Yes, even I have problems

In my spare time (HAH!) I have been slowly correcting the wiring flaws in this house we bought three years ago. BC Hydro wants to install a smart meter, and mentioned that the meter was "sealed off" (funny; they switched it out a coupe years ago). I decided to remove the wood surround of the meter and see just what was up with all that. This is what I found.

Comments

  • Cariboocoot
    Cariboocoot Banned Posts: 17,615 ✭✭✭
    Re: Yes, even I have problems

    Yes, you are seeing that correctly: the electric meter is recessed between the studs of the outside wall and is actually mounted to the backside of the inside wall! The surrounding cavity was stuffed with insulation and a panel fastened over it.

    To fix this properly would cost several thousand dollars as basically the whole wall would have to be torn apart, rebuilt, and a new (up to code - not 100 Amp) service installed. Since I'm not made of money this isn't going to happen.

    If BC Hydro will put the new meter in as-is, I will replace the fibreglass insulation with rigid foam and probably put the wood panel back in place.

    SHEESH! How could anyone build anything so utterly wrong?! :grr
  • NorthGuy
    NorthGuy Solar Expert Posts: 1,913 ✭✭
    Re: Yes, even I have problems

    I don't see much wrong with this, except that the hole for the conduit could've been done neatly. Are you worrying about the loss of insulation value?

    What is that red wire? Meter bypass? ;)
  • Cariboocoot
    Cariboocoot Banned Posts: 17,615 ✭✭✭
    Re: Yes, even I have problems

    No idea what the wire is: 10/3 G for something.

    I do not like having a section of my outside wall having an R value around zero. This is NOT how you install a service.
  • NorthGuy
    NorthGuy Solar Expert Posts: 1,913 ✭✭
    Re: Yes, even I have problems
    I do not like having a section of my outside wall having an R value around zero. This is NOT how you install a service.

    That's sure not good, but it is partly alleviated by the air space, same as a small window. Probably gives you something around R5 plus whatever is behind the meter. Can be helped by double-glasing too. Will keep your meter nice and warm :D

    The worse thing would be to sink the internal main panel into a 2x4 wall. If so positioned, it leaves nothing between the panel's back and outside, so the back of the panel gets very cold. As warm air enters the panel, the mosture condensates (or freezes) on the back wall. If this continues for a while, it may short circuit.
  • Cariboocoot
    Cariboocoot Banned Posts: 17,615 ✭✭✭
    Re: Yes, even I have problems
    NorthGuy wrote: »
    The worse thing would be to sink the internal main panel into a 2x4 wall. If so positioned, it leaves nothing between the panel's back and outside, so the back of the panel gets very cold. As warm air enters the panel, the mosture condensates (or freezes) on the back wall. If this continues for a while, it may short circuit.

    Funny you should mention that .... :grr
  • chevenstein
    chevenstein Solar Expert Posts: 100 ✭✭
    Re: Yes, even I have problems
    Funny you should mention that .... :grr

    I worked on a house once with a panel mounted between the studs in a 2x4 framed exterior wall where bails had been driven through the back of the panel by nail guns when the house was re-sided. One or two went right through the bus bars and were like that for years. You might want to have a close look at your panel...
  • Cariboocoot
    Cariboocoot Banned Posts: 17,615 ✭✭✭
    Re: Yes, even I have problems
    I worked on a house once with a panel mounted between the studs in a 2x4 framed exterior wall where bails had been driven through the back of the panel by nail guns when the house was re-sided. One or two went right through the bus bars and were like that for years. You might want to have a close look at your panel...

    Very good point. If you look carefully at the pics you'll see something very much like that beside the meter: a nail that missed the stud and sticks several inches into the cavity. It's about 1/4" from that orange wire. If it were the other way it would be sticking in to the breaker box and probably into a piece of cable.

    I'll pull the cover off and look, but I hate to think what I might find. So far I've had to remove quite a lot of really bad wiring around here.

    It so easy to do it right; why do people go to the extra effort to do it wrong? :p