BadgerBadger Posted January 21, 2021 Share Posted January 21, 2021 Hello! We're just going through planning at the moment and I'm trying to get all my ducks in row in preparation for starting on site. We're looking to break the build into phases (groundworks, structure, roofing etc.) and contracting each one. I had a couple of questions! At what stage in the build would contractors generally be expecting an electricity supply to be available? I know for a temporary supply we'll need a kiosk (or similar) with meter for the provider to connect to, we have electricity on poles right next to site so hopefully this will be relatively straightforward. But what would contractors expect to connect to? Would it just be a consumer unit with a few 230V 16A sockets at the kiosk, or something else with 110V transformers, site distribution etc.? Thank you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProDave Posted January 21, 2021 Share Posted January 21, 2021 Just one or more 16A sockets. Contractors will bring their own 110V transformers. As early in the build as you can makes sense. And remember to give the site sockets their own TT earth NOT a PME earth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyT Posted January 21, 2021 Share Posted January 21, 2021 I’d prefer standard 13 amp sockets single gang protected by their own RCBO. also gives the trades an area to charge cordless tools again all on 13 amp plugs. pretty much all 110volt transformers are on a 13 amp plug that you would be carting out from the back of the van. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SimonD Posted January 21, 2021 Share Posted January 21, 2021 2 hours ago, BadgerBadger said: At what stage in the build would contractors generally be expecting an electricity supply to be available? I know for a temporary supply we'll need a kiosk (or similar) with meter for the provider to connect to, we have electricity on poles right next to site so hopefully this will be relatively straightforward. But what would contractors expect to connect to? Would it just be a consumer unit with a few 230V 16A sockets at the kiosk, or something else with 110V transformers, site distribution etc.? Thank you! As @ProDave says, get it in as part of the intial enabling works so it's ready. There's nothing more frustrating that needing some power and having to sort out and run a generator. Our utility company provided the specs on the temporary electrics setup which basically came down to a large peice of marine plywood on fence posts with two boxes attached, one for the meter and the other for a consumer unit. The two are linked with long tails. My electrician then asked what I wanted in terms of supply and just wired up a few different sockets inside the box on separate rings, a couple of outdoor sockets as well as a ring to the garage. With sockets the choice is yours really, oh, and try and get as many sockets as you can! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thedreamer Posted January 21, 2021 Share Posted January 21, 2021 Get the electricity in as early as possible. We had ours done and quite a bit before the build. The connection quote jumped considerably and I was happy paying a minimal standing charge. This box was whipped together from scraps and SSE were happy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Jones Posted January 21, 2021 Share Posted January 21, 2021 just to add if the pole is on your land just screw the meter box to it. Also its cheaper to have them leave the right amount of cable to reach the final meter position that was you can move it easily at no extra cost. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barny Posted December 7, 2023 Share Posted December 7, 2023 I was hoping I could ask a follow on question - we are starting building work in spring. Because it is so far off national grid won’t give me a quote to upgrade the temporary to a permanent supply. Should I budget for the same again or is it materially different? We are planning to have 3 phase on the permanent supply. Many thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FuerteStu Posted December 7, 2023 Share Posted December 7, 2023 Many tradesman wouldn't set foot on a site unless they can plug in a kettle.. Just saying! Lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Ambrose Posted December 7, 2023 Share Posted December 7, 2023 >>> Should I budget for the same again or is it materially different? Hmmm, depends how big a job it was to get your temp supply in. A few people here on BH get the supply into a permanent kiosk somewhere on the property and then get their own sparky to run power to the house at a later date. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Ambrose Posted December 7, 2023 Share Posted December 7, 2023 @ProDave >>> And remember to give the site sockets their own TT earth NOT a PME earth. Possible to remind us why that is again? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProDave Posted December 7, 2023 Share Posted December 7, 2023 2 hours ago, Barny said: I was hoping I could ask a follow on question - we are starting building work in spring. Because it is so far off national grid won’t give me a quote to upgrade the temporary to a permanent supply. Should I budget for the same again or is it materially different? We are planning to have 3 phase on the permanent supply. Many thanks So you have a "building supply" as in your own supply to the site and your own meter. Why do you think in needs "upgrading" in any way? Do you NEED 3 phase? What exactly do you have now? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProDave Posted December 7, 2023 Share Posted December 7, 2023 20 minutes ago, Alan Ambrose said: @ProDave >>> And remember to give the site sockets their own TT earth NOT a PME earth. Possible to remind us why that is again? PME is delivered by a 2 core concentric cable, the outer being a combined neutral and earth. In a normal installation the house earth is connected to the CNE conductor at the supply head. These concentric cables can fail with a break in the outer core. That would result in N and E together rising to L potential. Strangely that is unlikely to harm you inside a normal house where all metal parts are bonded together. but there are some cases where it could bother you a lot. Those are site sockets, caravans and EV chargers. The issue here is you are quite likely to be standing on real ground at real earth potential and if you then touched the "earth" from a failed PME supply it could be a very long way above true earth. This could be if you touched the metal skin of a caravan, or the earthed metal case of a tool plugged into a site socket. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barny Posted December 7, 2023 Share Posted December 7, 2023 5 hours ago, ProDave said: So you have a "building supply" as in your own supply to the site and your own meter. Why do you think in needs "upgrading" in any way? Do you NEED 3 phase? What exactly do you have now? Currently we don’t have electric on site at all. National grid have quoted me to put a temporary supply in but I understand they have to change it to a permanent supply at a later date once the house is built and the fuse box/meter is installed. We would like to ultimately have 3 phase for EV and to ensure we can offload more than 3.6kw to the grid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelvin Posted December 8, 2023 Share Posted December 8, 2023 Do a search of this topic on here as it comes up a lot so theres some good information about it in other threads on the forum. You don’t need 3 phase for an EV charger unless you want more than one charger or a faster charger. We aim to use all the electricity we generate either by consuming it or storing it rather than sending it back to the grid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Ambrose Posted December 9, 2023 Share Posted December 9, 2023 @ProDave - just to finish that subject off - would you revert to PME when the building is done or leave as TT? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProDave Posted December 9, 2023 Share Posted December 9, 2023 4 minutes ago, Alan Ambrose said: @ProDave - just to finish that subject off - would you revert to PME when the building is done or leave as TT? Yes my house is connected to the PME earth, but my static caravan remains on it's own TT earth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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