern Ireland has no equivalent notification rule at present.
That person also chooses the earth for a detached garage. PATNFR reviews say the insert has live and neutral the wrong way round. If the diagram and the cable colours disagree, the diagram loses. A £15 board is not, by itself, the certificate.
Common questions
Is a 2-way board enough for a shed?
Yes, when you have one light and one socket and you do not want a spare. That is the 6 A and 16 A pair under a 40 A 30 mA RCD. It is not enough for a heater on its own breaker. Both ways share one RCD.
When do you need the 4-way instead?
When the circuit list is longer than two and you are staying inside this set. The cupeohome at £22.99 is the only 4-way mains unit here, with an MCB list that does not match four ways. Extra ways do not turn a plastic garage box into a house consumer unit.
Do you need IP65 inside a dry garage?
Not merely because the room is a garage. IP65 matters on an outside wall or in a shed that wets the case. Indoors, cable room and the RCD matter more. The code does not make the circuit lawful by itself.
Are these plastic boards acceptable in the house hallway?
No. Regulation 421.1.201 calls for a non-combustible enclosure inside a dwelling. These four are plastic boxes described for garages, caravans and workshops. A hallway replacement is a different board and, in England and Wales, notifiable work.
Is a new garage circuit notifiable where you live?
In England, a new circuit and a consumer-unit replacement are notifiable under Approved Document P, including a garage fed from the house. Wales also notifies a fuse-box replacement. Scotland uses building standards, not Part P. Northern Ireland has no equivalent notification rule at present, according to Electrical Safety First.
Why might you reject the cheapest 2-way unit?
PATNFR is £13.89 and the reviews describe live and neutral transposed in the instructions, and terminals that did not grip. The correct 6 A and 16 A heading does not cancel a diagram you must not build from. Rejecting it leaves you a shorter review file, not a proven board.
What is wrong with the 20 A field on the JIODEKEYI listing?
The title says a 40 A 30 mA RCD and another field says 20 A. You cannot design from both. The size is listed as 5 × 5 × 8 cm against a weight of 710 g. At £15.45 and 4.0 from seven reviews, leave it unless a competent person has checked the breakers.
Related pages
Sources
Public UK sources are listed below. Shelf prices and star lines are the amazon.co.uk figures checked on 20 October 2026.
- Approved Document P (2013, England) (retrieved 20 October 2026)
- IET: consumer units and protective devices FAQs (retrieved 20 October 2026)
- Electrical Safety First: wiring regulations help (retrieved 20 October 2026)
- Electrical Safety First: How safe is your home (2025) (retrieved 20 October 2026)
- IET: supply to a detached outbuilding (retrieved 20 October 2026)
- IET: external consumer units (retrieved 20 October 2026)
- ISO 8820-3:2026, blade fuse-links for road vehicles (retrieved 20 October 2026)
- 12 Volt Planet: Blue Sea 5026 12-circuit fuse block (retrieved 20 October 2026)