After moving into any house, there follows that period which I call the “Discovery era”. You start to notice things that you probably should have noticed before buying, but nonetheless they turn up now.

The wiring on the house was one thing that we knew we would have to sort out at some point. The fuse cupboard contains a historical account of wiring through the ages. My view has always been though that the last people had lived here with this wiring for 30 odd years, so it’s probably not going to combust on us tomorrow.  That said, it’s definitely near the top of my list to sort out in the future.  Looking through the assortment of fuses, I’m sligtly alarmed to discover that the kitchen is on a spur rather than a ring seemingly and only protected by a single 13amp fuse. Quickly doing the math of a halogen hob, oven, microwave, kettle, fridge freezer – seems like we may be pretty close to 13amps of usage at peak! -Mental note not to use the kettle and microwave at the same time methinsks- (Wonder how long that’ll last)..

Also – following the trail of mystery wiring around – slightly perplexed to discover this:

..hmm yes – the door-bell transformer seems to have been used as a handy junction box for wiring in the hall and study lights as well as a cabinet light in the lounge. Another area to pretend I havent seen for the time-being methinks and besides, at least it’s all protected by this:

Yes – that does seem like a very appropriate fused switch to protect the door bell! (In someone’s mind I guess).