Can ELECTRICIANS fit equipment inside the DNO METER BOX? - EV Charger Installation UK

controversial topic for the electricians out  there today when undertaking an installation of   a home EV charger can you install additional  equipment within the meter box enclosure well this one is going to be interesting we got  called out on social media because we installed a   current transformer and a passive device in the  form of the Harvi within the meter box and got   posed the question Gordon can we do that yeah  well they're probably pretty categorical that   you couldn't um and we're gonna unpack that  during this video but before we do that Gary   let's just remind ourselves what we mean when it  comes to a meter box enclosure okay let's have a   look at one of those then bring that in so what  have we got inside this box yeah traditionally   there we go we've got the cut-out fuse we've  got a kilowatt-hour meter and the appropriate   tails and that equipment will be owned by the  DNO and or maybe the uh metering company that   installed that as well so that's what we've  got yeah so the electrician is only responsible   for yeah the connect bringing the tails in  there and having them available to connect   um and we'll come under who actually owns the  meter box a little bit later um but let's just cut   to what we're seeing on social media when it comes  to EV charger installation we'll bring that one in   and uh yeah so what's been added to this box  well notice we've got a 100 amp switch now it   wasn't in our first one but you can also see a  consumer unit there so someone's thought it's   easy to install the consumer unit there the EV  charging point is likely to be on the same wall   and in very close proximity to this meter cabinet  and also you can piggyback into those tails kind   of you can pick up that supply that's needed  for that consumer unit in that location as well   yeah so what don't we have much of in that in that  box we don't have a lot of room i would suggest   now that consumer unit has been installed yeah  and i think that's the concern here that yeah all   the room has been taken up by that additional  installation and should that meter be changed   in the future yeah you know who knows what this  new smart world looks like that we're going into   there could be a possibility that additional  equipment needs to be fitted in there by the   DNO or the meter operator and unfortunately the  space is already gone yeah and we've seen it a lot   on social media as well it's that if somebody else  has done it and taken a photograph of it and left   it on Instagram Twitter etc or even produced a  video it becomes well we can obviously do that   because such and such and such and such and such  have done it yeah and uh and yeah you get sort of   lulled into a false sense of security so this is  not a one-off let's just cover some other images   that we found out there um yeah again similar  situation there's a small consumer unit being   added all the room has been taken off yeah if the  supply authorities come along the DNO's come along   and they want to change that meter for something  else there's not a lot of room it's been taken up   we can also talk about some other constraints as  well around things like the temperature obviously   you've added some equipment in there and  that might create a temperature that's   different yeah so with obviously efixx we like  to help electricians out and bring some clarity   to the situation so for your gain uh we threw  ourselves at the mercy of the DNO's and asked   the question whether this situation is allowable  um you know you know somehow as guidance changed   or something else and we decided to uh ask all  of the DNO's right okay we did yeah and it took   a while to get some responses but we did get some  responses and it got all the way up to the top   didn't it yes it did so um yeah a few of uh DNO's  responded directly to us uh particularly the ones   who are very proactive in terms when it comes  to the EV situation um and the others bumped it   up to the Energy Networks Association um which  is essentially the trade body for all of the   DNO's operating in the UK um and yeah their their  response we'll come to in a minute um but you'll   probably recognize the ENA because they're the  people who come up with a form that uh basically   the permission to connect for an EV charger that  has to go off when you install one anywhere so the   answer from them would probably be the answer  won't it yes so let's just cut to that let's   uh let's this is the official answer that we got  back so while the meter cabinet is the customers   a bit of clarification for you there it is a space  designed for the use of the electricity industry   operators only and no allowance is made for  additional equipment for safety reasons we would   not recommend that any internal wiring including  a consumer unit is installed within the cabinet okay wow so i'll shorten that because i like  a short answer that's no yeah i think that   was that's quite a polite no um not all of them  were polite though that we got back were they no   no there was there was it's some of the DNO's also  responded directly and once we have a uh obviously   a relationship with some other matters we've dealt  with including looped supplies yeah check that   video out if you haven't seen that it was yes a no  and they did mention that the meter box has been   designed around equipment they understand which is  meters and cutouts and temperature rise could be a   potential issue that they are concerned about one  of the DNO's went a little bit further than that   so it wasn't uh just a no and you're in breach  of your electricity supply agreement which would   state that as part of them supplying you with  electricity you're responsible for maintaining an   area to house the meter and associated equipment  so what's the worst case scenario what could they   do to us if we start installing stuff within their  cabinet uh well they would want the um they would   want that equipment removed from the cabinet okay  and if you don't remove it Gary what could happen   now they could actually take something out of your  cabinet to free up a bit more space that would be   your cut-out fuse whether it be 60 80 or 100 amps  could be removed from that location therefore no   supply to you yes on the worst case scenario yeah  you could lose your electricity supply and that's   probably quite an extreme measure but they'd  probably suggest that you got the electrician   who installed that equipment in there to  come back and remove it to an area that's   allowed for that equipment so if we're talking  about where we're allowed to do it if i'm looking   at a meter cabinet i'm normally thinking consumer  unit it's probably the other side of the wall   we've done a video on how long your tails can  be from that area and to your consumer unit so   