I think they've started going for outside meters here for the same reason. More houses are often empty a lot these days (two-income families etc.), more so than in the past, and it saves the meter reader a lot of time.
Some of the old service entrances really were in awkward places, and meter readers always carried a flashlight. When at the back of a cupboard, the meter and main panel often got hidden behind a ton of junk.
It made for some gags in films though: Husband returns early, ruffled guy crawls out from under bed or inside wardrobe and says "They really put those meters in some funny places!"
So, each individual conductor has it's own nuetral?
No. Remember that residential service here in only 2-wire, so there's only one "hot" line (at 240V to ground).
And for 3-ph. commercial service, the new cables have the 3 phase wires inside a single concentric neutral.
well that sounds like our setup...i am confused...is this the norm? Is there any
There is NO link between neutral & ground at the customer's premises, EXCEPT when the PME system is in use. I hope I've clarified this in my other msgs, but yell if you're still confused!
does the utility allow an electrician to yank the meter to change a panel there?
Most definitely not! If someone broke a seal to pull the main fuse in a genuine emergency (e.g. flames coming out of the meter/panel!) and then notified the Co. immediately, I'm pretty sure they'd accept it, but otherwise they get quite annoyed. Technically, it's a criminal offense for anyone but the PoCo. to break any of the seals.
I take it that you can do this, at least in your area?
please excuse all my quoting of you, I type slow
"Pas de probleme," as they say in France!
