What are these electric meters?

[Red2k]

Saw a 'doer-upper' house yesterday and it had all of these electricity meters in the garage. Am I right that there are three meters and an economy 7 timer? Would it be possible/recommended to combine these into one single smart meter? Would the electricity company charge for that?

Would much appreciate any help dentifying what I am looking at here, what work might be needed to get these up to current standards, any potential problems to look for and any indicative costs (SE London).

It is a house which needs a lot of work and from an electrics point of view I am assuming I need to budget for full rewiring and new consumer unit.

Many thanks!

 

[AndyPRK]

that's right.

First decide how you will heat the place. Gas or storage heaters on E7
Get an electrican to inspect and fit a new CU. (rewire maybe required) Then just take the supply off one meter.

Then at a later date ask your supply company to remove 2 meters. Say you have combined 3 flats to one house. Should be free. And will save you paying 3 standing charges

 

[flameport]

1960s installation, the two left fuseboxes are controlled by contactors in the metal boxes underneath, probably hot water and storage heaters. Switched via the mechanical timer.
Smaller grey fusebox one near the centre for a single circuit. Top right fusebox will be for everything else.

All of those fuseboxes contain asbestos pads.
The piece of textured board fixed vertically at the right of the picture is also very likely asbestos.

Everything shown is essentially scrap.

I am assuming I need to budget for full rewiring and new consumer unit.

That and plenty more.

The cutout and supply cable should be relocated into an outside cabinet, and the new consumer unit installed in a more appropriate location.
The garage can then be used for something other than a junk store.

For heating, the most viable will be wet underfloor from a heatpump.
Other considerations are electric vehicle charging, solar and possibly battery storage.

Removing meters(s) and installing a new one is not normally chargeable, however even if it was, the cost of that is pretty much irrelevant compared to everything else.

 

[winston1]

Don’t have a smart meter though. Plenty of threads on here to tell you why not.

 

[Red2k]

1960s installation, the two left fuseboxes are controlled by contactors in the metal boxes underneath, probably hot water and storage heaters. Switched via the mechanical timer.
Smaller grey fusebox one near the centre for a single circuit. Top right fusebox will be for everything else.

All of those fuseboxes contain asbestos pads.
The piece of textured board fixed vertically at the right of the picture is also very likely asbestos.

Everything shown is essentially scrap.


That and plenty more.

The cutout and supply cable should be relocated into an outside cabinet, and the new consumer unit installed in a more appropriate location.
The garage can then be used for something other than a junk store.

For heating, the most viable will be wet underfloor from a heatpump.
Other considerations are electric vehicle charging, solar and possibly battery storage.

Removing meters(s) and installing a new one is not normally chargeable, however even if it was, the cost of that is pretty much irrelevant compared to everything else.

Many thanks. I was expecting some asbestos in the house, so it begins here!

EV charging is a good point and will definitely need to future proof for that. I see the meters say 40amp max so I am assuming that is the limit of what comes to the house for car charging?

 

[Red2k]

That and plenty more.

Could you please elaborate on what else might be there to consider from electrics point of view?

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

EV charging is a good point and will definitely need to future proof for that. I see the meters say 40amp max so I am assuming that is the limit of what comes to the house for car charging?

That was the older standard for domestic supplies, the supply will likely be able to sustain more than that - the supplier will be able to advise.

I cannot make my mind up whether it is a 3-Ph supply, or three supplied from the same phase - anyone? The '3' suggests to me they are all on phase No 3, with 0 the neutral.

 

[flameport]

I see the meters say 40amp max

That relates to those particular meters only.
The actual cable is very likely rated more than that. Hence why all of that old junk would need to be replaced, including the supplier fuses/cutout.

future proof for that.

EV isn't the future - it's here now.

what else might be there to consider from electrics point of view

If the rest of that installation is as old as what's in the photo, it will be an entirely new installation.
'rewire' typically means just replacing wires.
However a 1960s installation will be totally inadequate for a modern house, as one light fitting and one socket outlet per room will be unusable. It's a total redesign, with many times more outlets, lights and other items than it has now.

You will also need a new heating and hot water system, as 1960s storage heaters are obsolete, and installing modern equivalents is a vey bad idea unless you really do want to heat the property 24 hours a day - and that assumes the continuation of E7 and similar overnight rates, which is desperately unlikely.

Then there are all the other things such as data cabling, solar, hot tub, battery storage and so on.