Securing Electricity Meter Cupboard

[JohnW2]

I wonder what the objection would be (by the DNO) if householders could pay for a more secure box. After all, this would be no more of an inconvenience than gaining access to a meter inside someone's house.

Whist your latter point is obviously true, I think one of the main reasons why DNOs (and suppliers) now favour external meter cabinets is that it avoids the difficulties associated with their personnel, or meter readers, gaining access to internal cutouts and meters.

In answer to your question, I would expect that the DNO's position/response might well be that when there is an external cabinet, they want the contents to be accessible to any of their personnel, or any meter reader, at any time - which would probably effectively preclude a significantly "more secure" box (if every DNO employee and meter reader had access, it would probably not be, or remain, significantly more secure than the currents ones!).

Kind Regards, John

 

[mfarrow]

We're talking about a plastic box which can be easily broken with a crowbar. Lock or not.

In this case my view would be the only people you want to keep out are the pesky street kids or drugged-up chancers (alarm battery aside...). Hence my suggestion of a lock on the isolator itself.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Padlock and hasp.

Or padlock and two metal plates with holes - one flat, attached to the side of the cabinet and one a 90° angle fixed to the door. Or vice-versa.

Or padlock on a metal plate fixed to the inside of the cabinet which pokes through a slit you cut in the door.


However it's done, put a window in the door so that the meter can be read.

Or ask for a smart meter which doesn't need accessing.

 

[Jadele]

Or ask for a smart meter which doesn't need accessing.

NOOOOOOOO LOL DONT DO IT!!!!

http://stopsmartmeters.org.uk/resources/what-are-smart-meters/

I think the health aspects mentioned above are probably no worse than phones and wifi but its what else they can do with them such as individual pricing plans based on your own peak usage etc. Lets face it why on earth would the Big 6 be so excited about spending billions replacing perfectly good meters? To save me money? Nah!....To save the environment? Nah!....To kick peoples back doors in when they have enough people using them and force down maximum demand by household because they have failed to build more power stations and the bloody wind isn't blowing? Sounds most likley to me!

 

[JohnW2]

Does anyone have any idea how common 'interference with the contents of meter cabinets' is? For a start, has anyone here ever come across a case.

I don't have an external meter cabinet, but I have an overhead supply which enters the house about 2m above ground level - so anyone with insulated meaty wire cutters or bolt cutters could disconnect my supply if they so wished, and there little, if anything, I can do about that (I don't think the DNO would be happy with my 'enclosing' their cables).

Kind Regards, John

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Yes, but that's a bit different from some bored/disaffected/drunk youths deciding it would be fun to flick a switch.

Also, burglars like to manage with what's to hand, so they are not "going equipped" if stopped on their way to work.

 

[JohnW2]

Also, burglars like to manage with what's to hand, so they are not "going equipped" if stopped on their way to work.

Whilst that may be true in general, it's less likely to be the case (if there are any such cases!) of those planning to disable an electricity supply and then return a few days later when the alarm battery has hopefully gone flat! ... I wonder if anyone has ever done that?

Kind Regards, John

 

[JohnW2]

I think the health aspects mentioned above are probably no worse than phones and wifi but its what else they can do with them such as individual pricing plans based on your own peak usage etc. .... and force down maximum demand by household because they have failed to build more power stations and the bloody wind isn't blowing?

Whilst I understand the concerns, maybe I'm being naive but I'm not sure that there is much we can do about it.

So long as it is not 'compulsory' we can, of course, 'decline' to have a smart meter. However should suppliers ever wish to implement the sort of price structures or load restriction which you fear, would/could they not insist that anyone who wished to continue getting an electricity supply from them had to have a smart meter?

Kind Regards, John

 

[Jadele]

I think you're right John but why help them and opt to have one? I wouldn't mind so much if they were honest about it!

 

[RF Lighting]

My alarm sends a text to me if it looses mains power.

 

[JohnW2]

I think you're right John but why help them and opt to have one? I wouldn't mind so much if they were honest about it!

They are admittedly not going out of their way to publicise what could be done, but they can't avoid the fact that others are fairly widely disseminating that information, so it's hardly a secret.

Facilitating the sort of measures you have mentioned is, after all, presumably only a 'contingency' for what might possibly be necessary in the future. In the shorter term, one can but presume that no supplier wishes to discourage people from using (and paying for) "as much electricity as possible" - and one doesn't achieve that by penalising customers for having higher usage, let alone by directly restricting how much energy can be used!

Kind Regards, John

 

[JohnW2]

My alarm sends a text to me if it looses mains power.

Yes, that's not uncommon. I have an alarm (only activated if my house is going to be unoccupied for a significant period of time!) which sounds in a neighbour's house in the event of a loss of mains power - so that they can hopefully investigate/intervene, and thereby perhaps save the contents of my freezers etc.

Kind Regards, John

 

[Jadele]

its the personalised peak usage that they want to do so that every house is billed the most during their peak time so for most ppl that may be between 6-9am and 4-11 at night for others working nights they will change their peak time accordingly based on the huge amount of data they will get back from the meter. Not good in any way for the consumer.

 

[mfarrow]

Most alarm external sounders will alarm once the battery is depleted in the main box. So not a very clever theif.

My alarm rings me, I couldn't afford the text box at the time.

 

[JohnW2]

its the personalised peak usage that they want to do so that every house is billed the most during their peak time so for most ppl that may be between 6-9am and 4-11 at night for others working nights they will change their peak time accordingly based on the huge amount of data they will get back from the meter.

That would just be a variant of putting up prices in general, and probably would not be 'allowed'. The main point of varying costs at different times of day is to try to reduce demand when generating facilities are most stretched and increase usage when generating facilities are most under-used. To charge night workers a premium for using most of their electricity "in the middle of the night" would not be justifiable or reasonable, and hence I very much doubt that it would be 'allowed'.

Kind Regards, John