What is this box on my house?

[TileTileTile]

Hello,

My house is 7 years old. I bought it 1 year ago. There is a weird metal box on the side of the house and I can't work out what it is. It is not the gas meter or the electric meter - the gas meter is on the other side of the house, and the electric meter plus trip switches are in my garage.

The box is fairly large, it's vented, it has various cables coming out that seem to have been put inside some guttering pipe, perhaps to protect them(?). It has always buzzed a little, as if it contains some sort of transformer or something. In recent months the buzz has got louder and the sound now bothers me when I'm in my living room.

Any ideas what the box might be? It is locked and I don't have a key for it - it's a weird key and not the usual key that would be used for a meter box.

Any suggestions welcome!

Here are some more pics of the under side of it

Water meter?

Where does the cable going in to the house go?

Tv/internet? No idea

The cable doesn't come out on the internal wall, so I can only assume it is going into he wall cavity and then going else where

We just pay for our water via council tax, so don't think it is a water meter. I'm in Scotland and I think it's rare to have a domestic water meter here.

Have you got solar panels?

Or an oil boiler?

does your water come from a (pumped) well?

show us a closeup of the keyhole

please show us your consumer unit ("fusebox") including the wires and cables around it, and any labels on or around it.

Transformer/circuit breaker for outside lights/fountain or something? Maybe the previous owner liked to do the works with the christmas lights?

Mumsnet won't let me post any more photos for today but will post them tomorrow morning.

We have a gas boiler which is in the other side of the house. We don't have solar panels, or under floor heating (that was another explanation someone at work suggested).

Will post the pics as soon as I can! Thanks for replying.

I think it's just normal mains water, but will double check on the deeds.

Was you not left a key for it similar to a gas/leccy key?

It's a different key. We were left the gas Ines etc. But they don't fit this weird box! It's a mystery!

it's not the usual triangular key, but is it the one with the ears?

www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Keyed-Alike-Slotted-Triangle-Cam-Lock-Zinc-alloy-For-File-Mailbox-Door-1-Key-/132002970114?var=&hash=item1ebbfd7a02:m:mYpgAaXOjv0QJXJm2nBMfEQ

Yes! It's the one with ears. Thanks. Will buy a replacement key and hopefully seeing inside solves the mystery.

some supermarkets and hardware stores sell them, in a X-shaped 4-way key. Often blue,

www.wilko.com/search?q=meter+key&=Search

www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_odkw=utilities+key&_osacat=0&_from=R40&_trksid=p2045573.m570.l1313.TR0.TRC0.H0.Xutilities+key+way.TRS0&_nkw=utilities+key+way&_sacat=0

I think that may be where your mains feed for the electricity may go in. It's not necessarily where the meter or consumer units are. It isn't in our (old) house. Hence the buzzing you can here. If it is electrical there is probably contact info for the network supply company inside the box - call them if the noise has increased, they may be able to do something to sort it out for you.

Could it be a radon gas monitor?

Ooh - I take that back: just seen your first set of pictures properly and can see the pipe going in and the pipe with a mushroom cap next to it. I now think it's water related.

Can't see that it could be anything to do with radon - you'd have an indoor monitor?

Yep - it's radon levels inside which are key. I really want to know what it is though!

My husband's guess is it's a charging point for an electric car. He says it's definitely some form of transformer.

Did you ever solve the mystery, TileTileTile?

I'd love to know what was in the box!

It was gold bars and the OP is now living in a desert island in an unknown location!