[Kev86]

Has anyone had a second power supply installed by a DNO?

Where I live, the house has had external wall insulation, a type of rendered cladding and I've been told I cannot drill through it, but can install an EV charger.

The DNO said they would be happy to upgrade my power supply to 100A which would involve next door (shared supply) to require drilling through the same rendering, which I've been told mustn't be drilled through.

Would it be feasible, and / or possible to get a separate electric supply, meter mounted outside the property, soley for EV charging?

 

[dk6780]

Yes, but it will cost you an additional standing charge which is typically 20-25p/day so around £70-£90 per year.
Is your meter inside the property and how does the mains get to it?

 

[Kev86]

Yes, but it will cost you an additional standing charge which is typically 20-25p/day so around £70-£90 per year.
Is your meter inside the property and how does the mains get to it?

The existing supply is a very old "linked" supply with next door. The render was put on the building about 5 years before I moved in

 

[Xinix]

Where I live, the house has had external wall insulation, a type of rendered cladding and I've been told I cannot drill through it, but can install an EV charger.

Cannot as in technically not feasible or not allowed to?

In any case, couldn't you guide a cable through a hole in a window frame or a door frame?

 

[dk6780]

The existing supply is a very old "linked" supply with next door. The render was put on the building about 5 years before I moved in

OK, but how does it get into your house and is there the ability to return a cable by the same or a similar route? For example if the supply enters via the eaves can you do the same and then run the cable down the wall over the render?

Edit - in case I am barking up the wrong tree, are you allowed to install a charge point on your existing connection or only if it is upgraded (which I assume you are saying is not possible) to 100Amps?

 

[EricM]

Where I live, the house has had external wall insulation, a type of rendered cladding and I've been told I cannot drill through it, but can install an EV charger.

Understandable that trying to use a half inch masonry drill might damage the insulation but surely it must be possible to remove a small section of the insulating material - e.g. with a diamond core drill or even a jigsaw followed by chiselling ? Drilling through the exposed surface of the original wall should then be OK. The hole left by that technique could then be filled with insulation material then covered with a sheet of wood.

 

[Tandy0]

Dig a hole outside, and drill through under the floorboards.

 

[idiotzoo]

A new meter point install is unlikely to cost less than £1500, and that’s if everything is super easy and requires no digging. Chances are it would be more expensive, plus ongoing standing charge. could always contact whoever did the insulation, if you know, and ask their advice or what it would cost for remediation after the install.

 

[Carty]

Maybe the installers have been told they are not allowed to drill from the inside of the house, through the wall to the outside, which results in the rendered surface being massively “blown out” as the drill breaks through ?.
Drilling from the outside to the inside has it dangers, because you are never 100% sure where the drill is likely to break through, plus it is likely to blow out the plaster finish inside of the property.
Maybe drilling into the installation will void the warranty ???.
Crazy I know, but you know what these companies are like !.
My daughter has just moved into a brand new house and BT Open Reach has installed a new overhead phone line to the property.
The did a great job of completely blowing off the complete front of one face brick, right on the front of the house.
What a eye sore !,
They where in the van and gone rather smarty to, no apology and just left the complete face of the brick on the path !.
Another quality job after waiting almost two weeks for them to start the job.
On hold to BT for almost 3 hours trying to get them to deal with the now pathetic slow speed of the connection and they have turned off the temporary 4g hub they supplied while waiting for an appointment.
You just can’t make up this type of stuff !.
Utter crap service from a very long established company.

 

[TomH]

Maybe the ban is due to drilling breaking up the insulation and creating a harmful cloud of dust.

If so I believe that you can hire drills with vacuum attachments.

Worth asking why the ban exists.

 

[Carty]

Maybe the ban is due to drilling breaking up the insulation and creating a harmful cloud of dust

When my son had a loft conversion done about two years ago, the builder installed an expensive type of installation that was like a blanket type silver covered and flexible.
It was only about 25mm thick, but had the same value as the thick ridged type you usually see.
It is used to avoid loosing space in certain conditions.
I remember him telling us that you must NEVER attempt to drill through or put screws into this type of product.
As you drill or screw through the blanket, the drill or screw gabs the multiple layers of installation wraps them around the drill / screw making it useless !.
It has to be installed by using a staple gun to keep it in place before installing the plaster board.

 

[Ian]

The insulation layer will incorporate a vapour barrier to prevent moisture vapour moving from the warm side (inside) to the cool side (outside) and condensing inside the insulation layer causing damp areas and possible rot and mould. This is always a problem with retrofitted external house insulation as the new system basically removes the function of the cavity wall.

Easily overcome by ensuring the vapour barrier is kept intact by sealing any penetration with the correct tape. Contact any company who installs external house insulation who I am sure will help.

 

[Kev86]

The property is a mid terrace of 4 properties, my supply is linked with next door and currently has a 60A fused supply.

The property comes up through the foundations and the supply cable is somewhere underground, coming in to the meter cupboard inside the property, with another cable going next door.

