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Hi there,

Obviously this electricity set-up looks pretty old. If at all possible to get an indication from photos, I'd like to know if it'd probably be straightforward to swap over the older style meter to a smart meter. 

This current set up works fine, no problem, but I'm concerned that the age of it all might mean further works have to be done before an install can take place, adding time and cost.

I'm also concerned that older materials can contain asbestos. The area is surrounded by a painted, paper-lined plasterboard. The main fuse & meter are mounted on to a dark coloured board (not sure what it is) and the fuse box (switches) is fixed onto a light coloured board of unknown material. Then behind all of that is a light coloured surface which appears porous...again, can't tell what that is.

Does any of this look like it might be an issue or does it look likely that it's ok to proceed with meter replacement?

I'd really welcome some help please. Thanks in advance.

 

Hi @Autumn ,

Bear with me for a bit, I’ll need a little time to dig the details and I’ll update you here shortly.

Thanks!

Ok, thanks for waiting. This is my recommendation as one of the Forum Volunteers here. I will also ask a Forum Moderator to fact check this when they next swing by, just to make 100% certain I’m not going massively off-track.

For the asbestos and/or suspected asbestos backboard, please contact your DNO and ask them to arrange for it to be replaced. If you’d like me to help track down the details you need, I’m more than happy to do that - I just need to know what region and/or county you’re in. It MIGHT also be worth having them check whether the Main Fuse you’ve got is also an asbestos one - if it is, they can replace that too.

Once that’s all done, this looks like a fairly simple upgrade job - it’s just a bog-standard electric meter as far as I can tell. OVO shouldn’t have much trouble swapping that out for a Smart Meter.

I would also highly recommend replacing the consumer unit as well - a qualified electrician in your area would be more than happy to assist with that.

Thank you very much for your super speedy and helpful reply!

Regarding the DNO, apparently I'm in the Eastern region, which I believe falls under UK Power Networks DNO, so I'll try and contact them.

I had a feeling that the consumer unit would probably need upgrading as I don't think it has RCD.

Tbh I'm on a tight budget so I'm conscious of costs and whilst everything was working well I just wanted to leave it be, as much as possible, in case it leads to more and more things needing to be replaced. Obviously safety is important though, hence my concerns about potential asbestos. Speaking of which, is it just the dark coloured bits that look suspicious, in your opinion?

 

Thanks again!

Tbh I'm on a tight budget …  safety is important though, hence my concerns about potential asbestos. 

 

I don’t know whether anyone could identify an asbestos backboard from a photograph. You could try asking your local ratcatcher (the council’s Environmental Health Officer), who might be persuaded to come and have a look in the interests of keeping his parishioners safe. If you do find out that it’s asbestos, your DNO (yes, that would be UKPN) may be helpful in replacing it for you. It’s the sort of job that has to be carried out by them and your supplier in conjunction, when they get round to exchanging your meter for a shiny new smart one. 

Updated on 19/09/24 by Shads_OVO

HI @Autumn,

 

It seems that some good advice has already been given by our forum volunteers.

 

It may also be worth contacting our Support team to book a smart meter installation. If the engineer is able to carry out the appointment then they would go ahead and do so, if there are any problems on the day they’d also be able to provide further advice.

 

These links may also be helpful: 

 

 

 

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