Abstract: A device (100) for monitoring the status of breakers (20) within a consumer unit (10). The device (100) uses a non-contact, optical sensor (104), such as an IR break-beam sensor (106, 108), or an optical time-of-flight sensor (106, 108) to monitor the positions of the toggle switches (22) on the breakers (20). In the event that one or more of the switches moves to an “off” position (22), an alarm is triggered, such as by sending an SMS message to a user, to alert them of the fact. The device (100) also monitors the consumer unit's power status (1020) and can warn in the event of a power outage of a master isolator or RCD trip. A UPS (1030, 1032, 1034) is suitably provided to enable the device to continue working during a mains power failure.