Moving/Replacing Meters

FunkyMunkey

Hi,

I'm in the process of (touch wood) buying a new house, and there's a couple of minor problems with the gas and electricity meters:

1) They are inside one of the kitchen cabinets
2) The electricity meter uses a "Powerkey" that must be recharged it at a shop.

If I decided to get these moved or (in the case of the Powerkey meter) replaced, who would I need to call? Is a regular, Corgi-registered tradesman able to do it, or would I need to call the utility company?

Also, does anyone have ANY idea how much this would cost?

Thanks in advance

greyteam1959

You will have to call your utility companies.
They are the only people that can move the meters cos they are sealed.
You might be limited to where you can move them to depending where the main feeds come onto your property.
No idea as to cost.....ask the utility companies.
I would guess at £200 per meter.

never_enough

The powerkey meter shouldn't be a problem to get replaced, get in touch with utility company. AFAIK these were often put into rental properties, or where people had difficulty paying bills as they can be set to a higher rate to reclaim money owing as well as take for ongoing power use. They will want to put it in the same place though I should imagine. Moving meters is not a cheap business at all, I've known a few people do this & in most cases it's come out around the £800-£1000 mark for both. You will need to contact the gas & electric people, they will send someone around to do a survey & will then tell you the cost.

FunkyMunkey

jeez... that's expensive!

never_enough

FunkyMunkey wrote: »

jeez... that's expensive!

Exactly what I thought! You *may* be lucky though...(or not...:rolleyes:!) Worth giving them a call to discuss it at least. It will depend where you want to move them to, so getting someone out to have a look may be worthwhile, although I have a feeling that they charge even for that. I can check with a friend on that & get back to you tomorrow if it helps?
Now you can understand why so many people have meters in cupboards in their living rooms!

gmrsupplies

I had my gas meter moved last October whilst having my garage converted. I contacted my gas supplier who told me of two companies that did it. I did mine through Transco and it cost approx £700 to move it approximately 12ft. There was a large amount of work involved as the supply pipe that ran to my property needed renewing as I imagine most would do to meet current regulations. I also had to pay my CORGI registered plumber to come in after and reconnect my supply to the boiler as Transco will only do it if it is within 1.2m (IIRC) of the meter. All in all it cost me £800 just to move the one meter. A colleague of mine has just had his done, he stopped a Transco man who was working in the street and offered him and his mates cash and they did it for £500, its up to you but it is not a cheap thing to do. I imagine that it cost TRansco more than £800 as they have to pay for 2 holes to be dug in the street and backfilled and tarmacced when done, section of blockpaving to be removed and reinstated and then a gang of workmen to run the pipe through. It took approximately 7 hours to do and at what one stage there were 8 staff in attendance. The holes were backfilled by a different company 2 days later anfd the blockpaving by another different company a week later. Also surveyor came round prior to job. Cost is a set amount dependent on distance moved but pipe cannot now be on an internal wall and cannot go under the floor in an inhaboted area so my plan of moving it by 6 foot had to go out the window.
Best bet, phoen up yopur gas supplier ask them who can do it, then phone them up and they will send you a form, from this form it is reasonably easy to work out an approximate cost.

ormus

slightly OT, but transco have just connected a supply to a mates rented house. it had been disconnected for some unkown reason.
what a laugh transco is and BG. first they both refused to do it, blaming each other.
only when energywatch called them to sort it out did they do anything.
BG fitter came first and said wasnt his job. transco came and said he cant do it cause he wasnt a corgi man. BG sent the same man 3 times!
after many attempts like this, BG finally fitted a new meter. and transco dug a hole outside on the pavement. then another man came and installed a new yellow plastic gas pipe. BG man came back and set the meter.
but would not connect the house supply cause the pipe was old type lead. so a plumber was called. he installed a new copper pipe.

transco came back with a lorry/hiab to fill in the hole.
it was all of 3x3x3 ft! i could have done it wif a spade in 10 minutes!
but they didnt replace the paving slabs.
we are waiting for another man now.
2 weeks so far and counting.

what a fiasco. funnier than laural and hardy.

baldelectrician

Scottish power charge anything op to £800; you pay then they tell you when they can fit you in once the cheque clears

Took one of my clients 5 weeks to get it sorted out.

FunkyMunkey

I was worried it would be this expensive.

Does anyone know if there's any problem with having them in a kitchen cupboard (base unit). Is it considered dangerous if the cupboard is used a lot?!

wendyh

My sister in law wanted her meter moved from inside the kitchen to the other side of the wall outside and BG wanted to charge £1000. The utility companies can charge what they like. Just another money earner to them.

ems2

Can't you just get a corgi gas person? Does it have to be done through your power company?