2 Properties (Now Joined) - 2 Circuits on 1 Electricity Meter?

edmund_blackadder

Hi,

Apologies if this is in the wrong section.

I have a property with an annexe next door. Both currently have their own gas and electricity supplies.

However we have recently decided to knock through to have one bigger house, rather than 2 separate properties.

Ideally I want to have one gas meter and one electricity meter (so one supply for the combined properties) so that I only pay one set of standing charges etc.

How easy is this to do? What do I need to do to make it happen?

Thanks in advance.

EB.

FFHillbilly

you'd need to connect both consumer units to one electricity supply, then connect both gas installations to one gas supply, and then contact your energy provider and tell them you don't require the redundant meters.
the redundant electric and gas supplies will still stay where they are just without a meter (or they sometimes leave the meter but it will be "dead"), it would cost a lot more to get rind of them and you would need to contact the relevant DNO (distribution network operator) for example Northern power grid (elec)  and northern gas networks (gas)

edmund_blackadder

Thanks Hillbilly.

Should I be able to get regular gas fitters and electricians to do the consumer unit joining work?

I'm not particularly interested in getting rid of the the older meters (they are in outside meter cabinets anyway so not in the way) so that shouldn't be an issue.

Jonboy_1984

You will continue to pay daily standing charges on the meters as long as they are present (if they are de-energised and removed  by the supplier it can still then take 3 months for the data to filter through to billing and get the charges stopped). 

edmund_blackadder

Jonboy_1984 said:

You will continue to pay daily standing charges on the meters as long as they are present (if they are de-energised and removed  by the supplier it can still then take 3 months for the data to filter through to billing and get the charges stopped). 

So asking for them to be disconnected/capped by the supplier isn't enough?

grumbler

edmund_blackadder said:

Ideally I want to have ... electricity meter (so one supply for the combined properties) so that I only pay one set of standing charges etc.

Beware, that by doing this you'll reduce the maximum power available. E.g. if it's 100A+100A currently, you'll have only 100A left. This can be an important factor to consider especially when electric cars are getting more common.

I am no expert, but theoretically it can be possible to keep both supply cables connected to one meter.

FFHillbilly

Jonboy_1984 said:

You will continue to pay daily standing charges on the meters as long as they are present (if they are de-energised and removed  by the supplier it can still then take 3 months for the data to filter through to billing and get the charges stopped). 

If you phone up and say "this meter is not required, I don't want to pay the standing charge" it's my understanding that within a month or so, you don't pay for it and it either wont work or they come and physically remove it. if it somehow takes 3 months for them to figure out it's been removed and they send you a bill thats their problem, don't pay it and tell them it was removed 3 months ago, the charges should be removed

grumbler said:

edmund_blackadder said:

Ideally I want to have ... electricity meter (so one supply for the combined properties) so that I only pay one set of standing charges etc.

Beware, that by doing this you'll reduce the maximum power available. E.g. if it's 100A+100A currently, you'll have only 100A left. This can be an important factor to consider especially when electric cars are getting more common.

I am no expert, but theoretically it can be possible to keep both supply cables connected to one meter.

for the electric, a sub main can be installed from one consumer unit to the other, then everything is fed from one consumer unit.
for the gas, it's possible to just joint the pipes assuming they are sized correctly, this depends on the layout. but realistically in this case it might be easier and simpler to connect both heating systems to one boiler. both of these jobs can be carried out by regular electricians or gas fitters

regarding the loss of capacity, it's probably not going to cause an issue if it's still one house. if for some reason you want to get multiple EV's and a heat pump in the future, you could always ring up and get the meter re-instated, but the extra capacity would cost you £169 at todays prices just in standing charges

35har1old

edmund_blackadder said:

Thanks Hillbilly.

Should I be able to get regular gas fitters and electricians to do the consumer unit joining work?

I'm not particularly interested in getting rid of the the older meters (they are in outside meter cabinets anyway so not in the way) so that shouldn't be an issue.

I worked for a electricity company and they would have removed the supply at boundary of property to prevent any illegal connection in the future. Health and safety issue
No standing charge either
Has the OP said whither he has a single phase are three phase connection and is there a loop to secondary meter
If you want 22KW EV a single phase won't be sufficient

edmund_blackadder

35har1old said:

edmund_blackadder said:

Thanks Hillbilly.

Should I be able to get regular gas fitters and electricians to do the consumer unit joining work?

I'm not particularly interested in getting rid of the the older meters (they are in outside meter cabinets anyway so not in the way) so that shouldn't be an issue.

I worked for a electricity company and they would have removed the supply at boundary of property to prevent any illegal connection in the future. Health and safety issue
No standing charge either
Has the OP said whither he has a single phase are three phase connection and is there a loop to secondary meter
If you want 22KW EV a single phase won't be sufficient

I haven't said, as i don't know. How do i check to know?

FFHillbilly

post a picture of your main fuse and meter

this explains looped supplies

CSI_Yorkshire

edmund_blackadder said:

35har1old said:

edmund_blackadder said:

Thanks Hillbilly.

Should I be able to get regular gas fitters and electricians to do the consumer unit joining work?

I'm not particularly interested in getting rid of the the older meters (they are in outside meter cabinets anyway so not in the way) so that shouldn't be an issue.

I worked for a electricity company and they would have removed the supply at boundary of property to prevent any illegal connection in the future. Health and safety issue
No standing charge either
Has the OP said whither he has a single phase are three phase connection and is there a loop to secondary meter
If you want 22KW EV a single phase won't be sufficient

I haven't said, as i don't know. How do i check to know?

If you're just normal properties (i.e. not a commercial conversion or deliberately built for high power use), you will almost certainly be single phase.

grumbler said:

edmund_blackadder said:

Ideally I want to have ... electricity meter (so one supply for the combined properties) so that I only pay one set of standing charges etc.

Beware, that by doing this you'll reduce the maximum power available. E.g. if it's 100A+100A currently, you'll have only 100A left. This can be an important factor to consider especially when electric cars are getting more common.

I am no expert, but theoretically it can be possible to keep both supply cables connected to one meter.

Don't do this.  The meter will not be rated for more than 100A, so having it supplied from two incoming cables would exceed its rating and would be a fire risk.  You would be deliberately creating a situation of overloading your equipment.

Just replace the connection between consumer unit and the meter you don't want with a connection between that consumer unit and the meter that you want to keep.  Doing it from Henley blocks would seem the simplest way, with an isolator just after the block.  It's almost how terraced houses used to be wired in many areas (although the split then was before the meter).