How I got this fantastic home upgrade for Free!

[@TheOfficialBatteryMan]

If this video helps you and saves you money please consider supporting the channel using Super Thanks. Any donations will be poured back into the channel to produce content.

[@ambassadorfromreality1125]

We had an emergency repair on our 100 year old house. The engineers decided to abandon the existing supply connection which was basically a lead dish filled with bitumen. This happened on a day of torrential rain. An engineer sat in the hole for some hours which was slowly filling up due to the rain and working live so the rest of the street were supplied normally. They made a new connection with modern kit. The 100 year old cable looked like new, gleaming copper. Found out that there are links aound the streets in boxes and in cases of emergency like ours , they can isolate and make connections to keep the surrounding streets spplied while they fix the problem underground. Was impressed that this system laid out 100 years ago was working today. Mightily impressed with the engineers working Live in the rain all day and spent most of the day supplying tea and bacon sarnies and chatting. One of the happiest days of my life

[@TheOfficialBatteryMan]

Great story thanks for sharing. It’s amazing how far a cup of tea and a bacon sandwich will go.

[@mikebarry229]

I shared an 80amp looped supply with my neighbour, each of us on 60amp fuses. I put in a DNO application for 7.4kw car charger and an additional 13.2kw of inverters to go with a 45kWh battery system (on top of my existing 3.65kW solar system). I now have my own 100amp supply and a 16.85kW export limit, all for free. Seems crazy that I can now export at over 70amps if I wanted to.

[@TheOfficialBatteryMan]

Nice. You’ve got quite the set up

[@spankeyfish]

70amps.... you could power every house within throwing distance, lol

[@stefanengler772]

I know someone who was an a 500A looped suply (the substation from 110kV to 230V was his neighbor: he was on the self use transformer as he cut the 30kV). Why dig a trence if you could put the panel on the fance of the substation. It was a industial setup for welding.

[@djtaylorutube]

Super interesting for me as I always thought we were not on a looped supply. Back in about 2012, we had an EV charge point installed, later solar, then battery. Turns out that we are the end property off our neighbours. I got the cable plans as you suggested and will attempt a similar route. 🙂

[@TheOfficialBatteryMan]

Ooo keep us updated on how you get on. It would be good to know your DNO and we can try to build a picture on which DNOs are forward thinking with the future electricity demands

[@djtaylorutube]

@TheOfficialBatteryMan My DNO is National Grid, I'll report back when I have something useful. I originally started along the path of capacity upgrade but now there's a compelling reason for them to unloop me and then begins the conversation. I wouldn't object to paying something towards it either but let's see. I wonder if they might just say "nothing to do unless the neighbour to which I'm spurred off wants a charger"? Then again, when Agile goes negative, I can get my usage near to 20kW at times. 😁

[@djtaylorutube]

@@TheOfficialBatteryMan coming back to this, I had a chat with the DNO (National Grid) yesterday and it's a bit more complex than first thought. Although they'll unloop, the issue is that the 3 phase that both my neighbour and I are on is a smaller capacity than the main one. There are only our two houses on it, so although they'd run a new cable and put me on one of the phases, they'd need to run further down the cul-de-sac to the main cable to pick up the main three phase. Also mentioned the queue was between 12 to 18 months but that's not an issue. When it comes closer and there's a plan, I may try again to see if they'd be prepared to give a good price on the trenching for the extra distance and not the entire amount. However, if the neighbour (might be new ones by then) doesn't want any intrusion, an option would be to just trench and join on the side of their house and i'd be left with the existing supply just fed off a different phase. Worth a try but long wait to find out.

[@TheOfficialBatteryMan]

@ wow. Every situation is different hey. Try to ask them to install the 3 phase cable where they will be replacing a cable if you can. Saves potential future work. Quite the document I added to the description. It allows them to choose between phases in the future and future proofs. One day you or that house, might have, whether you like it or not 2 2 EVs and a heat pump and a load of solar and 3 phase could be very useful. If you have the cable in road plans. Feel free to email them to me. I would like to see. They will give you a long timeline and it won’t be overnight but it will be a nice suprised when they get to you sooner

[@djtaylorutube]

@@TheOfficialBatteryMan Happy to send plans. Presumably email address is in the channel about?.i'll go take a look.

[@UCCLdIk6R5ECGtaGm7oqO-TQ]

17:07 That old street cable is a PILC, as in paper insulated, lead covered. Yep, those 4x numbered core conductors are only insulated from each other by a few wraps of paper.

[@matbowden9156]

😳 mixed with 🤯 and a little 🤞

[@TheOfficialBatteryMan]

And a bit of oil 😂

[@peterjones6640]

I also,got three phase power to my property for free. Some considerable time ago my property was divided into three flats, and I am guessing that each flat was on a different phase. When it had been converted back to a single property ( before I purchased it) the supply at the consumer unit was just single phase, but the supply cable was sufficiently sized to take three phases. As I was purchasing an EV I decided to future proof the installation and get a 22kw charger, only usable on three phase. ( I have an EV which can charge at 22kw). At the time you could also get a grant for charger installation. The DNO upgraded my supply fuses to three phase and my electricity supplier installed a three phase meter, all for free as I had the existing cable. The supply is now ready for if in the future I change my heating to a heat pump.

[@TheOfficialBatteryMan]

Excellent. Futureproofed

[@PFowler-hv7wg]

Love the sliders when installing lol 😂

[@TheOfficialBatteryMan]

Got to add the tiniest bit of comedy to what felt like an overly serious video😂

[@sdgelectronics]

You mentioned selling back to the grid, but how would you get MCS certificate using non-MCS certified components?

