elec meter over back door?

[George (dicegeorge)]

elec meter over back door?

Can i have my electricity input fuses and meter and isolator above the back door? But then one would have to stand on a chair to get at them. The present meter wires cross over all the fuse boxes.

Here's a recent photo:

'm having a new meter fitted soon, and will ask for an isolator, as recomended here.

I'm knocking off the old plaster above the backdoor, and plan to fit kingspan covered with plywood, ready for the new electric company to fit their new fuses and meter.

Would I be better not putting kingspan there, to make the fitting easier for them?

Is there a regulation saying their isolator and meter box must not be above 6 feet high,. or must not be on the inside of an outside wall?

any advice please?

[Colin Wilson]

This crops up regularly, and they were often moved free of charge to a more reasonable location (just the meter, not the incoming supply). Now you'll find most want to charge.

Sadly, now the government has split the companies three ways (supplier, meter operator, network owner), everyone has to look after their own purse strings, so while any of the three can offload "blame" or cost elsewhere, nothing will get done. In the good old days, it didn't matter which "department" it came under, as the company as a whole had the responsibility.

What it might be worth doing is asking for it to be put in a position that doesn't put you (or their staff) at risk. Depending on local policy, you might get it done FOC, but you're just as likely be told it's a chargeable job.

If this is the case, i'd suggest:

a) calling back and asking someone else to see if they'll do it FOC b) ask if you're due to be refurbished (and get it FOC that way) c) advise you'll call Energywatch and the HSE for advice if not d) call Energywatch and the HSE :-}

What type of main fuse / cablehead / cut out have you got installed ?

- if you have fuses in both the live and the neutral, these are supposed to be replaced by (IIRC) 2012 at the latest, and you should be getting it done FOC.

[The Wanderer]

I thought rewireable fuses were supposed to have been replaced by a decade or so ago. I can remember numerous programmes to get rid of them, and The then District Engineers declaring they'd none left on their bit of the system, and still they'd turn up from time to time.

For the OP, are you fed overhead or underground. If o/h, without poking around too much, are the lead-in cables pvc sheathed or do they appear to be covered with a woven cotton cambric or jute material? If so these could be as much as 40-60 years old. The insulation on this cable is rubber-based and tends to stiffen and crack, particularly where it's formed into drip loops at the eaves or where it enters the building.

IF this is the case, tell them you're concerned about the state of the insulation on the lead-in cables, and the possible fire risk they pose.

[Andy Wade]

[Suppliers' cut-outs]

I suspect Colin was referring to the provisions in the ESQCR, which will make them illegal after 31st Jan 2013. To quote the relevant sections:

1(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Electricity Safety, Quality and Continuity Regulations 2002 and shall come into force on 31st January 2003. 2(4) Regulation 7(2) shall not apply to any distributor's fusible cut-out brought into use on or before 31st December 1936, until 10 years after the coming into force of these Regulations. 7(2) No generator or distributor shall introduce or retain any protective device in any supply neutral conductor or any earthing connection of a low voltage network which he owns or operates.

[The Wanderer]

Well, yes, but as I said, I recollect programmes within the industry going back to the 1970s and 1980s where these were alledgedly being removed from the system. I suspect at that time as some sort of initiative from the the Chief Engineers' conferences.

[Colin Wilson]

That's the fella - for some reason I had 2012 in mind :-}

[George (dicegeorge)]

HEIGHT? yes this is all interesting and useful to me and i will study it all further, thanks:

but one of my original questions is about height: is it allowable to have the meter and isolator at about 7 feet high, or do they have to be low enough to be got at without standing on a chair?

Here's a recent photo:

so then I can continue preparing a place for them, and new holes for the wires to come in (at moment they come through the door woodwork, but i will want to replace the door soon!

There is a date of 2003 on a label on the prepayment meter, i'm switching over from NPower to Scottish Power so they will come and fit their own meter soon, at the same time I'd like the input fuses moved to above the door, and an isolator fitted, then i will begin to study the chaos of fuseboxes (which are screwed into crumbly plaster) and think of upgrading them to MCBs and RCDs..

[Colin Wilson]

Whereabouts are you located ? - I think you'll find most suppliers use whoever the former REC was for fitting meters, so they might not be changed at all.

That said, from speaking to people on the accounts side, they reckon about 10% of all meters on the network don't belong to the host REC now, so YMMV !