Two meters.. ??

[xandroox83]

Hi so basically I’m writing this to find out about these two meters in my old grannies house. I don’t think it’s right or she’s doing something wrong.

She has these two meters! She gives two readings.. which I don’t understand really as I only have the one meter.

They have put up her direct debit to £485 a month and I’ll more than half that in my home. She’s on her own there and basically stays in the lounge.

Can anyone explain why two meters and also how to read them properly.

Many thanks

 

[conny]

The one on the right looks, to me, to be a smart meter.
Is the one on the left the meter she has always had? If so, then that should have been disconnected when the other meter was installed.
It may be that, because the old meter was not removed at the installation of the new one, the supplier now thinks she has two supplies on the one account. Hence the extortionate DD
Contact her supplier for someone to come out urgently as they have scared the living daylights out of her by asking for so much each month.
If she gets paper bills, (and keeps them), have a look at them to see when the new meter was installed. The first bill should be with an original reading of the new meter starting at 00000 The old meter bills should show the reading for the day the new one was installed. Anything after this date should not be taken into account because the new bill is registering anything used after that date.

 

[mrsplodge]

Does she have solar panels? I believe the one on the left is a feed in meter to track how much is generated by the panels to feed back in to the grid. That's just from a quick Google search though so I could be wrong.

 

[mrsplodge]

Also, the "boost" button on the other one suggests it could be a dual tarrif meter (e.g. economy 7). Does she have storage heaters? They can be expensive to run if they're not setup right. And make sure if she's on economy 7 that she's getting both readings from the main meter. There'll probably be a button on it to show the two readings. If she's submitting the reading from the feed in meter instead of the off peak reading, that could throw her bill way off. Again, this is mostly just guess work, someone more knowledgeable might be able to help.

 

[Murdochcat]

If you have the older bills you have the data you need to have “interesting” conversations with her supplier

Keep it polite, firm and civil - remember it’s only a call centre person on the other end.

£485 per month is an outrageous DD .

Is the account in debit or credit?

 

[xandroox83]

Thank you everyone..

I’m guessing she’s been supplying the reading from the one on the left and the one on the right instead of.. the two readings from the main box on the right.

On reading I see that if you press the blue button it gives day time reading and press again for night time so maybe she should only be doing that??

Unfortunately she’s miles away but I will be going down on Wednesday and trying to work this out, she’s been paying it for years and it’s going up and up. She doesn’t have storage heaters.. she has two Fischer heaters. One in the lounge and one in the hallway. All very odd to me.

 

[lloyda]

A photo from further back showing consumer units, both meters etc. would be useful

 

[xandroox83]

I’ll get another photo tomorrow.

 

[SUNRAY]

.
double post

 

[SUNRAY]

A photo from further back showing consumer units, both meters etc. would be useful

plus close enough to read the MCB/fuse labels if poss.

I there any chance at all these could be for 2 properties?

Could it have been a shop with accommodation or 2 flats etc

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

she has two Fischer heaters.

Reading their website, and reading between the lines, it reads as if those are not storage heaters - anyone confirm that? Rather that they are instant heaters. In which case she likely has been convinced to have her cheap rate storage radiators, replaced by the Fischer heaters, which is almost always a bad idea. There is also the possibility that she is paying well over the standard rate, because she still has the off-peak rate in place, though she is no longer making use of it..

 

[ericmark]

I also have two meters. this shows import, and this export, it does seem strange as the second meter seems to have the option to do both, but the import meter shows two readings when solar panels are working one a number the other rEd and it alternates between the two readings. I am told it stands for reverse energy detected.

 

[flameport]

Can anyone explain why two meters and also how to read them properly.

The Horstmann meter with the orange and blue buttons is a dual register, normally used for Economy7 heating or similar.
It has 2 readings, which can be seen by pressing the blue button multiple times.

The other smaller white meter is single register, and would be used for a standard single rate supply.
If all 3 are in use, then it may be one of those 'total heat total control' efforts available in some parts of Scotland and possibly others where you have 3 readings for hot water, heating and everything else.

She doesn’t have storage heaters.. she has two Fischer heaters.

No point in having E7 or anything like it then. A single rate supply would probably be cheaper.

They have put up her direct debit to £485 a month

That doesn't necessarily correlate with what's been used. May be a substantial debt on the account, or they may have estimated readings for months/years, or previous readings may be totally wrong, mixed up or many other possibilities.

The only solution here is to look at previous bills, preferably back for several years and see exactly what is being paid for, what is actually being used and what rates/tarriffs are applicable.
If they are not available, obtain copies from the energy supplier.

 

[JohnW2]

They have put up her direct debit to £485 a month and I’ll more than half that in my home. She’s on her own there and basically stays in the lounge.

I honestly think that all of this discussion about the meters is probably largely unnecessary.

On the basis of your above statement alone, I was say that there is clearly a case for discussing the situation with the supplier on her behalf. As flameport has said, there are all sorts of reasons (some legitimate) why they may have increased the DD, but the matter needs to be discussed. If there is anything wrong about the meters or how they have been installed, that is down to the supplier or their sub-contractors.

Do you know, at least roughly how much her DD was for before they "put it up to £485 per month", and roughly how long the monthly DD had been in that ballpark? ... and how frequently have she given them meter readings (or whatever nature)?

Kind Regards, John

 

[wundaboy]

I'm thinking it's the remnants of a very old dual tariff supply that has since been converted to single tariff, but the dual meter arrangement has persisted. Whatever the case, it needs to be investigated, if only to eliminate the (admittedly remote) possibility that she might be unknowingly paying someone else's electricity bill.