[@AintBigAintClever]

The 60A supply to my 60s-built house comes from the direction of the identical house next door (I nearly put a fork through the cable digging out foundations for my shed) but there's no loop on their service cut out, just a single incomer like mine. Boo.

[@TheOfficialBatteryMan]

I wonder if they ran 2 cables in one trench then branched off …

[@peterthomas9440]

Had my FREE 3-phase installed by NGC over a year ago after I applied on their website...having researched online where my underground cables ran, location of supplying sub-station, current MVA loading etc. Once I sent the request, had a phone call 3 days later then the guys turned up a week later and dug up block paving driveway, pavement, unlooped from my neighbour and even ran new 3-p head into cupboard area INSIDE property (usual outside meter box was bypassed). FOR FREE....such a simple process and cannot rave enough about the whole process being so simple (for me at least). New Hager 3-p board then installed ready for 22kW EV, Solar & battery install. 🙂

[@TheOfficialBatteryMan]

You did your research. Nice one. Glad you made the choice?

[@peterthomas9440]

@@TheOfficialBatteryMan definitely - future proofed for having multiple EV cars, 11kW 3-phase inverter, 17kW battery storage & Eddi hot water diverter so the wife can have her hot baths without costing a fortune. Always think that software will out pace hardware so solar, inverter and battery will have a shelf life however taping into 3-phase for free is priceless IMO. Keen to see you hook up to your battery storage - maybe quicker than Cory øyelectrical can with his customer!

[@ipmoroca]

Can't believe i haven't found you earlier! The ev battery has been on my mind for ages and looking after batteries

[@TheOfficialBatteryMan]

It was a burning question for me too. Tell your friends about the channel 😂😂

[@davidrumsey3180]

I was building a new house 30 years ago in rural New Zealand. The house was about 80 metres from the street, so the cable costs were going to be significant. I asked for 3 phase.. my electrician said the costs would be huge, so I asked for a quote... the 3 phase cable of the same cross-section per phase as the proposed single phase cable was only about $1 per metre more than the single phase!! So I went 3 phase and went to the next size up as well... cost me about $200 more than the single phase. Now I have solar, and am only allowed to export 5kW per phase, so I can export 3 times the power if I want to, as well as being able to run 3 phase machinery. It is also surprising in power cuts, that sometimes one of the three phases stays alive, which gives us light and power on some circuits (our house loads are spread over the three phases). I simply cannot understand why anyone would put in a single phase connection to a new build, anywhere in the world, but that is what is happening all around me.... sigh...

[@TheOfficialBatteryMan]

Nice story. If only people had the information to push for it 😃

[@Orgakoyd]

Here in Wales (U.K.), the distribution network operator decided, since 2019 I think, that all new builds, and any replacement electric supplies, would have a 3 phase cable brought in the building, connected to the 3 phase cable running under the street, ready for use, and also allowing for phase balancing by being able to easily change which phase a give house is on, whereas currently the connection is buried and unaccessible.

[@chris220480]

Very interesting. We are on a looped supply, a rural property fed by overhead cables. We also have an out building we plan to convert in the future and have been told having an additional supply to it will cost over £10k. If we can have 3phase to our house, we could power the out building too, and all for the cost of a chunky cable to link the 2 properties (disregarding the hardware at each end). This has got me thinking, thank you 😊

[@TheOfficialBatteryMan]

Not sure how it works with overhead lines if I’m honest. Keep us updated. Even if it’s a year or 2 drop a comment

[@chris220480]

@@TheOfficialBatteryMan will do

[@IBoughtaTesla]

Great video series, just working my way through them all 👍 I wish I'd have known about 3-phase a year ago, when I asked to be unlooped and have a new 100 Amp circuit installed 🙄 It took around 6 months to get it all done, and it was completed within 3 days and didn't cost a penny. Anyway, onto your next video. Hope you're well.

[@TheOfficialBatteryMan]

Nice. You can pull a lot of power from a 100 amp single phase connection. Ultimately we all pay for these upgrades through service costs and there is a lot more properties to be unlooped over the next however many years. I really appreciate you dropping a comment to tell your story

[@IBoughtaTesla]

@TheOfficialBatteryMan It's a really good series of videos 👍 Can't wait to see the final costings 👍

[@TheOfficialBatteryMan]

@ so far I can tell you a lot cheaper than 120kWh of traditional storage but still a little ‘gulp’ required before saying it out loud

[@IBoughtaTesla]

@@TheOfficialBatteryMan I bet 😂

[@timballam3675]

Had mine done last autumn for free, the Hager boards looks great..... Just have to install the 3 phase to the garden shed....

[@timballam3675]

Btw my supply was installed by a street lighting company as the unlooping was going over the 12months after heat pump install.

[@TheOfficialBatteryMan]

3 phase to a garden shed. That might be a first 😂😂😂

[@G4GUO]

My DNO upgraded the fuse in my single phase supply from 60 Amp to 100 Amp for free. They had to replace the fuse unit in the process. I should have asked them about going 3 phase, but as the property was built in the early sixties I didn't think that would be possible, so I didn't ask.

[@TheOfficialBatteryMan]

Still sounds like a win. You can get a lot more power out of 100amp

[@StephenLyons1984]

i think a lot of Europe is running three phase and if we are going to be using alot more green electric i think its well needed

[@TheOfficialBatteryMan]

Agreed. I count us lucky that we have the British plug with fuses and switches on each socket 😂

[@StephenLyons1984]

@@TheOfficialBatteryMan if you have 5-7 hours of cheap rate, you cant fill your car, or the car battery on your wall.

[@spankeyfish]

I think some countries have been running 3 phase to your house since the start

[@mondotv4216]

I built my current house in the 1990's in Australia. Because ducted reverse cycle air con is common here nearly all new builds (on new estates) at the time were automatically on 3 phase. Three 100A phases. Really the cost of 3 phase upgrades to the home should be free. It's an infrastructure cost. And they build that into the daily charge.

