Hello
I have found myself in a difficult situation and I hope someone could offer advice.
I bought a flat in an apartment building last year. The flat is heated using a district heating system and each flat in the building has a heat meter (mine is Siemens 2WR5), which is used for billing. In April 2020, the building manager informed me that my meter has stopped showing readings on their system, and is faulty - and is on me to replace it. I did a fair bit of reading on how these meters work, even did diagnostics with the vendor's software - the meter did not show any fault. But indeed, it was not showing accumulated volume or energy.
So last week the building manager's plumber came and change the meter, charging me £560. Three days have passed, and the meter is not showing any consumption. The display shows error E6 - meaning meter is installed in the wrong direction of the flow, i.e. backwards. I recalled that the old meter was installed the same way, and also did not show consumption, even though both meters register flow and heat difference (these factors are used for calculating the consumption). The new meter is not connected to the remote billing system and the building manager will do regular manual readings.
The remote billing system, as far as I can tell, is a bunch of counters which are connected to each meter's pulse output. I checked the connection - the voltage of the now disconnected system shows around 2.5Vdc. That appears insufficient to drive a remote counter, as they use voltages 12-24Vdc. I've raised that issue with the building manager before changing the meter, suggesting that there might be a fault in the system. However, I was told in a rude manner, that everything's being checked thoroughly by an electrician.
Judging by the plumber's skills in fitting the meter backwards, I have my doubts about the electrician's abilities. Now I am left with a non-functioning new meter, an old meter which potentially was not faulty, and a hole in the monthly budget. What I want to happen is to have my old meter fitted back, my money back and the remote billing system checked. As I have already paid to the plumber, I don't see what leverage I have, so I hope that by sharing my story, someone could be able to point me to the right direction.
I am in a vulnerable position now, as the plumber will most likely say that he'll fix the new heat meter, but not install the old one back or give me a refund. I don't even have a receipt from him. And what is worse, I feel cheated by the building manager, who probably does not understand a thing about meters and took the plumber's advice that it was broken in the first place.
I may sound a little irritated, which I am, but please be forgiving. Your advice on how to approach the situation will be greatly appreciated.
I have found myself in a difficult situation and I hope someone could offer advice.
I bought a flat in an apartment building last year. The flat is heated using a district heating system and each flat in the building has a heat meter (mine is Siemens 2WR5), which is used for billing. In April 2020, the building manager informed me that my meter has stopped showing readings on their system, and is faulty - and is on me to replace it. I did a fair bit of reading on how these meters work, even did diagnostics with the vendor's software - the meter did not show any fault. But indeed, it was not showing accumulated volume or energy.
So last week the building manager's plumber came and change the meter, charging me £560. Three days have passed, and the meter is not showing any consumption. The display shows error E6 - meaning meter is installed in the wrong direction of the flow, i.e. backwards. I recalled that the old meter was installed the same way, and also did not show consumption, even though both meters register flow and heat difference (these factors are used for calculating the consumption). The new meter is not connected to the remote billing system and the building manager will do regular manual readings.
The remote billing system, as far as I can tell, is a bunch of counters which are connected to each meter's pulse output. I checked the connection - the voltage of the now disconnected system shows around 2.5Vdc. That appears insufficient to drive a remote counter, as they use voltages 12-24Vdc. I've raised that issue with the building manager before changing the meter, suggesting that there might be a fault in the system. However, I was told in a rude manner, that everything's being checked thoroughly by an electrician.
Judging by the plumber's skills in fitting the meter backwards, I have my doubts about the electrician's abilities. Now I am left with a non-functioning new meter, an old meter which potentially was not faulty, and a hole in the monthly budget. What I want to happen is to have my old meter fitted back, my money back and the remote billing system checked. As I have already paid to the plumber, I don't see what leverage I have, so I hope that by sharing my story, someone could be able to point me to the right direction.
I am in a vulnerable position now, as the plumber will most likely say that he'll fix the new heat meter, but not install the old one back or give me a refund. I don't even have a receipt from him. And what is worse, I feel cheated by the building manager, who probably does not understand a thing about meters and took the plumber's advice that it was broken in the first place.
I may sound a little irritated, which I am, but please be forgiving. Your advice on how to approach the situation will be greatly appreciated.
