im getting mugged by a dodgy meter!

[mattysupra]

dodgy meter readings!

A while back my meter was reading wrong so n-power came and changed it and now my electric has halfed in price, i tried to claim back the extra charge of about 60 quid a month for 12 months but they said my old meter is gone so cant test it!

Well anyway, the same has started on my parents meter!

Are you all sitting down?


They have used 2000 pounds worth of electric ontop of there normal bill in the last 1/4. Now they only live at this address 2 or 3 days a week and have a fridge frezer running a normal 28 " t.v and sky box along with the normal lights. The water is heated by the boiler only (no emersion heater)


So n-power send someone out to check the meter, the arrive, look at it for 10 seconds and say its fine! all the tabs are on and not broken

I asked them to test it as it clearly is not reading correct. They said they will change the meter if we like but thats all they can do (so the same as when mine went wrong then)

They still expect us to pay the bill that is now almost 4000 pounds for a quarter!!

While the guy was inspecting the meter and i was arguing with the guy it used 100 units of electric

He then said its because we have normal light bulbs and not energy saving (there was 4 lights on)

So my question is... how can i test the meter? who can test the meter as n-power say they will only change it and that is not going to help the bill will aparantly owe!

 

[mattysupra]

to add to that post when watching the meter it seems to add up normaly at normal speed. But as soon as you turn your back for say 3 hours it will all of a sudden add on a 100 units or so! Typical that it works correct when watching it.

Now it can run fine for a week but then a week later it gets daft figures added on.

Is it possible that the end number (red one) that goes round pretty quick can stick to the numbers next to it and turn them at the same time as the red one?

 

[Lectrician]

How can you test the meter?

Simple.

Buy a credit meter from a wholesaler and put it in series with the tails between the meter and CU. The units used should tally (assuming the meter you buy has been calibrated - most are, and are provided reconditioned by a company called RDL to most wholesalers).

You could also hire an energy logger. You need a PC to download the results. Google inlec hire.

 

[rebuke]

There's two things you can do, the first is a check for your sanity (your supplier almost certainly won't trust any data you get from it). Go to somewhere like Maplin, and spend ~£30-£40 for one of the energy monitors - you clamp this round the live meter tail, and it will measure how much energy you're using - you can then compare the readings from this to verify that it is indeed a dodgy meter, and not e.g. an intermittent fault in the installation that means you actually *are* using the power.

If this shows the meter is indeed dodgy, contact your supplier, and tell them to fit a check meter - basically this is another meter put in before your meter, readings get taken from both once it's fitted, and then after some period they are compared, and this shows if the original meter is wrong, and by how much. I believe they're required to fit check meters if you ask, but not 100% sure (and I would guess if it doesn't show a fault, they could probably charge you, hence the recommendation of the cheap energy monitor first).

 

[mattysupra]

the house was rewired a few months ago and it seems this problem started the same time. Is there anyway it can have something to do with the rewire? I cant see it myself but the meter guy said we should get the sparky back ????

 

[rebuke]

It's possible, if there is some sort of high resistance L-N or L-E fault, that is not enough to trip the breaker (or an incorrect breaker has been fitted etc), then you might be using power even though you don't see anything obvious.

Do you have a test certificate from the rewire, giving you IR (insulation resistance) readings on every circuit etc?

 

[Lectrician]

High resistance? It would need to be a low resistance for that sort of usage.

 

[mattysupra]

It's possible, if there is some sort of high resistance L-N or L-E fault, that is not enough to trip the breaker (or an incorrect breaker has been fitted etc), then you might be using power even though you don't see anything obvious.

Do you have a test certificate from the rewire, giving you IR (insulation resistance) readings on every circuit etc?

no we dont, the sparky keeps promising to come back to do it but it never happens. To be fair the sparky is a friend of mine so i guess he keeps putting it off as he knows me.

so there is a chance there is a problem with a breker etc thats using the power? can you explain to me in simple terms how this happens please?

 

[rebuke]

Coming back to do it - so he hasn't done the testing yet has energised the system, I would be vary wary of an electrician who does that...

If you had a high resistance live to neutral or live to earth fault (such as a breakdown of insulation in a cable somewhere, or an appliance, or a bit of water having got in to something like an immersion heater etc), then some current will flow. If it was a low resistance fault, there would be a LOT of current, and the breaker would (or at least should) trip, but if the resistance is high enough, the current would be low enough such that the breaker doesn't trip. It's also possible if an incorrect rating breaker has been fitted, that it isn't tripping when it should etc.

 

[mattysupra]

i say he hasn't tested the system but im not sure ( i dont think he did but could be wrong) He was ment to drop the certificate off to us as was filling in at home? Maybe he tested and took results home with him or maybe he is going to make up the results ( i bloody hope not)

All the breakers are correct, i helped install the wiring with him. Basically i uplifted the floor boards and dragged wires to where he wanted and he then connected them.

Its a simple out lay, (from memory) it was B6 with 1.5mm for upstairs lighting, B6 1.5mm for downstairs lighting, b32 ring down stairs 2.5mm, b32 ring upstairs 2.5mm, b32 kitchen ring 2.5mm, then a 6mm cable to cooker on a b32.

No emmersion heater or anything else.

Like you say tho, it could be a cable fault?

 

[Lectrician]

It depends what you call high resistance and low resistance though.

Most people would see high resistance as Mohms, so very little, if any current flow. Certainly not toll worthy.

A low resistance of, say, 10 ohms would allow 24amps to flow. This on a 32amp circuit would typically go un-noticed, and would rack the meter up. Is 10ohms a high resistance? I would say it is low - VERY low

 

[rebuke]

Ah very true - I guess I shouldn't have said high vs low, but some vs none (i.e. a dead short)...

 

[mattysupra]

english? what really are the chances of this over a dodgy meter, would the cables not burn out with 24 amps going no where? would it start and stop?

 

[mattysupra]

lets say there is a leek of 24 amps somewhere, would that really cost 800+ a month?

My hot tub for instance pulling can pull up to 42 amps when running. (clamp meter tested by sparky)

Now it pulls about 10 amps continues and this has put about 35 quid a month on my bill. so to be putting an extra 800+ quid a month on a bill must be some serious power?

 

[RF Lighting]

24A = 5.76kW = 138.24kWh per day = 4285.44kWh per month.

Electric is about 20p per kWh = £857.09 per month.