[@TheOfficialBatteryMan]

I would say up until 5 years ago 3 phase was overkill in the UK. But now we have more loads than ever. Space is usually an issue and 3 phase equipment is larger. Australia has high demand and generation. Interesting how things are done over there. Thanks for sharing

[@mondotv4216]

@@TheOfficialBatteryMan Yep - I'd turn that around and say interesting things are done in the UK, like ring circuits. Not many places in the world do anything but radial. You're not wrong about Australia being high demand. Many homes have a 2-3kW pool pump and 3 phase air con.

[@Jonathan_Doe_]

My house already has a 3 phase supply/cut out… Gonna run 75mm duct to the garage to keep the option open in future.

[@SwitchedOnNetwork]

Great video - subbed! Our entire street (South Liverpool) was unlooped about 7 years ago by Future Electrics and we all got new 100A main fuses, which meant when we got our 7kW charger fitted about 3 years ago we were already good to go. I wish I'd known back then that I could have potentially asked for 3 phase, although maybe back then they would have been less likely to offer it than they are now. Hopefully will be getting a heat pump/battery/solar before too long!

[@TheOfficialBatteryMan]

Thanks for the sub! I had to be cheeky and ask them.

[@sjokomelk]

Doing the "install 3-phase supply to every home, but only use single phase from alternating phases" thing was the norm here in Norway back in the 70s. And now the grid operator is asking everyone to upgrade to 3-phase to make balancing the phases/grid the responsibility of the home owners. Doing alternating phases for each house and modern needs is harder and harder for the grid operator to adjust to. The upgrade to get a 3-phase meter is free, and the grid connection fee is still the same. You only have to pay your electrician to upgrade your load center to a 3-phase one.

[@TheOfficialBatteryMan]

Wow. Grid balancing here is only going to get harder with more single phase solar inverters. There is mechanical balancers that can be installed in substations. But it would have been better to do it Norway way from the start. A little like how we are stuck with smaller trains due to track size and bridge height.

[@e5Group]

Tell me the SWA install from the head is temporary?

[@adrianflower3230]

Brilliant! I want one! off to check if my house (last one built in the road) has a looped supply! Good luck with the rest of the install 👍

[@TheOfficialBatteryMan]

Good luck!

[@sjokomelk]

The most common 3-phase equipment in European homes is the cooker/hob. It is almost always connected to 3x16A 400V. Just not in the UK.

[@TheOfficialBatteryMan]

Until I put this video out I didn’t realise how common 3 phase was in European homes. It’s only through comments that’s become clear. We don’t use fuses below 60amps. Generally 80amp. No higher than 100 in domestic settings. I imagine 3 phase 16amp creates more cost and work. As it’s slightly more complicated. But it’s so much better for the grid to remain balanced

[@96Lauriz]

Unbelievable why UK has been installing single phase connections for so many years. All connections in Danish households have 3 phase power. Typically minimum 25 or 35A. Only exceptions are apartrments from 50/60's, where distribution is 3 phase but only 1 phase per flat. 😊 Also, why do you need those huge ass 3 phase panels in UK? Our 3 phase panels are much smaller and din rail is horizonrally orientated

[@TheOfficialBatteryMan]

Wow. New to me. Thanks for sharing. Generally single phase is enough for most homes in the UK. Fuses range from 60 to 100 amp in domestic settings. With load balancing most homes will be fine with renewables on single phase. Because three phase is only generally for larger installations, commercial & industrial they tend to have larger cables like SWA so the extra space around the consumer unit is very useful. But it is also comical how big the board is compared to my old board. Do you have a search term for those three phase horizontal orientated boards?

[@jonathanfp123]

A large amount of the UK can only receive 1ph power. The HV network was built (mostly) post war, when finances and resources were stretched. If there wasn't a need for LV 3ph power then the HV was just put in at 1ph. Scroll on 70 years and you're where we are now - a growing demand and desire for 3ph supplies to the property, backed by a 1ph network. This is particularly true in rural areas where the majority of the network is overhead. In such cases a "simple" 3ph upgrade could entail - new cable to the nearest pole, 100m+ new 3ph LV O/H back to the transformer, a new 3ph transformer, several Km HV 3ph upgrade, back to the nearest existing 3ph point. On top of this you would likely find that all of the HV and LV wire, and poles would be replaced in order to meet modern 3ph specifications. Suddenly, your new 3ph supply is rapidly approaching £100k

[@MePeterNicholls]

So I live in a block of 8 flats. My meter box is where the three phase supply first runs before I get 1 of the phases. Can they would they …? How do I even go about finding out if I’m able

[@TheOfficialBatteryMan]

They are responsible for upto the meter. They most definitely would upgrade you for a cost. I’m not sure why they would do it for free in your case.

[@iambenmitchell]

Wow I’m jealous, £15,000 for me and the main supply cable is only 30 meters from me, but it’s on the main road so I guess that makes it complex

[@TheOfficialBatteryMan]

Wow that’s defo on the more expensive side

[@dalemorgan1685]

A 3 phase 0.25" Cu cable can carry between 360-390A per phase if buried. Many older houses have a 60A cutout fuse, and rely on the fact that it would be fairly unusual for everyone fed by that cable to be saturating their supplies all at the same time. I to have had my property 'de-looped', and have a 3phase car charger along with 6kWp solar array with 13kWh battery storage. As I installed the solar, and not being MCS accredited, I am unable to receive the FIT, so rely on charging the batteries and car, rather than exporting

[@persona250]

Where are you getting that cable size and rating from ? The dno cables are aluminium for starters. 185mm2 copper will carry 380 amps per phase underground.

