We live in Scotland and our electric is supplied by SSE. We have THTC tariff which is common in remote areas. Essentially we have two meters, a bit like Economy 7, but instead of cheap overnight electric we get cheap rate for certain ‘heating’ items eg storage heaters/immersion heater/electric shower, and all other appliances use standard energy. We have a separate cottage a few yards away which takes electric from our standard (higher cost) meter.
When we first moved here this was not too much of an issue as the property was not fully occupied and electric prices were lower. Prices have since sky rocketed and also my elderly mother now lives in the cottage and we are incurring very high costs particularly for heating.
I have asked our supplier if they can split the supply before our 2 meters and fit a separate meter for my Mum's cottage so that we can have her on a cheaper tariff.
We have been told we need to dig a trench from the nearest pole (approx 20yds away as the crow flies in our neighbour's garden) as apparently they no longer do what they refer to as looped supplies - neither will they do an overhead connection from the same pole even though there are already overhead cables over the access road so height is not an issue.
Apart from the costs of digging a trench, there are underground drains and other problems because of ground conditions - we cannot simply take a direct route from the pole to the cottage.
I'd be grateful for any comments and advice, are looped supplies and/or overhead connections no longer considered safe? Is there any organisation/body I can appeal to for a second opinion or to make an exception, after all there will be no changes to the amount of electricity being used. Both had their wiring/consumer units updated around 10 years ago.
Thank you
When we first moved here this was not too much of an issue as the property was not fully occupied and electric prices were lower. Prices have since sky rocketed and also my elderly mother now lives in the cottage and we are incurring very high costs particularly for heating.
I have asked our supplier if they can split the supply before our 2 meters and fit a separate meter for my Mum's cottage so that we can have her on a cheaper tariff.
We have been told we need to dig a trench from the nearest pole (approx 20yds away as the crow flies in our neighbour's garden) as apparently they no longer do what they refer to as looped supplies - neither will they do an overhead connection from the same pole even though there are already overhead cables over the access road so height is not an issue.
Apart from the costs of digging a trench, there are underground drains and other problems because of ground conditions - we cannot simply take a direct route from the pole to the cottage.
I'd be grateful for any comments and advice, are looped supplies and/or overhead connections no longer considered safe? Is there any organisation/body I can appeal to for a second opinion or to make an exception, after all there will be no changes to the amount of electricity being used. Both had their wiring/consumer units updated around 10 years ago.
Thank you
