Domestic three phase? advice

[Jay]

Hi

I have recently moved into a small newly renovated (inc electrics) cottage and noticed appliances going really slow. Kettle taking an age to boil, toaster taking a long time, hair clippers going slow... you get the picture.

UK power networks sent an engineer that changed the overhead power line. He monitored the voltage at the plug sockets with no load and was getting 216v. He advises to get an upgrade to three phase.

Move forward to the site survey. A new technician says Three phase is not required on such a small property and that UKPN will need to get a monitor installed temporarily to monitor the incoming voltage.

UKPN customer services are not having any of that and are insisting it does require a Three Phase upgrade going against the site survey technician.

It is worth noting the house only has electricity (no gas) including an electric combi-boiler. We have overhead power lines and we are the furthest house on the street from the supply.

Another technician is due out next week for another survey.

As you can probably tell I am no expert so any advice would be very welcome. Is three phase usual on a small domestic property?

Thanks.

 

[westward10]

Extremely unusual, are your neighbours experiencing the same problem.

 

[Jay]

To be honest i'm not sure. It's probably worth knocking and asking.

What I don't want is to be in a position of paying for an upgrade that may not be necessary.

 

[Strima]

Three phase won't sort out your under voltage, you'd just have three phases with under voltage rather than one...

 

[westward10]

Have they put in monitoring equipment. According to the Electricity Safety, Quality & Control Regulations 2002 there is some tolerance on the quoted nominal voltage of 230v, this being -6% and +10% which equates to a range of 216.2 to 253v so you could argue yours falls outside this.

 

[Jay]

The monitoring equipment is what I am trying to push for. Hopefully the new survey will point in the same direction as the first.

 

[Taylortwocities]

I agree. 3-phase will not make a scooby doo of a difference.
ESQR says 216 is the minimum voltage, so the DNO needs to monitor and provide you with the required service level.

 

[Octopus]

What time of the day was the 216 volts taken?

 

[Jay]

Thanks for the replies. Yes i will push for the monitoring equipment and go from there. Fingers crossed they will sort it if its below the minimum requirements (i wont hold my breath tho .

 

[Jim90]

I had this exact problem however my experience with UKPN was pleasant. Long story short, a car park was complaining that their flourescent lights dimmed at certain times, we put our own monitoring equipment on and saw the voltage rapidly decrease to about 216V. Across all phases too.
We passed the info to UKPN and they fixed the fault in 48 hours and said it was due to football floodlights and the local train station.
Hopefully your issue will be resolved soon! It could be a range of issues but if you can see a trend in the time then it could be fluctuating Voltage due to heavy loads.

 

[DPG]

Possible neutral fault?

 

[Spoon]

UK power networks sent an engineer that changed the overhead power line. He monitored the voltage at the plug sockets with no load and was getting 216v. He advises to get an upgrade to three phase

I'd love to hear their logic behind this.

 

[mhar]

The phrase 'inform the regulator' is likely to produce the desired result

 

[static zap]

My parents were offered a different phase for better results with a Kiln !
(and moves the problem about to different neighbours )
( like BT line , issues)

 

[7029 dave]

216v to 253v is the nominal votage.

 

[7029 dave]

I'd love to hear their logic behind this.

Yes, the single phase supply is going to be tapped off the 3 phase supply anyway,216v per phase, unless there is another supply cable run on the street, with hopefully higher voltage.(different tranny)

 

[PEG]

Hi,do you know what the voltage is,with some normal loads,including that electric combi on song?

 

[dmxtothemax]

it looks like a heavily loaded local electrical network,
or your at the end of a long line.
either way it's the network not the equipment.
Try reporting low voltage and request more capacity ?
(bigger local transformer).

 

[freddo]

I'd love to hear their logic behind this.

By insisting the OP needs to have a 3 phase supply would mean the OP would get the bill for the work instead of the current problem being corrected at the expense of UKPN.

 

[PEG]

Maybe,just maybe,the DNO is aware of this issue,but rectifying it,could involve multiple customers,and a large expenditure...but...a 3 phase connection,from a nearby sub-terra supply,would avoid this,and,because offering this for free,would flag the aforementioned problem,an invoice is obligatory...

Purely conjecture,and,obviously,this has never,ever,happened before...