[@andrewraine8207]

What was the difference in price for your daily standing charge between single and three phase?

[@TheOfficialBatteryMan]

0 pence. Standing charges change in industrial and commercial settings but not domestic. The DNO was telling me that commercial customers would reduce the size of their connection to reduce their standing charges

[@AdrianMcDaid]

Excellent question.

[@asamitchell7948]

Your cable in the street is usually capable of carrying 200 amps per phase that's what the fuse usually is at the sub station sometimes even 100amp depending on how many house are tapped off the cable also the DNO take diversity in to account of demand on the cable most old supply's are 60amp per property but every property never pull 60 amp all the time usually it's around 2 to 5 amps at any given time with stuff plugged in on standby or lights being used. So the cable in the street does not need to be so big.

[@TheOfficialBatteryMan]

Great comment. Diversity is defo key. Even if we have ev chargers at each property they won’t all be pulling power at the same time.

[@GlynHudson]

​@@TheOfficialBatteryManunless they are all on Octopus Go! 🥵

[@Mark-M72]

Got my supply unlooped a couple of years ago (1950 house) due to some dodgy bulders putting a bucket through the cable next door. i work with the DNO on a daily basis but didn't even think asking for a 3 phase supply was an option. . . Dang!

[@TheOfficialBatteryMan]

Just think you’ve saved yourself the cost of a new consumer unit and all the recent 3 phase equipment in your house. It’s amazing how much power can be pulled with load balancing

[@matbowden9156]

​@@TheOfficialBatteryMan Do you live near a railway station? Perhaps you could rent ya driveway out as a charge stop 🤔

[@TheOfficialBatteryMan]

@@matbowden9156😂😂😂😂😂

[@mistermartin82]

You mention the size of cable in the street, yes this will become an issue, but also think about the transformers, they are probably similarly rated. I susoect we'll see more of these, and a cable that perhaps did a couple of streets would be split to two transformers 1 street each. Its also worth bearing in mind that not everyone will be doing lots of miles in EVs, some will only be doing 10/20 a day, which will take very little time to replenish. It probably all ends up avergaging out, although if the cables serve fewer properties it maybe more of an issue

[@TheOfficialBatteryMan]

Completely agree. With cheaper tariffs where the energy supply controls the chargers there is a huge ability to vary the load on the grid and cables. I’m happy for my charger to be controlled if I wake up with what I need in the battery

[@nyc6035a]

I moved into a fully attached house here in New York City. The house was on a looped connection with one of the attached houses...at 100amps single phase 240v. Con Ed, our local electrical infrastructure company, was willing to replace 'for free' the looped connection with a dedicated line when I wanted to go to 200 amp single phase 240v service to support an ev charger and heat pumps. The 'free' part was them running an overhead line to the connect point on the house from the pole. I had to hire an electrician to conduit the new line down from the roof to the basement to the (then new) service meter and subsequently new service panel. So 'air' routing off the pole was free...if I wanted it brought in underground they wanted about $10K USD. Your free process seems a bit cheaper as your DNO took the service all the way through your yard to the meter box (what we'd call it here). No such luck here in New York. I paid for about 40 feet of conduit and cable from the connection on the roof to the meter box once they brought it to the roof.

[@TheOfficialBatteryMan]

Great story. Its amazing how facilitating they can be

[@mondotv4216]

240V in the US is split phase isn't it? Not single phase?

[@leexgx]

⁠@@mondotv4216correct 2x120v (100a or 200a per split phase depending on setup)

[@makersmancave9725]

What’s the web address for checking where your incoming cable connects to the street?

[@TheOfficialBatteryMan]

I’ve popped an extra link in the description. Let me know how you get on

[@matbowden9156]

​@@TheOfficialBatteryManlegend 👍

[@rdvanbuuren]

Nice you got to that for free. Here in the Netherlands, almost every new home connection got 3 phase power. But when you still got just one phase and want to upgrade, you need to pay 😥

[@northbreezehuskies]

Wow you are lucky Over here in northern Ireland We are paying 15p from 2am to 9am then the day rate is around 25p. I had to put in solar just to get my bill down. Because it was £390 DD each month and I'm using around 40kwh each day as well. Because we have a Ford e transit and I keep Reptiles and have 3 1000 litre and a 250 litre fish tanks. So that's why our electric bill is so high. I have a solaredge 3.6 inverter and 10 kw battery and 6kw of solar panels. But I'm going to upgrade to that,becaus on a very sunny day I'm just getting 33.8 kwh from my solar install at the minute and I would like double that.just to be able to send electricity back just to pay for my winter electricity bill. So I have lot to do myself. To be more greener and save money. Good luck with all your upgrades and if you get anything else for free can you sent it over to northern Ireland please lol. Have a wonderful day stay safe please. Love your videos as well

[@TheOfficialBatteryMan]

Wow. High user with high prices

[@ScaldaYT]

Well just had my phone call from DNO about delooping and a possible have 3 phase put in as we are getting a ev in the next month and a possibly another 2 within the next year and also looking at heatpump and solar, but power networks just told me I can have a single phase delooping 100amp fuse done for free but if I want 3 phase would be £8k not quite sure why the cost when that have got to do all the work for the single phase but that's free but 3 phase would cost doesn't make sense to me, so I'm now at an impass on what to do now, any suggestions

[@TheOfficialBatteryMan]

Which DNO?

