A Service in Scotland

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Dennis Alwon

Dennis Alwon

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Retired Electrical Contractor
My son and family are in Scotland on the Isle of Skye and took a picture of this service. I was curious what use is the box on the bottom. The conductors are not in a raceway and the power comes in thru the molding to that box then exposed to the meter (siemens ) and then to the panel.

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I’m not sure because I’ve never actually seen one, but relatives who have gone to rural areas of Scotland told me that the power was metered with a payment box right before the meter. So you swiped your credit card at the service entrance and pre-paid for your electricity. Maybe that’s what that extra box is.
 
Jraef said:
I’m not sure because I’ve never actually seen one, but relatives who have gone to rural areas of Scotland told me that the power was metered with a payment box right before the meter. So you swiped your credit card at the service entrance and pre-paid for your electricity. Maybe that’s what that extra box is.
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At first I thought the yellow wire was a data cable, but on closer inspection, it looks like maybe a ground? If it is a data cable, you may be right.
 
Jraef said:
I’m not sure because I’ve never actually seen one, but relatives who have gone to rural areas of Scotland told me that the power was metered with a payment box right before the meter. So you swiped your credit card at the service entrance and pre-paid for your electricity. Maybe that’s what that extra box is.
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Possibly. I remember payment meters but that was a long time ago like around 1950's. There may be apartment blocks (flats) in the cities where there are some but not in Skye.
 
In Besoeker3's photo you can see a similar looking shape to the one in the OP, and Besoeker3's is labeled 100A. So I'm fairly sure both of them are a set of fuses or the like, but not for use by the customer, for use by the DNO.

Cheers, Wayne
 
wwhitney said:
In Besoeker3's photo you can see a similar looking shape to the one in the OP, and Besoeker3's is labeled 100A. So I'm fairly sure both of them are a set of fuses or the like, but not for use by the customer, for use by the DNO.

Cheers, Wayne
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I believe that's correct. The fuses have a seal on them.
 
wwhitney said:
In Besoeker3's photo you can see a similar looking shape to the one in the OP, and Besoeker3's is labeled 100A. So I'm fairly sure both of them are a set of fuses or the like, but not for use by the customer, for use by the DNO.

Cheers, Wayne
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Sounds great but if you blow the fuse the power company has to come out... That would be a real hassle.
 
It always amazes me how "non serious" (the only way I can think to describe it) European electrical installations are compared to the equipment and methods we use here in the US. Everything we do is much more substantial. Try and find a plastic panel and you'll never have open wiring like that. 100A is the MINIMUM here. That's almost like the inside of an industrial control panel.

-Hal
 
hbiss said:
It always amazes me how "non serious" (the only way I can think to describe it) European electrical installations are compared to the equipment and methods we use here in the US. Everything we do is much more substantial. Try and find a plastic panel and you'll never have open wiring like that. 100A is the MINIMUM here. That's almost like the inside of an industrial control panel.

-Hal
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I disagree at least for the UK. Take plugs and sockets for example.
 
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