Can the DNO cutout be located inside?

[WisteriaMews]

The architects aren't keen on a meter box on the outside, so we're looking at whether the DNO cutout and meter can be located in our plant room.

 

The national grid guide says the meter can be located inside if it is on an external wall, but it isn't specific about the DNO cutout:

https://www.nationalgrid.co.uk/downloads/2686

 

It does say in the document that the DNO cutout should be adjacent to the meter (which suggests it could be inside as well), but doesn't explicitly state it can be inside.

 

Does anyone have any experience of trying to locate the DNO cutout and meter inside?

 

If you do locate inside, does it still need to be in  meter box?

 

We're planning a passive house with 350mm of wood fibre insulation. Do you think the SMART meter could still connect to the networks? We'll want to be on a smart tariff. We're on London with decent reception, so not a remote rural location.

[Mattg4321]

I’ve seen quite a few recent builds with cutout internally, although I know the DNO (UKPN) prefers external meter box. Sorry I can’t help more than to say that. 

[Nickfromwales]

You can simply have the duct already laid and say “shove your cable through that” and if it comes out in the plant room then that’s where your cutout will be   One of those where you ask less and point more.

 

No need for a box if internal, and you can mount the meter there fully exposed also. 
 

You can have the fuse board elsewhere, opposite wall if space is tight, but if more than 3m of cables (tails) are required you need to fit a switch fuse to derate the normal 100a supply down to 80a (as that cable is then deemed to be more of a liability).

 

If you need the full 100a then allow space in your M&E design for all of these things to be in proximity. 

[WisteriaMews]

2 hours ago, Mattg4321 said:

I’ve seen quite a few recent builds with cutout internally, although I know the DNO (UKPN) prefers external meter box. Sorry I can’t help more than to say that. 

Thanks. Have they been inside a meter box internally or just wall mounted?

[Nickfromwales]

Just now, WisteriaMews said:

Thanks. Have they been inside a meter box internally or just wall mounted?

👆🫡

[G and J]

We put a meter kiosk in to give us both our building and permanent supply, partly because I'm not keen on a carbuncle of an external meter box slung on the outside of my new pad and it saved the cost of moving it, so that may be an option.

 

3 hours ago, WisteriaMews said:

The architects aren't keen on a meter box on the outside

 

And, erm, bugger the architect, what do you want as far as meter boxes go?  I'm assuming it's your house.

[WisteriaMews]

1 hour ago, G and J said:

We put a meter kiosk in to give us both our building and permanent supply, partly because I'm not keen on a carbuncle of an external meter box slung on the outside of my new pad and it saved the cost of moving it, so that may be an option.

I hadn't thought of that, put the kiosk somewhere sensible and then don't pay to move it a second time.

 

1 hour ago, G and J said:

And, erm, bugger the architect, what do you want as far as meter boxes go?  I'm assuming it's your house.

I'm in the phase of "I want the cheapest option", but it's good to have the designers pushing / challenging you. Meter boxes slapped on outside walls aren't always the most attractive thing.

Edited May 10 by WisteriaMews
Corrected a spelling mistake.

[G and J]

On 10/05/2025 at 18:58, WisteriaMews said:

I hadn't thought of that, put the kiosk somewhere sensible and then don't pay to move it a second time.

 

I'm in the phase of "I want the cheapest option", but it's good to have the designers pushing / challenging you. Meter boxes slapped on outside walls aren't always the most attractive thing.

We’ve tucked our kiosk where it will be behind a low wall and hidden by our bin store on the very edge of our plot.   110mm duct for the armoured cable means our consumer unit can be in our ideal location in the middle of the house, but then, ours is quite a modest build.

 

At the mo the kiosk also stores our hard hats and hi vis waistcoats we make peeps wear…

[BotusBuild]

Ours is inside the plant room because that is where I put the duct as Nick said above 

[Mattg4321]

15 hours ago, WisteriaMews said:

Thanks. Have they been inside a meter box internally or just wall mounted?

Don’t think I’ve ever seen a meter box internally. 
 

They’ve just been mounted to a board fixed to the wall as they always used to be. 
 

I’ve even seen a whole estate where they were in the middle of a house in the hall cupboard. Not sure how they got away with that. Probably built 5-10 years ago now. 
 

As above though, an external kiosk might be the cheapest and best option overall if it saves moving it later. 

[tuftythesquirrel]

Lets face it, the standard meter box is cr*p. A couple of years and the door hinges break, the door falls off and you can't replace it without smashing the old one to bits to get it off. Then you have to cut the back off the new one to fit it around the cut out. Even more problematic if it's recessed🤐.