[@ScaldaYT]

Uk power networks. Obvisly not a UK based thing on the 3 phase which is a shame

[@DTech101]

Three phase looks good I’ve threatened it a couple of time but the issue for me and I imagine a lot of people is space I moved my supply to the garage to get a 40way Hager in with 25mm 5 core. I can just about get my 10kVA inverter on the wall so having to have one on each phase for grid back up ££££, I know we don’t really get power cuts well we did yesterday along with over 2000 people only knew the grid was down when it said no grid power think I might of been making a cup of tea at the time best investment I made along with the solar not grid side so I could still have power and generate my own even without the grid. Like you dealt with UK power networks loads of times for applications and fuse upgrade brilliant DNO and never paid a Penny for fuse upgrade

[@TheOfficialBatteryMan]

If space was an issue you could swap the single phase inverter for a 3 phase. Totally get what you mean tho. 3 phase equipment is massive.

[@edhunter84]

Currently going through this process. ENWL have sent someone out to assess a few months back and they are coming again in October as its a narrow cul-de-sac so they might have to shut the road (neighbours will be pleased). I want this done before i do the driveway incase they trench . I’ll be begging for 3phase just because

[@TheOfficialBatteryMan]

If they bring it to the meter box it can be classed as ‘future proofing’ and give them the ability to ‘switch the supply phase to the house if needed’. It was entirely down to the subcontractor to mole again probs worth requesting they do

[@MostViewedTop40]

I like your videos. Are you going to get into the permitting for the Tesla car battery at all? I noticed in this video you had a Tesla Powerwall, or it looked like a corner of one. Your DNO knows you have that so are you going to tell them you have more batteries, or just let it go because they know you have some kind of battery already? I might get a car battery at some point in my new house. I've been thinking about it for years. Just wondering if a DNO can even conceive of a person having a big battery in their house yet?

[@TheOfficialBatteryMan]

The DNO are mainly interested in what inverter you have and what capability it has. After all the battery can only discharge as much as the inverter allows. But yes it is all applications through them and upto BS7671 standard. The inverter I’m installing is designed for batteries of the Tesla M3

[@boldford]

Some months ago my neighbour changed his car to an EV. When he had his charging point installed I learned our houses (of not dissimilar age to yours) are on a looped supply. At that time I was informed by my local DNO that they might need to unloop our supplies. A few days ago I received a letter from National Grid mentioning "some works needs to be carried out". As I am considering replacing my car in the not too distant future I will see if I can get a similar "free" upgrade to that you have received. I'll keep you informed of developments.

[@TheOfficialBatteryMan]

Yes please keep us informed. Generally the property at the end of the loop benefits the most. Even if the 3 phase is installed to a meter box and not used it gives options in the future.

[@boldford]

@@TheOfficialBatteryMan I didn't have a visit from the man from Delmonte. I had a visit from the man from NG who visited today and he says YEAH! Almost completely gratis. We agreed that they will supply the larger external meter cupboard FOC but I will need to slightly enlarge the opening in the external leaf of the wall cavity. My bolster and trusty lump hammer will see to that in short order.

[@TheOfficialBatteryMan]

@@boldford 😂😂 That sounds like a complete win. Thanks for sharing. I genuinely think NG are the most forward thinking for house supplies in the UK. This video has potentially saved you £1000s

[@boldford]

@@TheOfficialBatteryMan It seems that since my response many others have had similar good news from their DNO. Bring it on!

[@TheOfficialBatteryMan]

@@boldfordpretty amazing isn’t it

[@richardskinner6391]

I'm on National Grid. I'm on a 100A single phase cutout. I have two EV chargers (7.4Kw each). I am planning a heat pump, and have 15kWp of solar. I wanted 3 phase and engaged National Grid when I moved in but they insisted 3 phase would cost me £20k. I don't want it now because it would mean replacing my inverter etc.

[@TheOfficialBatteryMan]

With load shifting you can pull a lot from the grid. Problem is we want it for the few hours of cheap charging. You’ve probs saved yourself a bunch of hassle. Everything. 3 phase gets expensive. That’s a decent solar set up for the UK

[@richardskinner6391]

@@TheOfficialBatteryMan that's the main array on the house. I got that installed "professionally" so I'd get MCS certification and could export. I'm just waiting on the PW3 to arrive. Once that's online I will be adding solar to the garage roof and the north roof myself. I currently have a Solax 6kW inverter I've added to the panels the installer fitted (or at least 2 out of 3 strings) while I wait for the PW3 to arrive and will use that on the garage later, but not getting paid for export. End goal is 75x445W panels. North roof obviously won't produce much but solar panels are so cheap now if you don't factor in labour etc that something is better than nothing. 3 phase would have raised my G98 limit to 10kW. Without that I'm going to have to put up with paltry export limits. My usage is about 2,000kWh a month due to servers, multiple EVs, etc, so I am mostly trying to eliminate that cost, preferably even in winter.

[@TheOfficialBatteryMan]

@@richardskinner6391 going for the same goals. I’ve got a couple of north facing installs lined up to answer the question is it worth it. And why it might be worth it

[@richardskinner6391]

@@TheOfficialBatteryMan my main roof panels are bifacial, I'm planning identical panels on the garage roof, but putting something silver and reflective (mylar?) On the roof underneath them and comparing output! That could be an idea worth a video :D

[@imranramzan1795]

Yep, most new connections are now 3 phase future proofing they call it

[@StephenLyons1984]

So do you need to get a special tariff for the 3phase?

[@TheOfficialBatteryMan]

Good question one I asked myself. Not for domestic. Charged the same standing rate and can access the same tariffs. The meter gives you one cost by combining the phases

[@jacko101]

Is your electric standing charge bill now 3 times more?

