Is It Necessary To Shift Electrical And Water Meter To The Gate For Landed House?

[victor 0]

Hi,

We are in the process of renovating our newly bought old inter, we are considering whether it is necessary to shift the electrical and water meter to the main gate, heard from my ID that the shifting is fine but PUB will charge $6k for the submission, heard they need to cut the road and connect the power and cover back the hole. The poor PUB meter reader will not be able to read the meters if we are both not at home, if we didnt shift the meters. Can they come on sat to read? Aiyo, so many things to consider when renovating the house, btw, first time shifting to landed house.

[nitez 0]

Hi,

We are in the process of renovating our newly bought old inter, we are considering whether it is necessary to shift the electrical and water meter to the main gate, heard from my ID that the shifting is fine but PUB will charge $6k for the submission, heard they need to cut the road and connect the power and cover back the hole. The poor PUB meter reader will not be able to read the meters if we are both not at home, if we didnt shift the meters. Can they come on sat to read? Aiyo, so many things to consider when renovating the house, btw, first time shifting to landed house.

Congrates.

I thought there's some process to self submit the meter readings every month ?

[scenic98 0]

Hi,

We are in the process of renovating our newly bought old inter, we are considering whether it is necessary to shift the electrical and water meter to the main gate, heard from my ID that the shifting is fine but PUB will charge $6k for the submission, heard they need to cut the road and connect the power and cover back the hole. The poor PUB meter reader will not be able to read the meters if we are both not at home, if we didnt shift the meters. Can they come on sat to read? Aiyo, so many things to consider when renovating the house, btw, first time shifting to landed house.

older estates (like serangoon gardens) have above ground power cables. these cables usually runs at the back of the houses. these estates have since been upgraded with power grid running underground but for houses that haven't been renovated, abv ground grid still works.

My contractor friend told me moving the cables to the front will incur the cost u stated and maybe more if your unit is far from the distribution box.

i think it's worthwhile moving the box to the front. save the hassle of letting a stranger into the house.

(these days, u can send in your own reading on line)

[santav 0]

yes u can actually submit your own reading online.... :-)

[yoongf 11]

This is not a simple question to answer.

Firstly, it costs a bomb. I think is ard 5-10K for electrical meter, and another 3 to 8K for the water meter, and if u install gas pipe, could be another 10-20K.

If can afford it, I will always suggest that this is something to be done.

But it total reno budget is less than 100K, then this will be way out of proportion of budget.

Why I think it is good to do it.. is that we dun know how old the incoming cable/water pipes are. If u shift, then they will install new incoming cables and pipes, which is especially useful to upgrade to 3 phase power supply to support those huge aircons unit to ensure the penguins are happy.

This kind of work cannot be done if someone is living inside. If after move in, and water pressure not enough, power not enough, then, need to move out temporarily.

Finally, it is a chore to submit water and electrical readings online. The scheduled readings are fixed for the whole neighbourhood. If missed, it will be estimated, and for some reason, their system tend to estimate based on worse case scenario.

In conclusion.. it really depends on how big a A&A is involved.

[fatal_99 0]

Well, you do not need to upgrade if a 1 phase 63 amp is sufficient. Most old landed property has only a 1 phase 63 amp incoming electricity which is probably insufficent for today's landed homes.

To upgrade, you will need to appoint a LEW, re-run the cables in your house, build the meter compartment and pay Singapore power it $5000 + GST to upgrade to a 3 phase 63 amp. All in all, you will probably easily spend $10000 on the upgrade only and that does not include the new cables needed in the house.

[Topline 1]

Would like to revive this old topic. i understand that there are smart meters now. Does it mean t is no longer necessary to move the meter box out to the front gate?

