There are many ways to save and account for the light we use at home. One of them is the ICP known as a power control switch. It is a device installed in the home that is used to cut off the supply when the electrical power has exceeded what was contracted. It usually occurs when a large number of electrical appliances are connected at the same time and the contracted power does not escape from supplying the electricity demand.
In this article we are going to tell you everything you need to know about the ICP power control switch and its characteristics.
Key features
This type of control system is established for homes that they have less than 15 kW of power. We know that the cut of the halo supply is only momentary since it can be recovered if you see we connect the electrical devices that make the contracted power exceed. Once we have turned off the appliances that we were using too much, electricity can be used again as normal.
The ICP is located in the general control panel where the rest of the light system is located. The user who has an electricity supply must know where the ICP is located at all times. If the contracted power is exceeded, the device must be activated again to recover the electricity of the house. Usually families they know the power that is contracted and it is not usually exceeded. However, there are some occasions when it coincides that several appliances were sucked in that use a lot of electrical power at the same time and it makes the automatic go off.
The distribution company in each zone is changing the analog meters for digital ones, which implies that the ICP is integrated into the electrical apparatus itself.
How the ICP works
Many people wonder what to do if the ICP continually skips. The safest thing is that it jumps continuously when you turn on the light and you have not contracted the enough power necessary to supply the appliances that you use frequently. In this case, the most advisable thing is to increase the contracted electrical power to avoid continuous supply cuts.
The electricity distributor allows a change of contracted power per year. It is for this reason that we must calculate very well which power is best suited to us in order to save as much as possible on the electricity bill and waste energy and money. The consumer you must know at all times that you are always going to subscribe to a normalized power with the marketer. If you want more or less, you have to change the hiring plan.
If the user wants to increase the contracted electrical power, he can contact any marketer on the market that offers him a cheaper rate and that adapts to his conditions. We imagine that we want to increase our electrical power but only a few things have skipped the ICP in a timely manner. It is possible that we just have to reorder the way we use our appliances before switching to hiring a higher power. And it is that we will not only be saving on the electricity bill, but we will also be emitting less carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and reducing energy consumption.
Increasing the electrical power of a home has a cost. It must be understood that the customer must pay the distributor in his area that amount through the electricity bill, which corresponds to the following rights:
| Right | Cost |
| Right of extension | 17,37€/kW + VAT |
| Right of access | 19,70€/kW + VAT |
| Right of coupling | € 9,04 + VAT |
Is the ICP mandatory?
There are some homes that do not have an ICP in it since a while ago it was not mandatory. There are several possibilities for this to happen. One of them is that the ICP does not exist because it was not mandatory and it is an older home or because you do not want the supply to be cut at any time. In any case, it is essential to have this device for the following reasons:
- Protects the home by preventing the electrical installation from heating up excessively due to the use of too many electrical appliances at the same time.
- Preserves the installation in the event of an electrical failure. Not only does it protect us against an accident or a possible fire, but it also helps us to preserve the entire installation in the event of a problem or short circuit.
The distribution company can fine in any case if you do not have an ICP in the home. With this, it will force to pay a surcharge that is reflected in the electricity bill under the concept of penalty for absence of ICP. You may not have this device in your house or since it is an old home and at that time it was mandatory to install the device or you do not want the light to be saved and the supply cut off.
Installation
When a home does not have a power control switch, you can send your distributor to install it or do it yourself. If the meter is for rent it is the distributor that is in charge of installing it. If the meter is on your property, you must install it yourself.
Depending on whether we decide to install it ourselves or have the distributor commissioned, it will have a different price. If we want to install it, we must hire a low voltage installer or an installation company. The cost will depend on the brand of the ICP manufacturer. Once the distributor has been installed, it is in charge of verifying and controlling the device.
Another option that can be profitable is to rent the device. It is done through the distributor and is responsible for the installation and verification. The cost is approximately 0.03 per pole.
The time it takes to pass an inspection on a building depends on the type of building. The most normal thing is that it is carried out every 10 years to verify that everything is going well. It also depends on whether the neighborhood community has an installed electrical power greater than 100 kW.
I hope that with this information you can learn more about the ICP and its characteristics.