[@TheOfficialBatteryMan]

In the uk domestic standing charges are the same for the connection. They change in commercial settings depending on power rating of the connection

[@kevinmatthews2620]

just a question for you regards looped supply, in my case there is a telegraph pole in the field next to my property, a overhead cable spans from there to the corner of my house where it splits off to feed my fusebox,it carries on to my 2 neighbours teeing down to each of there fuseboxs/DNO fuses, does this mean we all on a looped supply 3 sharing one supply ??,the DNO fuse in my fusebox is 100amp @ 400v (if this helps) please advise thank you :) :)

[@TheOfficialBatteryMan]

Possibly. Does the cable come to your cut out then out from the bottom of the cut out / fuse to the neighbours?

[@kevinmatthews2620]

@@TheOfficialBatteryMan no it tees off where it goes to the corner of my house @ gutter level ,one cable back towards my fusebox and another cable to the other 2 houses served by the main cable

[@owenashcroft8167]

It’s a shame my dno wasn’t forward thinking and my 5 year old house is single phase, I’d have thought they’d have run all 3 phases even if they then only used one from the meter box, I’m slowly going all electric so a bit nervous that without some careful management blowing through a single phase limit won’t be much of a challenge.

[@TheOfficialBatteryMan]

The management could be fun. Keeping it right on the very edge. Your main fuse won’t blow at its rating. Most I pulled before EV and big inverter was 12KW on a 13.8kw supply. That was me trying. You would be surprised how much you can get out of single phase. Thanks for commenting

[@mwolrich]

We can’t get 3 phase residentially in the U.S., most of the streets only have a single phase running at the top of the poles, and for underground installations, they eventually pop up at a pole, so they are also single phase…. Usually only industrial parks or if you happen to live on a main street, does 3 phase power even run by your property.

[@TheOfficialBatteryMan]

Thanks for sharing

[@DDICyber]

in the nederlands you wil find a lot of 3 phase already in the houses and not on the outside always on the inside of the house and new houses hae 3 phase by default also bigger houses most of them are 3x 25a and old single systems around 25a or 35 or new breakers 40a

[@TheOfficialBatteryMan]

I presume loads are just split among the phases. That’s much lower fuses than the uk

[@sagster]

Liked, subscribed.. and commented, there! Proper hardcore ;-P

[@TheOfficialBatteryMan]

You sir have helped the algorithm

[@vevenaneathna]

if more people were doing what you are doing, the grid would have a lot less stress put on it trying to supply everyone with power. a lot of people have started to say that people with EV's and solar+batteries are putting extra strain on the grid and shifting the cost of grid maintenance onto the poor. in actuality if there was thousands of small power plants spread out all over a city, the power would have to travel a much shorter distance and would take off loads from most substations/transformers, and transmission lines since power is just going next door now. if what the power companies are telling us is true about peak demand being a major issue with rolling black outs/brown outs being nneeded during heat waves, then I fail to see how people who generate their own electricity are hurting anything if not the solution to this new problem of growing grid demand.

[@TheOfficialBatteryMan]

Completely agree. There is one issue with distributed electric. Its can be harder to manage. What if an area goes over cloud cover. The Network operator might not have realised how much load was being covered by a group of rooftop suppliers. Data is key. Thanks for commenting

[@stufq]

It all depend, if uk goes virtual power station route and all domestic battery is controlled from dno the thickness of cable does not mater, as you battery will be feeding you neighbours.

[@vevenaneathna]

@@stufq well if there was decentralized/individualized ownership and operation of distributed small batteries, i feel like market forces would work pretty much as well as any central organization. srry dont know what dno is, im from usa. maybe thats a bit idealistic/libertarian of me but a lot of people over here in the eastern states like georgia have started getting home batteries without any solar just because their night rates are like 0.01-0.07$/kwh and day rates are 0.20-0.23$/kwh and apparently with that small delta and gov rebates you can finance and install a home battery system with a tax credit and the battery will pay for itself before it craps out. imo the tesla power walls and the like are all very expensive. I started building my own lfp batteries with 8kwh 24v blocks of 8s 280ah cells. been getting some questionable cells but they only cost 480usd per 24v block (8kwh), thats like 60usd/kwh out the door not counting the inverter. thats 14x less then Tesla and im guessing we are using similar cells, they have to be using the 100ah lfp prismatics. ya they get a bit sketchy, had one cell start leaking from its base without poping its valve, likely due to shipping damage. got a full refund which ironically was a lot more than the replacement cells since prices keep comming down here in the us.

[@nervousfrog101]

I had a sinking feeling when I had my EV charger installed when I realised I had a looped supply. I did research online and it suggested as I was looped of my neighbour I would have to pay to un-loop my supply. I had a 60amp fuse on my supply so I was expecting bad news when I requested my fuse to be swapped out with a 100amp fuse however my DNO did not even bat an eyelid at that said sure no problem and replaced the fuse. I already had solar panels at the time and have since had an EV charger, battery storage, extra solar and a heat pump installed. All installed by reputable companies so I'm sure the DNO must of been informed and they have never raised any objection. Even with all of these I have never seen my house draw more then 60A mind you my house battery only charges at 16A if it charged at 32A it might be a different story but I can set grid limits on both the battery storage and EV chargers if need.

[@TheOfficialBatteryMan]

Generally if you’re at the end of the loop that’s the best scenario as it means least disruption for the neighbours for an unloop. But it’s also very easy to miss your on a looped supply if you’re at at the end of it. It’s amazing how much power we can pull if we take into account diversity. Even with my new connection so far, I’ve not pulled close to my original limit. That will change. Mwa ha ha ha😝

[@nervousfrog101]

@@TheOfficialBatteryMan As my curiosity was piqued I went online and got the power line diagram for my street. It clearly shows my supply looped and my property has been updated with more details than other properties. So I don’t think they missed it. All the other houses say size unknown . Deciphering the labels on the diagram it seems my supply cable is a 2 core 16mm split concentric cable on the blue phase. The labels on the house show 35H which I assume is supposed to be the meter tails but 35mm seems a bit big I would have thought 25mm would be right. My neighbours shows 0.4 which I assume is inches so 10mm.