[snoozee 98]

5 minutes ago, Topline said:

Would like to revive this old topic. i understand that there are smart meters now. Does it mean t is no longer necessary to move the meter box out to the front gate?

yes, for electricity, there is smart meters. if your house doesn't have one currently, you can pay SP for it to be changed. or if you upgrade from single phase to 3 phase supply, the meter would be changed.

for water meter, there is no such thing and SP services still needs to physically look at the number on the water meter to take the readings. or you can choose to submit the meter readings yourself every month.

it is not mandatory to change or relocate the meters. just that you need to have someone at home to open the door/gate for SP to come in and take the readings every once in 2 months.

with SP smart meter, one can also apply for wholesale electrical rates from SP as well as the meter reading is taken every 30minutes by SP. I am using wholesale rates and it is cheaper than the 3rd party retailers and definitely much cheaper than the normal tariff that SP is charging consumers.

[Topline 1]

Thanks - may just submit my own once in 2 months... and save tens of thousands of dollars relocating the meter box. Hopefully there would also be a smart meter for water soon.

[snoozee 98]

26 minutes ago, Topline said:

Thanks - may just submit my own once in 2 months... and save tens of thousands of dollars relocating the meter box. Hopefully there would also be a smart meter for water soon.

just found out that PUB has piloted smart meters a few years ago. rollout starting this year to premises. not sure how the meters are being powered though. just don't ask me to pay for the smart meter's electrical usage. hahaha

[Evelyn lee 0]

On 1/14/2021 at 3:03 PM, snoozee said:

yes, for electricity, there is smart meters. if your house doesn't have one currently, you can pay SP for it to be changed. or if you upgrade from single phase to 3 phase supply, the meter would be changed.

for water meter, there is no such thing and SP services still needs to physically look at the number on the water meter to take the readings. or you can choose to submit the meter readings yourself every month.

it is not mandatory to change or relocate the meters. just that you need to have someone at home to open the door/gate for SP to come in and take the readings every once in 2 months.

with SP smart meter, one can also apply for wholesale electrical rates from SP as well as the meter reading is taken every 30minutes by SP. I am using wholesale rates and it is cheaper than the 3rd party retailers and definitely much cheaper than the normal tariff that SP is charging consumers.

Hi, 

Can you share What is wholesale electrical rates? First timer here n just bought a landed. I am upgrading to 3 Phase too.

 

 

 

[snoozee 98]

10 hours ago, Evelyn lee said:

Hi, 

Can you share What is wholesale electrical rates? First timer here n just bought a landed. I am upgrading to 3 Phase too.

 

 

 

nowadays a lot of electricity retailers and no longer limited to SP. many retailers are selling your electricity based on fixed rates on a contract basis. eg: 16cts per KW  on a 12 month contract.

wholesale electricity is offered by SP services for all homes. they will install a smart meter which can take the readings every 30 minutes and the electricity per KW rate is adjusted every 30 minutes based on the demand in the market. so far the rates has been lower than the other retailers and there's no contract for it as well so can terminate and switch anytime

[purpledino 1]

Thanks.

can I just double check on approx costs. Thinking if it’s worth shifting the meter box.

upgrade to 3 phase is how much?

move the meter box outside is how much?

any price difference between normal meter and smart meter?

KM

[snoozee 98]

On 2/6/2021 at 8:39 PM, purpledino said:

Thanks.

can I just double check on approx costs. Thinking if it’s worth shifting the meter box.

upgrade to 3 phase is how much?

move the meter box outside is how much?

any price difference between normal meter and smart meter?

KM

Shift meter box usually means you need to pull new main cables from meter box to your inside DB. If don’t want to pull, can extend the wires but not really recommended. 
upgrade to 3 phase 63A is about 5k plus payable to SP. 3phase 100A is just under 10k. Your internal wiring cost is based on what your own electrician quote you. 
when you upgrade, SP will put in new smart meter for you. No additional cost
as this is part of the fees you pay. 

pub is another cost need to pay if you intend to shift the water meter as well

[Topline 1]

Just heard from a contractor I cannot keep the meter insider the house and must move it out so the SP/ PUB can access it freely ... anyone heard about such a thing? Apparently it is because some of the components (pipes?) belong to SP/ PUB. I always thought it is your choice whether to move the meter out to face outside but not the law requiring me to do so. If SP/ PUB wants to check, they can ring my bell and I let them enter .... is that actually not allowed by law?