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Wishboneash
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October 10, 2022
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Can't have Smart Meters fitted because the Meters are 'too close' together?

  • October 10, 2022
  • 28 replies
  • 6775 views

Hi all

 

rightly or wrongly, been trying to get smart metres fitted to gas and electricity.

 

Booked up a free visit last year with OVO engineer and he took one look at it and said can't do it gov because your gas and electricity metres are too close to each other.

And off he went.

 

So, been toing and froing with OVO and they said they will be able to fit smart metres if minimum distance between said meters is achieved and it will cost me £125 to them to movement the gas metre, or so I thought..…

 

So booked a date in November for what I thought was going to be OVO to move the gas metre and was then told to phone Cadent i.e. British Gas for them to actually repositioned meter.

 

Got a provisional quote from them for £790 to move it less than a metre!!

 

The cadent person also said there is no legal requirement for a minimum distance to be achieved for older gas and electricity installations although these days there is for new installations.

 

Googled it and couldn't find anything relating to it other than forum posts discussing whether there is room for the smart metres or not but don't have that problem at all here.

 

So, obviously not going to pay them £790 to move a gas metre and looks like I'll have to ask for the £125 I paid to OVO back unless of course anyone here knows different and the first engineer wasn't quite correct in saying I can't have smart metres due to the closeness of the existing meters? Hope someone can help out.

 

Thanks in advance 

 

Best answer by Lukepeniket_OVO

Updated on 10/10/25 by Chris_OVO:

Hi all, 

 

So immediately what jumps out at me is the tape measure on top of the Timeclock, gas meters and pipework should be a minimum of 150mm from the cutout/service cable, metering equipment and consumer units, for accessories like a switch or cables ot should be a minimum 25mm away.

 

I can see that both the timeclock and consumer unit are too close to the gas Meter. Looking at the meter outlet the engineer could re do the outlet so it can be moved further away (best method) or refit smart in that position whilst fitting adequate barriers which we do carry and filling out a warning notice  to advise yourself.

28 replies

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Blastoise186
Super User
Blastoise186Super User
Super User
November 28, 2022

Sounds like a job for @PeterR1947 :)

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BPLightlog
Super User
BPLightlogSuper User
Super User
November 28, 2022

A good electrician will have a device called an RCD tester. This would be able to check the operation of the RCD to see if it needs replacing. These devices operate by identifying any difference between current flowing through the live and neutral conductors which then indicates a current flowing to earth - potential a problem. 
A smart meter can add a small level of leakage but should not be a problem unless there are several other appliances leaking giving a high level and hence tripping the RCD. 
The RCD test would check all this as there are tests to see if it trips in a specified time but also that it doesn’t trip at lower levels (usually half the rated current). Most RCD’s would be rated at 30mA but others feeding higher levels could be 100mA and still be ok. 

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    W
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    WishboneashAuthor
    Rank 2
    November 28, 2022

    Thanks. I believe the homeserve electrician that just left, diagnosed the rcd fault with a rcd tester.

    So, just replace the rcd then ?

    But what about the 2 x earth shorts ?

    BPLightlog
    Super User
    BPLightlogSuper User
    Super User
    November 28, 2022

    Thanks. I believe the homeserve electrician that just left, diagnosed the rcd fault with a rcd tester.

    So, just replace the rcd then ?

    But what about the 2 x earth shorts ?

    If the RCD was found to be faulty, yes. 
    The earth shorts need to be traced and repaired - that can be tricky. There are devices to test this but an insulation tester would be the first thing to test on those circuits to check again. 
    An earth leakage locator is not common and takes some experience to use. The circuits with the problem need to be identified and then they can be traced to look for any obvious faults in the switches, plugs, appliances or wiring. 

    Bring me Sunshine ~ E&E {Solar PV, Battery Storage, Hybrid EV, ASHP and Home Assistant automation}
      Y
      Newcomer
      yaaraaja4
      Newcomer
      November 28, 2022

      How do all, im a plumbing and heating engineer that's currently fitting smart meters (electric and gas) I often see a lot of concern and general questions about meters on here and would be more than happy to try and answer / solve any concerns people may have.

       

      PeterR1947
      Newcomer
      PeterR1947
      Newcomer
      November 28, 2022

      Earth shorts can be difficult!  The first thing to try is to see if the short is appliance related.  On the ring main, unplug everything from that ring main and then see if the RCD trips again, if it doesn’t then the problem is appliance related so you then need to plug in the appliances one by one and then switch them on to see which is causing the fault.

      If the RCD trips with everything unplugged, it gets harder, the first thing I would do would be to unscrew every socket and spur outlet and ease them out gently, it is most likely that the fault has occurred when a socket had been disturbed or changed out.  If you don’t find the fault that way then the next step is to isolate parts of the ring by breaking the circuit, disconnecting a socket is the way to do this but you should be using an electrician.

      The lighting circuit can be diagnosed in a similar fashion; best of luck!

      PeterR
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        WishboneashAuthor
        Rank 2
        November 28, 2022

        Thanks all for your replies. Most helpful

        Blastoise186
        Super User
        Blastoise186Super User
        Super User
        November 28, 2022

        No worries. We’ll be here if you need us!

        As for getting that gas meter fitted, I’ll empower you with the next steps, hope you’re OK with this!

        As the electric meter is now installed, you can’t do the gas meter upgrade via self-service. Give it a couple of weeks then get in touch with the Support Team. They’ll be able to arrange a second engineer visit to finish the job.

        Feel free to tell them about this thread as well, it may help them to understand the context.

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        OVO Energy Ltd, Floor 5, Crescent, Temple Back, Redcliffe, BS1 6EZ, (Company no. 06890795) registered in England and Wales.

        OVO (S) Gas Limited is registered in England and Wales (Company No. 02716495) at Floor 5, Crescent, Temple Back, Redcliffe, BS1 6EZ.

        OVO (S) Gas Limited is part of OVO Group Ltd