[@yngndrw.]

You lucky loopers, our quote was £8k + VAT because we need to pay for a new transformer.

[@TheOfficialBatteryMan]

Wow. Does that transformer feed many neighbour’s?

[@yngndrw.]

@@TheOfficialBatteryMan 5 properties in total, the DNO said they would install a 100kVA transformer and that we would be charged for 40% of it. (As we asked for 40kVA) It's all overhead so no digging - The quote included about 80m of new LV cable to the house and the transformer already has a three-phase 11kV supply. They also offered to put the last part between the final pole and our house underground, for the additional price of £6k + VAT.

[@dominikwalczak5627]

I was not so lucky. I am in 5 years old detached house. My developer (Cala Homes ) refused point blank to offer any upgrade when I asked and want to pay for it. My DNO quoted me £17000 to run 11 meters cable from pavement across the residential road. My next door neighbour had same quotation from SSE. I’ve got 2 EVs, x2 Powerwalls and can not have Heat Pump as not enough juice to property 🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬 Great video 👍👍👍👍💪💪💪💪💪

[@TheOfficialBatteryMan]

Can the Powerwall's be used to Peak shave and keep you under the supply limit for a heat pump. Sounds like your well kitted out

[@paulrattray8121]

Very interesting video. I've a looped supply except next door loop off me. I suspect my DNO wouldn't touch my single phase as it's doing the job, but next door might get a free 3-phase if they asked nicely. Mind you, they're in their 70s and have no ambitions to upgrade anything.

[@CaptainProton1]

Damn they want £16k just to put the transformer in for me, I'm stuck exporting at 3.6kW until then

[@TheOfficialBatteryMan]

Ahh you’ve got a transformer that’s either at capacity or you’re far from the transformer. Thanks for sharing

[@vmailtk5]

This is misleading, not all DNOs are the same, my supply is looped and they will increase the line including the groundworks for free, including the wiring upto the consumer unit. But if I want 3 phase I will have to pay for it and do the groundworks myself, and probably have to do the consumer unit wiring myself

[@TheOfficialBatteryMan]

Yes the consumer unit is not there problem. They only will cover to the fuse cut out for 3 phase of you only have single phase. Maybe quote the linked article and tell them why can’t they be as forward thinking as National Grid.

[@OJHussick]

Telephones get all of their power via the telephone line, including the electricity to ring those old fashioned 60’s style phones with proper bells in them. 7:31

[@TheOfficialBatteryMan]

I watched a video years ago of a guy seeing how much power he could ‘steal’ through the telephone line😂😂

[@sunshine23pir8]

Telephone in the hallway never took power from grid. Telephones were powered by the telphone connection alone 😉

[@TheOfficialBatteryMan]

Ahh but the lamp next to it to note down the message😂😂

[@AndyK.1]

As guessed, he was on a looped supply

[@lspcie]

Play at 1.5x speed. You’re welcome 🎉

[@TheOfficialBatteryMan]

😂 I’ve started listening to podcasts at 1.5

[@grahamleiper1538]

I merely got an upgrade to 100A single phase for car charging. Meter is in middle of house and driveway is tarred. Really didn't want the upheaval of asking for 3 phase. Had to pay for the upgrade to 100A but it wasn't atrocious. DNO changed the cutout. Electricity company upgraded tails to the meter and to CU. Houses here were originally built with storage heaters so no real worries on local grid capacity for EV charging. Liking the Model 3 LFP battery. Building a concrete shed for one at the bottom of the garden would be an interesting alternative to just getting a Powerwall 3 at the same time as solar.

[@TheOfficialBatteryMan]

Sounds like you got exactly what you needed without 2 much cost and a happy DNO. Thanks for sharing

[@matbowden9156]

I got quoted 20k to run 3-phase down my cul-de-sac, so this 100amp option seemed like a much better way forward when we did the work to our house. I did ask what conduit was necessary for the cable regardless, and ran it next to existing single phase, coz well... Solid floor and resin driveway 😁 Still very interested in everything going on here. A man after my own heart me thinks 👍

[@deanrowles3665]

I had eon change my smart meter to an economy 7 smart meter, £150

[@TheOfficialBatteryMan]

O wow. I’ve had a smart meter and they have just put me on eco 7 with no meter change and no cost. I thought they could use modern smart meters to do all tariff

[@deanrowles3665]

@@TheOfficialBatteryMan I had the first engineer out and they had totally given him the wrong job, when I explained that I wanted e7 he said it could all be done with programming, he left me a piece of paper that had the instructions on how to do it, I sent that to eon and they said no I have to have another meter at a cost of £150, the annoying thing was I didnt even want the extra wire that comes off the meter to to control things like the old type storage heaters, I just wanted the cheap rate at night in the winter to charge my 48v Lifepo battery, when there is no sun for my solar. I did think that eon didn’t have a clue, even the manager that I referred it up to. I was so angry and it took 4 months from when I first contacted them, to install. great videa by the way 👍

[@SamFigueroa]

3 phase power is normal in Germany. Pretty much anyone has it.

[@TheOfficialBatteryMan]

Wow. What sort of current do they give?

[@SamFigueroa]

@@TheOfficialBatteryMan Usually you get 3x 40 amps (~16 kW), you can ask for an upgrade to 63 A if for example you want to install a 22 kW EV charger.

[@Whereswally606]

I think that like in the 2000s when NYNEX were dropping new fibre into the roads and pavements, I think the Dno will do whole streets at a time. Starting with probably upgrading the transformer/substations first. Great video BTW. In the words of Monty python, you lucky barstard.

