Making electric meter/fuse box look less ugly

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Just after a bit of advice regarding the location of our electric fuse box/meter etc which has always been in what I find a bit of a strange place (above a bedroom door on the upstairs landing).

IMG_4796.JPG

I'm aware I cannot do much in regards to moving any of it myself but I wondered what the process or expensives would be just to have it tidied up a little.

I'm not really talking about moving the whole lot to a completely different location but I think it could look a lot neater if the wooden board with the meter and bits on was moved up a bit and then we could have some sort of box with a door built around the whole lot just to hide it away.

Would this be a straightforward thing to have done or would it be a big hassle?
 
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It looks like it would be relatively simple to do - BUT

you will have to get your Distribution Network Operator to do it and they are ridiculously expensive.
https://www.energynetworks.org/info/faqs/who-is-my-network-operator.html

It's UK Power Networks where I am in the East.

Knew they'd be a catch. It's really annoying as like you've said it should be pretty straightforward.

Can't understand why it was ever put right on top of a door frame any way, making it impossible to build anything around it which I believe is quite a common thing to do particularly if it's in an open area.
 
Given that there is no obvious Earth conductor in the Neutral section of the cutout I would suspect this is a TT system ( TT uses an Earth rod for the Earthing unlike PME systems where the Earth is the same as the incoming Neutral ).

TT systems are common where the supply to the house is via over head cables which fits with the cutout being upstairs.

If it is a TT system then maybe that the DNO would prefer the system to upgraded to PME at their expense,
 
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TT systems are common where the supply to the house is via over head cables which fits with the cutout being upstairs.
That is often said, but I've never really understood the reasoning. There's noting about an supply being overhead, per se, which prevents a TN-C-S supply being provided - all that matters is that the supply has been "PMEd" (which according to westie often meant just one earth at the end of trhe supply cable run, in addition to the one at the transformer).

I've certainly been offered (and declined!) the opportunity to use my overhead supply as TN-C-S (hence "PME").

Kind Regards, John
 
That is often said, but I've never really understood the reasoning. There's noting about an supply being overhead, per se, which prevents a TN-C-S supply being provided - all that matters is that the supply has been "PMEd" (which according to westie often meant just one earth at the end of trhe supply cable run, in addition to the one at the transformer).

I've certainly been offered (and declined!) the opportunity to use my overhead supply as TN-C-S (hence "PME").

Kind Regards, John

It used to be that a TN-C-S supply would not be provided from overhead lines as the CNE would typically be the bottom conductor and most likely to be damaged. Less of an issue with ABC though.

The picture is typical of an overhead looped supply, whereby the supply cable runs in the loft space from property to property. Depending on how the joists run, you could bash a hole through the ceiling and move the entire board elsehwhere if there is slack. Not generally advised though...

No issue with the TT supply.
 
It used to be that a TN-C-S supply would not be provided from overhead lines as the CNE would typically be the bottom conductor and most likely to be damaged. Less of an issue with ABC though.
Thanks. That makes some sense.

Mine is certainly now ABC from poles to my house (and between poles). Mind you, after reaching the building it travels for some 30m along the walls of my (and my neighbour's) house as four singles, much of which is behind climbing plants - so any of those conductors, including the neutral/CNE, is theoretically individually at the mercy of a gardener's pruning tools - but that didn't stop them offering me TN-C-S.

Kind Regards, John
 

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