We have the cut out and meter in plant room, in an electrical enclosure, on Unistrut. I have an 3 phase old school RCAMY meter, due to be replaced with a (smaller) SMETS2 one. Will change the meter tails and put cable idents on when the new meter gets fitted. Am I the only one that labels every cable🤔

[G and J]

39 minutes ago, tuftythesquirrel said:

Am I the only one that labels every cable🤔

When we built in ‘91 we were constantly on a hurry up to stick to the plan, so nothing was labelled.  A good few times since I’ve wished that I had labelled me cables.   My aspiration is to label both pipes and cables.  I wonder if I’ll manage this time round.

[tuftythesquirrel]

13 minutes ago, G and J said:

both pipes and cables

👍👏 Been thinking about pipes myself, ok I'm in 😁

[G and J]

Rather naively, I assumed I’d be able to buy cable labelling sleeves on eBay or Amazon for nothing ha’penny.  However, Ive drawn a blank.

 

What does one use to attach labels to cables?

[Alan Ambrose]

There's some fancy printers that print on heat shrink if you're inclined - Brother is one brand. Cheaper would be some simple write-on tags.

 

https://www.brother.co.uk/business-solutions/electricians

 

Otherwise one of those special pens that prints on plastic?

 

Edited May 11 by Alan Ambrose

[G and J]

Fine point sharpie it is then. 

 

I’m a big spender me.  
 

[tuftythesquirrel]

On 11/05/2025 at 17:55, G and J said:

What does one use to attach labels to cables?

I bought a Brother PT-D600 on eBay for £80 and use the free P-Touch Editor on my PC. I get the heatshrink tapes on the NineLeaf store on Aliexpress, much cheaper than in the UK. The 25mm black on white ones are less than £5 and look reasonably professional.

 

[Alan Ambrose]

V nice - I think labels and a circuit diagram are the way forward - it’s what industrial sparks have been doing for years.

[FarmerN]

I spoke to our DNO ( SP Energy Networks) when planning our new build about 4-5 years ago. They assured me there was no need for an external box so long as meter was within one meter of external wall, so ours is in the plant room.

The idea of an outside box  that anyone could tamper with did not appeal, to say nothing of appearance.

 

Had a builders box outside during build, the duct to the plant room ran back to near that and then an undergrond connection was made ther to connect the new house.

I had expected the DNO to run a new  cable all the way to the pole useing the ducts already in place, just connecting the duct to the builders box with the plant room duct, but no, they used the cable already to box and made an underground connection.

One more point to fail ?

[G and J]

15 hours ago, FarmerN said:

The idea of an outside box  that anyone could tamper with did not appeal, to say nothing of appearance.

Ah, see, we’ve been clever and we’ve put a green box in so it’s camouflaged. So ours won’t get tampered with.  So no damn Roosky agents will steal our meter readings. Ha!

[Nickfromwales]

16 hours ago, Alan Ambrose said:

V nice - I think labels and a circuit diagram are the way forward - it’s what industrial sparks have been doing for years.

But not necessarily in a domestic setting….  

 

I recently tried to buy some tray and cable management, but @tuftythesquirrel had, apparently, bought the lot. 😌😜😜😜

[zzPaulzz]

On 10/05/2025 at 19:30, G and J said:

We’ve tucked our kiosk where it will be behind a low wall and hidden by our bin store on the very edge of our plot.   110mm duct for the armoured cable means our consumer unit can be in our ideal location in the middle of the house, but then, ours is quite a modest build.

 

At the mo the kiosk also stores our hard hats and hi vis waistcoats we make peeps wear…

I'm probably doing the same. GRP kiosk with the DNO cutoff and a three phase meter.  What size is your kiosk? Did you need ventilation? 

[Nickfromwales]

1 hour ago, zzPaulzz said:

I'm probably doing the same. GRP kiosk with the DNO cutoff and a three phase meter.  What size is your kiosk? Did you need ventilation? 

They're not airtight, so don't really need any ventilation as such, also they don't get 'hot' so to speak.

 

This kind of thing. Random grab.

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/192527358041?chn=ps&_ul=GB&mkevt=1&mkcid=28&google_free_listing_action=view_item

[zzPaulzz]

49 minutes ago, Nickfromwales said:

They're not airtight, so don't really need any ventilation as such, also they don't get 'hot' so to speak.

 

This kind of thing. Random grab.

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/192527358041?chn=ps&_ul=GB&mkevt=1&mkcid=28&google_free_listing_action=view_item

Thanks Nick!  I was about to pay £300 more for the kiosk using a supplier proposed by UKPN.  This one meets UKPN spec for my three phase 100A  supply. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/193638966542

[Nickfromwales]

10 minutes ago, zzPaulzz said:

Thanks Nick!  I was about to pay £300 more for the kiosk using a supplier proposed by UKPN.  This one meets UKPN spec for my three phase 100A  supply. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/193638966542

It’s an odd world, considering one of these will suffice….