The DNO agreed to resupply next door and increase my fuse rating to 100A but this would involve drilling their new power supply through the wall (That they've been told not to do by the council)

I got permission to install a charger, with a huge list of conditions, including not attaching the unit to the wall, mounting it on a fixed post on the driveway, and also the condition to not drill through the external wall insulation, which I've been told is a polystyrene type material, covered in concrete and stones.

There is only one spot the cable could be drilled through on both properties, but its way too close to the gas pipe so that's not possible either.

I've not asked the DNO about a 2nd supply, but they seem to be very pro-ev and as I said above, they've agreed to do the resupply and upgrade free of charge.

 

[dk6780]

Awkward. Really the problem is next doors as clearly they are second on the looped supply, and the DNO has a responsibility to unloop the supply at some point. However as the Council are effectively obstructing that you are the one left with the problem.
Is there no way that you can either drill at an angle such that the cable comes out below the insulation or can you lift a floor board to achieve the same horizontally?

 

[Kev86]

The floor is screeded and the only way to avoid the insulation is to drill down and through the foundations.

 

[Carty]

Just a thought with regards to the external insulation.
I am guessing because it is attached to original structure of the property, it will terminate about 2 brick courses above the damp proof course of the house.
If so, there should be a recessed brick skirt visible around the house.
The external damp course of the house should be 2 brick courses ABOVE the concrete path / drive level outside.
This skirt will be 2 brick courses above the concrete, but never less than this due to damp transmission.
The larger the skirt the better.
Therefore drilling down at an angle from the inside to the outside of the property should enable the new cable entry.
It is highly unlikely that the external installation will be allowed to cross the damp proof brick course of the external walls.
I am assuming this property has a 4inch cavity between the inside and outside brick structures ?.
If it’s an older type property, it could be “back to back” 9 inch brick work with out a cavity.
This is why the external brick work has been fitted with insulation and then rendered, to improve the R value of the house.
Older properties have no cavity between the inner and outer layers, therefore preventing any insulation being injecting.
Applying external insulation is one work around in this situation.
Food for thought.

 

[Kev86]

Just a thought with regards to the external insulation.
I am guessing because it is attached to original structure of the property, it will terminate about 2 brick courses above the damp proof course of the house.
If so, there should be a recessed brick skirt visible around the house.
The external damp course of the house should be 2 brick courses ABOVE the concrete path / drive level outside.
This skirt will be 2 brick courses above the concrete, but never less than this due to damp transmission.
The larger the skirt the better.

There is a concrete base to the property (1940's build) rather than brick. It's about 6 inches from the path level to the start of the EWI.

The DNO have agreed to resupply, and are using the existing channels to feed the new supply, so I should hopefully be able to drop down some conduit from the obsolete loop to next door to allow me to avoid the wall.

I did contact my local MP who did push the council and they agreed to allow the work but the buildings manager needs to be present when any work is being carried out to ensure the EWI is not damaged.

 

[Mike Schooling]

We've been involved with a few similar properties in the past.

Separate the issues - DNO upgrade should be simple. They are obliged to unloop your neighbour at some point anyway. If you get a charger which supports load curtailment it may not be necessary on your exiating 60a supply anyway.

Charger install:

No idea why this insulation can't be drilled. We don't question it!

Almost always the answer has been to route the cable internally and drop virtically from the roof/eaves and clip to the external render, basically going over the insulation. Worth checking the bargeboards/fascias are not asbestos to confirm this is possible.

You can't go under the insulation because you are crossing the damp proofing.

Sent from my SM-N976B using Tapatalk

 

[Kev86]

We've been involved with a few similar properties in the past.

Separate the issues - DNO upgrade should be simple. They are obliged to unloop your neighbour at some point anyway. If you get a charger which supports load curtailment it may not be necessary on your exiating 60a supply anyway.

Charger install:

No idea why this insulation can't be drilled. We don't question it!

Almost always the answer has been to route the cable internally and drop virtically from the roof/eaves and clip to the external render, basically going over the insulation. Worth checking the bargeboards/fascias are not asbestos to confirm this is possible.

You can't go under the insulation because you are crossing the damp proofing.

Sent from my SM-N976B using Tapatalk

Wow, that's a LOT of work to do that. I'm hoping the DNO will just pull the conduit through while pulling out the looped supply then it's the best of all worlds!

 

[Kev86]

Well, today was the day, the DNO have been, ripped out the old looped supply and ran a new one into the house. They were kind enough to let me put the conduit through the trench whilst they had it dug up.

Can any of the sparky's on here just confirm that this is compliant with regs?

Conduit Ducting 15mm x 50m | Toolstation

Use when burying pipe in concrete or screed. Internal diameter allows a 15mm pipe to be inserted or withdrawn.

www.toolstation.com

I've laid some 20mm of that above conduit/ducting through the electricity supply trench where the old looped supply was, hopefully this will be sufficient and avoid my "no drilling through the wall" issue!