External insulation - ESB connection needing to be moved.

manatoo

Hi all

I had a external wall insulator come to the house recently to quote for an EWI job. The house is a semi-de built in the 1950s with a garage on one side of the house which adjoins the neighbours garage on that side. Since there is a party wall between the two garages the correct method, the insulator told me, is to insulate the house-side wall of the garage. The issue is that the electricity meter is on that wall and because it currently only just clears the garage door by millimeters when it opens it will have to be moved further into the garage to avoid contact with the garage door when the added insulation causes the meter to stand proud of the wall by an inch or two.

The insulator told me that because the incoming cabling and meter can only be moved by the ESB since it's their property. I called the ESB and they confirmed this to be the case and said it would take 5 months until the job could be done and would cost (get this) €458. They would only put me on the waiting list once I paid an invoice for this amount. The ESB advised that I would need to get an electrician to come out and submit a certificate of compliance for the electrical system as it is to their certifiying organisation before the ESB electrician will move the cabling and the meter. Note that no other electrical work whatsoever is being done to the house but seemingly I still need this cert from the non-ESB electrician.

It's looking like this tiny job is going to cost over a thousand euros and delay the work by 6 months+. Can anyone confirm if they've had to go through this madness to get this job done and let me know if they found any way around it?

Many thanks

GreeBo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058282793/external-insulation-esb-connection-needing-to-be-moved

Considering the thermal bridge you are going to have where the garage roof meets the house and that the wall is "inside" the garage, I would probably insulate around the meter board.

manatoo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120197726#Comment_120197726

The insulator seemed to be saying if we did that it wouldn't meet the requirements of the grant scheme but I agree with you this seems way over the top.

meercat

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058282793/external-insulation-esb-connection-needing-to-be-moved

Can you post some photos to illustrate the issue.cheers

It might make more sense to move the meter to a meter box outside and get it out of the garage entirely.

Doolittle51

These kind of situations are a nuisance. And OP, the costs could increase if remedial work is needed to obtain a the certificate of compliance. I think there was a thread recently about someone needing a full rewire in order to have a car charger installed.

In fairness, a meter move is a reasonable amount of work for the €458 fee. I'll be getting EWI at some stage too & I suspect I might need to pay the fee just to get them to unclip the cables running down the side of my house from the overhead supply. Now that's a real stinger. And then there's the 5 month delay and cost of the cert etc.

Out of interest, do you know if the EWI installers will be removing the soffits and insulating up to attic level? As far as I know, some won't do this, but in most houses this could mean the top 8 inches of the upstairs walls are not insulated, which can result in cold bridging and cause mold etc. Far more concerning than leaving a small patch behind the meter uninsulated.

C. Eastwood

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120204085#Comment_120204085

The EWI should advise homeowners about the approximate cost the relocate / move ESB metre Cabinets.