[@TheOfficialBatteryMan]

😂😂 maybe someone should ask them the question. I’m still in contact.

[@StuartTaylorEsquire]

Had a looped supply. Contacted DNO and they denied it need replacing. Got an electric shower fitted and the bitumen in the lead covered loop cable from 1929 caught fire. What did the DNO do? Pulled a new modern coaxial cable from the neighbours. Then the neighbour's head caught fire. What did the DNO do? Replaced the neighbours head. End state? I had a 60A credit meter, on a 100A cutout supplied on a new loop connected from a 1920s cloth and bitumen cable coming in my neighbours house from the street. Total shjt show. 6 years of nonsense. The DNO were not interested in doing the the absolute minimum, let alone supplying a new feed.

[@TheOfficialBatteryMan]

Eck that doesn’t sound like fun

[@stevoone342]

Personally this shows the entire flaw. Relying on one source of power eg electricity is bad especially if people live in remote areas or rural areas like myself, we have power cuts and even more regularly power drops, especially hear off the EV owners at the only super charger in the area where there’s 10 chargers but drops down to one able to support supercharging. So god forbid what that would mean if we all had all evs and heating was all electric form like heat pumps. The other flaw is the shear cost this imposes on people, not everyone has mass of expendable income or wants or is able to go down the finance route. I myself part of my job go and clean solar panels and it’s amazing the amount of customers who believe ether they need zero mantanace and call me desperate to clean there panels after 10+years of neglect (not always the customers fault mostly down to miss information and installers/manufacture not informing the customers). Or believing they will last forever, good one typically they last 15-20years if well looked after maybe can stretch ether way but there is a point. And then the cost of replacing and even rip out of old wires and components if probably out dated, all has to be factored in. Let alone the new inbuilt roof sola. Same with windmills there is going to be a very expensive bill for when the sea turbines need to be replaced and the masts will need to be as well due to stresses. It’s funny we’ve gone from have low cost easy to service power generation to a system with a massive liability over are heads and massive flaws like if it any sunny or the wind doesn’t blow enough. Don’t get me Wong I’m not anti the tech but believe in a mixture of reliability like nuclear and hydro. Sola and wind are good but not to be relied upon. Due the sheer scale needed for the demand and needed to replace at end of life.

[@TheOfficialBatteryMan]

Everything is expensive. Upkeep or decommissioning of nuclear or gas power stations. But totally agree the full cost isn’t always calculated. Solar installers don’t mention cleaning upkeep. Lichen, bird poo. Or birds in general they want to make a sale. The grid isn’t going to be going anywhere it will just become more modern and capable as our needs change. Most people don’t need 3 phase but a ‘Battery Man’ does A big factor in the cables and supply capability is ‘diversity’ we don’t all want our kettle on at the same time. Or all EVs charged at the same time. You make some good points. There is defo a depressing side to it all

[@UnimportantAcc]

Getting to be a tight squeeze in peoples meter boxes now days!

[@TheOfficialBatteryMan]

O yes. Added to the EV charger mini consumer unit the electrician decided to install to make it easier for himself

[@UnimportantAcc]

@@TheOfficialBatteryMan Not a fan of those at all. "EV Charger Installers" are only doing it to make their lives easier so they can rush off to the next install. Makes far more sense for your charger to be isolated from the same location as everything else - DB in the house No domestic charger has enough of a load to warrant tapping off of the tails, it's just laziness. At least the head hasn't been left floating around in ur box tho! If that's not a sign they've stuffed too much in there then I don't know what is 🤣

[@hicksonb]

How much was it again? 😂

[@TheOfficialBatteryMan]

😂😂😂😂😂

[@hans.vbaalen]

Seems almost as much work as having our had supply cut off, which Cadent said they must do after not using gas for one year (heat pump) . All done for free (to me), but a full days work for 3 men ( fair enough, only one actually doing anything) plus another 4 workers to fill in the hole, make good and make pictures. Must be costly affair, this electric transition. When comparing to the 60s, don't forget that everything was a lot less efficient those days, as can be seen at the total electricity use for the country throughout the years, this is actually decreasing since 2000 (although that is before the electric transition really took off)

[@TheOfficialBatteryMan]

Ooo. Would you have preferred the gas line left in place ‘just in case’ or incase you moved and the next person wanted it?

[@ketas]

i see that uk goes 3ph now, what soviets did since forever. few others in europe too. us, i don't know, when they do this historic legacy sucks but i still wonder why uk is still in favor of fuses and "tails" on bare plywood. have a breaker. have meter enclosed into box. do it like germans do. no tails no blocks. no double insulation cabling needed in closed enclosure. that's weird to me. that's something from the actual ww2 times i see here. i realize that that's where it started but why does it need to continue? and besides if you have smartmeter and that box is only supposed to be opened by someone with knowledge, who needs two layers

[@TheOfficialBatteryMan]

I’m trying to work out why 3 phase hasn’t been used and I guess it’s cost when most properties can run off 60, 80 or 100amp fuse and single phase. The meter boards are flame retardant. The uk they can have you reading your smart meter if it’s not working with that supplier. A lot of meters are in difficult to reach places too. There is always a lot of questions of why was it done this way and not changed. I guess things only change when someone dies and it becomes regulation.

[@allanmurray3939]

Power Plants Do Not Produce 3 phase its multi phase!!!

[@stevee8698]

It's not a "Bat - tree". It is a "ba - TTerY".

[@TheOfficialBatteryMan]

Wow. I didn’t realise I had an accent

[@paulusher3278]

buddy can you message me your octopus referral code rather than just the link so I can make sure it applied to my switch as it's not showing on my account.

[@TheOfficialBatteryMan]

drop me an email [e-mail]