Troublesome ESB meter box

Breezzzzze

Hi all,

I've bought a house that has planning permission for a side extension. Permission runs out in March so I have to act quickly - get the walls up and get an extension of permission if needed. Problem is that the location of the proposed extension would cover the ESB meter box.

Does anyone know what level of work is required to move the box to a new location? I could build a new box and ducting and have the ESB move the connection afterwards, but does the meter box have to be located beside the fuse box?

Also, the current location of the box is near the rear of the house. As the ESB need to be able to access the meter to take readings, this prevents me from fencing off the rear garden as I would like to do. So I would have to relocate the meter box to a position about 13m from it's current position.

I'd really appreciate any advice or comments.

Thanks,
Breezzzzze

davelerave

meter box has to be max 2meters from front elevation. fusebox then wants to be as close as practicable to meter.

Lex Luthor

i dunno about the first question of moving the box, but my box is located at the side of my house but my side fence is locked and in front of the meter and I would say in 9yrs they have taken a handful of readings when they caught us at home during teh day.

We get an estimated reading every bill and ring in the correct amount then.

Borzoi

Breezzzzze wrote:

Hi all,

Does anyone know what level of work is required to move the box to a new location? I could build a new box and ducting and have the ESB move the connection afterwards, but does the meter box have to be located beside the fuse box?

No the fuse box and meter can be sperated by any distance, it's usually more convenient for them to be close by though.

Breezzzzze

Thanks for the quick replies. I've just been talking to the ESB and they say that there'll be no problem getting the connection changed once the new meter box & hockey stick is in place (once the fee is paid, of course ha ha). There shouldn't be a delay once I give them a couple of weeks notice, I'm told.

I'll give a 150mm concrete surround to the existing ESB ducting where it runs under the extension, in case it compresses under foundations. Top of duct should be 600mm below ground level so this should just about work (sort of).

Next problem is getting the line from inside the meter box to the existing fuse box. Along the cavity just under the wall plate? I'll need to find a sparks man.

Busy hols ahead. I've borrowed a mini-digger from a friend and will be pulling founds and relocating drainage before I can pour strips in Jan.

Thanks again.

karltimber

Will need to do same - get esb to move supply from old box to new.

what costs did they quote you for this job.

thx

Victor

Borzoi wrote:

No the fuse box and meter can be sperated by any distance, it's usually more convenient for them to be close by though.

I would say generally the closer the better. No temptation to wire stuff back to the meter without going though fuse box then.

Breezzzzze wrote:

I'll give a 150mm concrete surround to the existing ESB ducting where it runs under the extension, in case it compresses under foundations.

There should be nothing under your foundations (ecept the ground)!

Top of duct should be 600mm below ground level so this should just about work (sort of).

This suggests your foundatiosn are very shallow.

Next problem is getting the line from inside the meter box to the existing fuse box. Along the cavity just under the wall plate? I'll need to find a sparks man.

Please do talk to an electrician. Just make sure your labourers know where the live wires are!!!!

Breezzzzze

karltimber,
Don't know the cost of the ESB's so-called "contribution", but would expect it to be fairly small, espec. in relation to overall costs.

Victor,
Thanks for view on the fusebox. Agreed. While moving the meter box is unavoidable, to move the fuse box would be hugely expensive, I'd guess. I'll talk to an electrician, and might put the live wire in red-painted, marked copper pipe, for extra safety.

The ESB duct under the foundations will be the supply line to the existing meter box and will be decommissioned after the supply is provided to the new box, so I'm not concerned that it will be under the foundations. The new line will be in the footpath.

On the levels, the ESB requires 600mm cover to ducts. I'll also give 600mm to the bottom of strip footings for protection from frost heave. Alternatively, if the main house foundation is a raft, then I'll use a raft also, so that the foundations can be tied together with dowels.

Thanks again.

Victor

Breezzzzze wrote:

Thanks for view on the fusebox. Agreed. While moving the meter box is unavoidable, to move the fuse box would be hugely expensive, I'd guess. I'll talk to an electrician, and might put the live wire in red-painted, marked copper pipe, for extra safety.

Ordinary galvanised steel conduit wrapped in yellow warning tape should do, but ask the electrician.

Breezzzzze wrote:

The ESB duct under the foundations will be the supply line to the existing meter box and will be decommissioned after the supply is provided to the new box, so I'm not concerned that it will be under the foundations. The new line will be in the footpath.

I'm not concerned for the duct, I'm concerned for the foundation.

Breezzzzze wrote:

On the levels, the ESB requires 600mm cover to ducts. I'll also give 600mm to the bottom of strip footings for protection from frost heave. Alternatively, if the main house foundation is a raft, then I'll use a raft also, so that the foundations can be tied together with dowels.

Do you have someone (engineer?) approving the 600mm. It seems awfully shallow unless you are straight onto rock.