faulty meter

[andy]

we have just got the bill for the leccy and its way OTT for what been used. they also say its been goin up steadly for a few month. after some investigating, i recon its the meter at fault

previous bills for july for the last few years:
old house: about the same, 500-600. same for 8 years, possibly more

this house:
97 - 606
98 - 713
99 - 713
00 - 851
01 - (missing)
02 - 1062
03 - 1367
04 - 2600
05 - 3100

as you can see, there is a big jump.

for the last hour i have read the meter every 10 mins. loads has been a constant 2.3A and nothing has changed, so youd expect the meter to go up at a steady speed?
well its not.
results every 10 mins:
.40
.50
.62
.74
.82
.94
.00

what do you think of this? im gonna do the same again 2mro with a different load. rekon the meter is ****ed?

if the meter is at fault, and it has been goin up for the last 5-6 years, are we entitled to claim extra paid over that time when the meter was reading wrongly? going by bills from last house, units used were constant over the years[/u]

 

[securespark]

If you think the meter is at fault, your DNO will fit a test meter in parallel with the existing one to cross-reference the readings.

 

[andy]

If you think the meter is at fault, your DNO will fit a test meter in parallel with the existing one to cross-reference the readings.

weve been told to read the meter at the same time every day for 4 days then phone them and theyll send someone. but TBH i dont see the point in waiting the 4 days... it not gonna 'magically' work and give correct readings for the next few days...

ill phone them 2mro when i get in

and another question. to get another meter in t check the existing meter, should i contact the DNO directly or go thru provider

 

[Stoday]

Go through your energy provider.

The meter's nothing to do with the DNO. Meters are provided by a meter operator, who contracts with energy suppliers.

 

[plugwash]

ahh the craziness of our system...

so the dno is forced to trust the energy suppliers to fit meters that don't rip them off?

 

[poshman]

serious.. is there anyway of finding out how many units on average a 4 bed detached house uses in a quarter ? thanks P M

 

[Qedelec]

Depends upon where you live. Houses in the north will use on average 50% more power than those in the south of the country due to heating.

Try looking at energy conservation sites they usually give figures on average houses

 

[Lectrician]

ahh the craziness of our system...

so the dno is forced to trust the energy suppliers to fit meters that don't rip them off?

Or DNO used to install 'security tails' - I peice of concentric cable from service head to meter - the concentric cable moutled into a small resin box, approx 1inch tall, and 2 inch wide (on each end), the box has two copper tabs for connection to meter and to the head.

These where used to prevent possible 'stealing of lecky' - the DNO has stoppped fitting them, and is now using standard tails - as they don't need to bother about security - it is no longer their lecky - they just pipe it around!

 

[plugwash]

its still the DNO who takes the loss if someone steals leccy isn't it

 

[slippyr4]

are you able to isolate every single circuit in your house except one, and then run a known load on it? like a 2 bar electric fire?

reading the meter periodically whilst varying loads are attached is a fruitless excercise.

 

[andy]

are you able to isolate every single circuit in your house except one, and then run a known load on it? like a 2 bar electric fire?

reading the meter periodically whilst varying loads are attached is a fruitless excercise.

i was gonna do that but i have managed to boro a spare leccy meter from work so thats gonna get fitted after the meter

 

[Lectrician]

its still the DNO who takes the loss if someone steals leccy isn't it

The chap I was talking to reckons not - He was only a meter installer though.

 

[andy]

have added second meter. when i was adding it, i have the power off by the isolator. the mter disc was still turning, very slowly. should it not have stopped altogether?

 

[BJS_Spark]

Where is the isolator? Before the meter or after in the CU? How fast was it turning? Can you quantify 'very slowly'

 

[andy]

Where is the isolator? Before the meter or after in the CU? How fast was it turning? Can you quantify 'very slowly'

isolator is between meter and CU. slowly as in very slowly. possibly 1 rev every 15 mins

altho so far its reading the same power used as the 2nd meter, altho its only used 1.5 units so far