locks on electrical fuse box and water main (houses, live)

[waltcolorado]

Just curious if it is legal to put a lock on your home fuse box? Seems it should be no problem since the meter can still be read. Also, what about the water main - also no problem to put a lock on this?

I’m not at this house for long periods and probably will never have an issue with someone borrowing the water or electricity but the lock means one less thing to worry about. Just want to make sure there isn’t some sort of safety issue??

This is in Mojave county.

[Grannysroost]

I still don't understand why the electric panel is outside accessible to anyone...I put a lock on the box and kept the key where a flashlight is inside in case I needed to go check for a breaker in the dark, or I did where we lived before, as anyone could have access to the box and breakers, and the panel is separate from the meter for reading or whatever. Now the water...didn't think about that...

[musicforme]

Originally Posted by Grannysroost

I still don't understand why the electric panel is outside accessible to anyone...I put a lock on the box and kept the key where a flashlight is inside in case I needed to go check for a breaker in the dark, or I did where we lived before, as anyone could have access to the box and breakers, and the panel is separate from the meter for reading or whatever. Now the water...didn't think about that...

All the houses in my housing edition have the fuse boxes on the outside right next to the power meter. If I remember, I'll take a photo of mine tomorrow afternoon when the sun is up.

[Stokes172]

I thought it was strange to have it accessible from the outside. What is stopping some one from opening it and flipping a few breakers...like your FRIDGE!!!

I locked it the day after I took possession of the house.

[kdog]

The real danger of an unlocked electrical box is allowing the bad guys to flip off your power just before they forceably break-in to your home which gives them the upper hand.

[Ponderosa]

You own the service panel (breakers), no problem locking that. You do not own the water meter or meter valve. You can lock it but the water company may cut it off. You can put a valve inline from the meter that has a locking method.

[smtimelevi]

Originally Posted by kdog

The real danger of an unlocked electrical box is allowing the bad guys to flip off your power just before they forceably break-in to your home which gives them the upper hand.

Thats what gun lights are for...

[vjsoto]

Yup, you can lock up your breakers. You cannot put a lock on any utility maintained meter or meter box, but that should be a no-brainer. The reason there is a lock on the water main is so the utility company can lock water off, not so you can lock it on.

[waltcolorado]

Regarding the water, what Im thinking about locking probably isnt the water main (I probably called it the wrong thing)..

On the side of the house, there is a pipe comming from underground that has a valve that lets me shut off water to the house. In colder climates, this pipe and valve is usually inside the house because of freezing.

Im pretty sure this valve is seperate and after the utility company water valve (water main is on all year). I have great neighbors so this wont actually happen but right now someone could turn this valve on, run a fairly long hose and fill up for example a swimming pool...

Ill probably just put some sort of cheap lock on it that could be cut off - assume that if someone did cut it off, they had a good reason.

[kdog]

The lockable water company shut-off is commonly located at the input side of your water meter.