Moving gas and electric meters - where to put them

[Porthole]

Hi there

We've had some quotes from builders which do not include moving gas and electricity meters but the builders have indicated that it could cost thousands to move them which has scared me a bit!

I'm trying to obtain quotes from the electricity and gas networks but wondered where these meters would best be sited. Our gas meter is currently on the back wall of the house which faces the garden (which will be knocked down to create an open plan space), and the electricity meter is in the garage which will be converted to living space. Was thinking the new meters could be situated on the side wall of the house in a lockable box but really didn't know any better. Comments from anyone who has done this would be much appreciated! Also,  who should carry this out?  I assume it is just the network operator as that is what I have been told by my energy supplier but I have heard that other people sometimes do this.

Thanks again!!!

[kaye]

I built a brick hut, separate from the house and garage and situated the 2 meters in there as i needed both gas and electric to the house and garage/annex and situated them centrally between on the advice of the plumber and electrician. Have attached a photo. I had a groundsworker excavate the trenches, and placed the ducting inside, i then paid the utility companies to drop their supplies through the ducting. The hut needs to be watertight and lockable and have a concrete foundation though you can buy specific cabinets to fix to walls. The Utilities will do the digging but charge more so better to do it yourself.  The utility com costs were c£850 for electric (NB from a pole around 60m away in the field) and the gas cost £450. Im not sure the utility companies get out of bed for much less than 400 tbh. The energy suppliers are a bit clueless about this stuff so you need to approach the infrastructure supplier for info e.g. for me it was SP networks for the electric.  Hope this helps, if you need the spec i provided to SP networks give me a shout.

[MikeSharp01]

43 minutes ago, kaye said:

I built a brick hut, separate from the house and garage and situated the 2 meters

We did the same and included the comms and water also so everything bar the sewage comes to the utilities center and gets distributed from there. In our case to the garden room and the house we can isolate either / all and it meant, in our case, the run distance from the base of the pole, Electricity and Broadband, was < 1m the gas was 1.5 meters to the main and water similarly. Electric move was £850 and gas £450, we dug all the trenches. 

[Carrerahill]

1 hour ago, Porthole said:

Hi there

We've had some quotes from builders which do not include moving gas and electricity meters but the builders have indicated that it could cost thousands to move them which has scared me a bit!

I'm trying to obtain quotes from the electricity and gas networks but wondered where these meters would best be sited. Our gas meter is currently on the back wall of the house which faces the garden (which will be knocked down to create an open plan space), and the electricity meter is in the garage which will be converted to living space. Was thinking the new meters could be situated on the side wall of the house in a lockable box but really didn't know any better. Comments from anyone who has done this would be much appreciated! Also,  who should carry this out?  I assume it is just the network operator as that is what I have been told by my energy supplier but I have heard that other people sometimes do this.

Thanks again!!!

Not knowing your situation exactly makes this a little difficult to answer but do the meters need to move or could the consumer unit just be re-located, in which case maybe the meter can stay put.

 

Again, not clear, can the cable head stay put and incoming gas pipe or again, do these need to move?

[Porthole]

Many thanks for your replies - v helpful to just know some indicative figures and I'm glad it isn't thousands. Impressive brick hut llangollen! I've a surveyor booked in now for electrics and gas was indicated on the online quote to be around £750

[kaye]

On 25/05/2021 at 14:22, Porthole said:

Many thanks for your replies - v helpful to just know some indicative figures and I'm glad it isn't thousands. Impressive brick hut llangollen! I've a surveyor booked in now for electrics and gas was indicated on the online quote to be around £750

It turned out a tad ugly, i did start dry stone walling the external walls but that looked pants (also the corners around the door were to tricky for me). My renderers have now promised to krend it to match the house while they are there. Fingers crossed it looks less naff then!

 

[joth]

On 25/05/2021 at 14:22, Porthole said:

Many thanks for your replies - v helpful to just know some indicative figures and I'm glad it isn't thousands. Impressive brick hut llangollen! I've a surveyor booked in now for electrics and gas was indicated on the online quote to be around £750

That sounds surprisingly affordable! Ours was £1000 for the electrical supply move, and over £2000 to permanently disconnect the gas.

Note if that's the quote from the DNO that will be just to move the supply head. You'll also need quote(s) from your supplier(s) to move the meters themselves, and from your own plumber & electrician  to move the gas pipework and, probably, the electrical consumer unit.

Depending how this lines up, that maybe 6 separate quotes. If ground works (e.g. trenches) are needed and you don't want to pay the extravagant DNO pricing for that, you'll need additional quote(s) for that (normally, via the main builder contractor).