why are they actually going into the meter cabinet  when we're actually that close possibly to the   consumer unit yeah again we know that EV charge  points are right yeah and it's quite a competitive   market so it's a lot of time it's down the cost  and obviously ease convenience for the customer   as we know in our video we had to change the whole  consumer unit yeah we did to do our EV connection   um and obviously an easy way around that's  to add an additional consumer unit but   as again we saw in that installation the consumer  unit is in the hallway customers probably don't   want that disruption and another box in in quite a  prominent area of the house yeah so it's driven by   cost we've done a video on how much does it cost  to install an EV charger and i recommend you check   that one out so we we probably removed the need  to change the consumer unit like we did because   we needed another fuse way putting a separate  board in a hallway or a prominent area is a bit   unsightly so you sort of sneak it into the  meter cabinet and shut the door nobody knows   it's there do they yeah and again you see a lot  of these images on social media where you see   the nice shiny EV charger installed and you see  the cable neatly clipped along the wall and you   say where's that cable going oh it's just gone  into the meter box yeah and then we don't see the   photographs of that area do we so we'll probably  see less of those photographs after this video   i would say it would be naïve to continue doing  that practice because EV's going to be rolled out   we know it's going to be massive it's where we're  going whether we believe it or not we're all going   to end up having a battery-powered car in our  lifetime so we're going to need to charge it so   let's get in front of this problem what we suggest  with a solution so this is obviously is understood   um and here's here's what we found some other  images again this is what other people are doing   uh on across on social media you can  see what they added there underneath   there Gary wow we've now got a consumer unit  outside of the installation for me i'd probably   want to be able to lock that i wouldn't want  somebody to nip down the side of mine and turn   my EV off yeah it's one of those it's a brave  pill moment isn't it all of a sudden now we've   got an EV charging point on the outside of the  building and now we've introduced a consumer unit   and predominantly that's because it's driven by  cost I would suggest they would have suggested   it's cheaper to do that than change the board as  we've suggested earlier but it does mean you've   got another piece of real estate on the outside of  your house and i might be able to get away with it   was on the side of the house would you be able to  get away with it on the front of your property uh   no that would be mean i've got some more examples  here uh some other ones yeah i mean as as yeah i'd   have a challenging conversation if that was on the  front of the house it's not the most attractive we   love Zappi chargers but then we've suddenly  got all that conduit and we've got another   small consumer unit there yeah that would that  would be a challenging challenging place to go   obviously the size of that consumer unit does very  much depend upon the EV charger of course it does   yeah so we've got the technology for protecting  the pen faults and that's sometimes remote and we   yeah yeah the Zappi is packed full of a RCD um  and yeah the pen fault protection and other things   um check out our video when we install one of  those as well because again fantastic however i'm   looking at that one and like you i'm looking at  and thinking i'll probably get away with that on   the side of my property that little bit of plastic  conduit the EV charger because obviously my car's   going to be there when i'm charging it up probably  screening it off and when the car isn't there i'm   probably out in it and i'm not looking at the side  of the wall but i see where you're coming from   yeah yeah it depends and some of some EV charges  are sold on the looks we've looked at the Anderson   charger before on the channel which it comes with  a selection of different wood finishes Gary so   unless uh unless consumer unit manufacturers  are going to come up with some matching   wood finishes and things like that there's uh well  there's a potential for a new product range there   um yeah then will we see more of this will  we see some more innovations in terms of   better looking enclosures for outdoor consumer  units yeah that's a big question and hopefully   one that will develop over time but we can  just clarify again we can't just because it   doesn't look great on the outside we can't slip  it into that meter box all the DNO's that we've   contacted have said no haven't they yes and yeah  through the trade association as well the ones who   didn't get back to us directly um but we can  also clarify something else Gary in terms of   who actually owns that meter box right okay when  the door blows off you know the little catch   that comes down there's a very small piece  of fiberglass there and if you end up just   breaking that off that'll thing or flap all day  long and you end up with a bit of duct tape on it   and you'd like to think of that stage the people  that own the space may be within that you'll   clarify that for me in a minute would come and  replace that door and box for you is that right   no so that yeah so you do you do own the meter  box it passes to you once you've signed that   electricity supply agreement but you are still  responsible for maintaining enough space in there   so that your supply can be suitably maintained  and upgraded if it needs to be so i'm in the box   and they're allowed to use a space within it  yeah it's not so loose so on that bombshell   i would obviously love your comments on this  situation um how are you installing EV chargers   and you know especially when it comes to these  quick installs where you've got that hugely   attractive meter box that you want to access what  are you doing about this does what we've presented   in this video cause you to uh possibly change that  way or have you got a great solution um to solve   this problem bang those comments in below and  we'll hopefully get back to as many as we can

Channel: eFIXX

Views: 60,295

Keywords: ev charger installation uk, ev charger installation, electricity meter box, meter box, meter box enclosure, dno supply, electricity supply, electric vehicle charger installation, ev charger installation at home, distribution network operator, dno, ena, energy networks association, electric vehicle charging point installation, electrician, electrician uk, efixx, efixx ev charger, electrician training uk, electric vehicle charging uk, ev charger installation explained

Id: 864pJSfAuOY

Length: 11min 18sec (678 seconds)

Published: Sat Jul 17 2021