inaccurate electric meter

[uknokianut]

Ive moved into a house with an economy 7 meter and a radio teleswitch.
Im with British gas and have asked them to change the meter as 1) i don't want economy 7 and , 2) the meter is over 30 years old and I'm my opinion inaccurate as my bill is £570 for a quarter. ( admittedly a bigger house but still same number of people living there, where my previous house was £300 a quarter)

I rang BG and asked for it to be changed, they won't do it and all they have come up with is to add the day rate and night rate readings together and bill me on the standard rate.

My questions are :
1) how can i get them to change the meter ?
2) If i change to a new supplier will they change it ?

what have others done in this situation ?

Thanks

 

[JohnW2]

I rang BG and asked for it to be changed, they won't do it and all they have come up with is to add the day rate and night rate readings together and bill me on the standard rate.

That addresses your first issue (wanting to get off E7), then.

My questions are : 1) how can i get them to change the meter ?

You can't force them to. If you tell them that you believe it is over-reading, they will fit a 'check meter' to monitor the situation for a period of time - but if that confirms that the current meter is giving satisfactory readings, they will usually charge you for the checking. I suppose you could try telling them that you think the meter is under-reading - that might get them running

2) If i change to a new supplier will they change it ?

Not routinely. You would have to go through the same asking/arguing/negotiating process unless, for some reason, they wanted to change the meter.

Kind Regards, John

 

[winston1]

Ive moved into a house with an economy 7 meter and a radio teleswitch.
Im with British gas and have asked them to change the meter as 1) i don't want economy 7 and , 2) the meter is over 30 years old and I'm my opinion inaccurate as my bill is £570 for a quarter. ( admittedly a bigger house but still same number of people living there, where my previous house was £100 a quarter)

You could check the meter yourself. Run a known load for an hour, say a 1kW electric fire, with everything else off and see how much use it indicates. You will certainly see a 5 to 1 error if it is there.

 

[uknokianut]

could i buy a meter from eBay and fit it after BG meter , before it goes into my consumer unit? Thus having 2 meters. On eBay they are £12

 

[stillp]

could i buy a meter from eBay and fit it after BG meter , before it goes into my consumer unit? Thus having 2 meters. On eBay they are £12

Even if you could fit it safely (how would you isolate?), it wouldn't be calibrated, so you'd be better following Winston's suggestion.

FWIW, when I've changed supplier and even tariff, I've had a new meter fitted.

 

[flameport]

You could, but there is the question of how you intend to disconnect the supply while you connect the second meter.

Suppliers don't generally change meters unless actually necessary, as doing so costs them money.

 

[stillp]

Suppliers don't generally change meters unless actually necessary, as doing so costs them money.

SSE changed mine twice, once when I changed to them, and again when I asked to come off E7. I did suggest they left the old 2-rate meter there and just added the readings, but they insisted on fitting a new single-rate meter.

 

[JohnW2]

have asked them to change the meter as 1) i don't want economy 7 and , 2) the meter is over 30 years old and I'm my opinion inaccurate as my bill is £570 for a quarter. ( admittedly a bigger house but still same number of people living there, where my previous house was £300 a quarter)

I forgot to add. If you did not have E7 in your previous house, but have recently been using E7 without much off-peak consumption, then that could account for at least some increase in bills. With most suppliers, E7 will cost more than Standard Tariff if the off-peak (night-time) usage is less than around 30-35% of total consumption.

Kind Regards, John

 

[Lectrician]

I change suppliers as and when the deals work for me. Never had a meter changed.

 

[JohnW2]

I change suppliers as and when the deals work for me. Never had a meter changed.

Same with me and other installations I know. There have been some meter changes (sometimes for no obvious reason at all!), but never at, or soon after, the time of a supplier change.

Kind Regards, John

 

[uknokianut]

is there not a main fuse on my supply that i can pull ?

 

[stillp]

No, it's the supplier's property, and only they can pull it.

 

[Taylortwocities]

And it is sealed. And its real dangerous if something goes wrong.
Meter guys wear stuff like this, just in case….

 

[uknokianut]

Blimey that seems a bit extreme

 

[Jackrae]

Not when you consider then next fuse up the line is probably rated at 800amps (say 200kw rating)