External water and electric supply security

[R.G. Bargy]

We're planning some mods to the front of our home and the builder has suggested we also consider installing external electric and water supply points at the front, for car washing, valeting, gardening appliances etc. This all sounded great until I pondered the details.

There are two main areas of concern:

1) We have an open-plan frontage so there is little to prevent any random sneaky b@stard(1) from fiddling about with the fittings, with nefarious, hilarious or pure vandalicious(2) intent. The key issue is balancing security versus convenience of use.

2) It would be less visible to install these items at the side of the house, near the front. That location is a walkway used to ferry stuff to and fro the back garden, including moving wheely bins and garden apliances around, hence vulnerable to collision damage. The issue is to minimise projection of fittings from the wall and/or provide protection neatly.

Suggestions for how to implement the features whilst mitigating he risks would be appreciated.

(1) May their camels kick them to death, slowly. (2) Doubt that word exists officially yet, but it probably will soon.

[Bill Wright]

Put everything in a lockable cabinet. It could be (or look like) a standard meter box, recessed.

Bill

[alan]

Switch both utilities from inside of the house. Unless YOU want to use then there will be no power and no water on thge outside socket/tap.

I use a Surestop switch for my water tap at the front of my house.

[Tim Watts]

On Saturday 28 September 2013 00:57 R.G. Bargy wrote in uk.d-i-y:

You can get bibtaps with removable handles - basically the valve body has a flush square bar the the handle has a square socket - like train carriage keys. Rare though - I do not know where you get them from.

The other option is a well placed lever isolation ballvalve inside - and an isolator for the power sockets.

[Roger Mills]

+1

Also, if you can turn the water off inside, you don't have to worry about the tap freezing.

[Huge]

I have external power points outside the front and back doors. They have corresponding RCDs inside, which are left switched off when I'm not using them.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

I have a hose fitting tap and a 13 amp outlet by the front door here in central London. Garden is all of a couple of metres deep. They've been there for many a year without problems. Perhaps our local vandals have bigger fish to fry?

[Nightjar]

Google for lockshield bib tap.

That is what I do. Turning the water off for the winter also avoids the outside tap freezing.

Colin Bignell

[dom]

I recently put in an external socket (MK commando IP67) on it's own 16A RCB O, with a long-term view to it also being suitable for electric vehicle cha rging. Fortunately my consumer unit is on the opposite internal side of the wall, and I put in a 20A isolator switch next to the consumer unit.

[Tim Watts]

On Saturday 28 September 2013 15:46 Nightjar wrote in uk.d-i-y:

That's the one!

[Chris Bartram]

I've just had one fitted by the front door (for car battery charging/vacuuming etc) and I do the same. On top of that, the sockets have a place to fit a padlock. Not terribly secure, of course, but it would deter a casual miscreant.