All I know is that she has been told that she can’t have a smart meter because of it. Economy 7? She knows nothing about it and doesn’t have storage heaters.
What is this meter setup in the MIL's house?
- Thread starter Mottie
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Looks like an E7 metering set up with tele switch & dual rate meter, it may have been controlling storage heaters at one time, or simply installed to utilise cheap rate for hot water. Her bills will say what tariffs she is on, how long has she lived there ? Is there an E7 timer for the immersion heater?
She should be so lucky then.
She’s been there around 15 years. I don’t know about a timer I’ll have to have a look next time I’m round there. As far as I know, she has a conventional heat only boiler for heating and hot water. She's a pain in the azz as she insists on paying quarterly for what she has used but the meter's too high for her to read without standing on a chair but she’s liable to fall off so Mrs Mottie or her sister have to read it and phone through or something like that. TBH I'm not really paying attention I normally switch off when the subject comes up hence the need for getting a smart meter.
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You need to set up a system of angled mirrors, (same principle as a periscope), it reflects on to one fixed to the wall lower down.
That way she won't need to stand on a chair and risk injuring herself, (why not put a set of small 2 step steps in there?)
Drill a hole in the wall suitable to take a small threaded bar, attach a clamp to the bar, (one of those type you find in a chemistry lab), to which you clamp a small rectangular mirror at approximately 45 degrees. On the wall lower down you fix a triangular batten and glue another rectangular mirror. By adjusting the clamp you will be able to reflect the readings down to the lower mirror.
That way she won't need to stand on a chair and risk injuring herself, (why not put a set of small 2 step steps in there?)
Drill a hole in the wall suitable to take a small threaded bar, attach a clamp to the bar, (one of those type you find in a chemistry lab), to which you clamp a small rectangular mirror at approximately 45 degrees. On the wall lower down you fix a triangular batten and glue another rectangular mirror. By adjusting the clamp you will be able to reflect the readings down to the lower mirror.
Apart from her poor eyesight (she refuses to wear her glasses) she’s a bit unsteady on her feet and in the last 2 years on 2 separate occasions she has broken a bone in her foot and her arm when she has fallen over. Mrs Mottie doesn’t want her standing up on anything in case she falls. I think the gas meter is even higher.
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Probably a legacy set up, those tele switches appeared in the mid 80s and were replaced by more compact models 10 years later, what used to happen when you came off E7 was the supplier just added the two readings together and charged one rate.
Apart from your general views about 'smart' meters, isn't this specifically a case in which, by removing the need to provide meter readings, having a 'smart' meter would reduce the risks to limb (and hence maybe even life) of the person concerned?
Maybe, but that was not apparent in post 1. Of course having a smart meter does not necessary stop the need to provide meter readings.
That's true - so have you now changed your view that she would be 'lucky' if she couldn't have a 'smart' meter?
Also true, but if she doesn't get a 'smart' meter then it will be an inevitability that she will have to continue providing readings. Having such a meter is therefore 'the better bet' - even though, as you say, not a certainty.
Energy companies have an obligation to make meters accessable to disabled people - I would presume this applies to those with limited mobility. I suspect more for gas meters and the ecv but could be worth enquiring. It's called the priority services register.
Indeed - and, in any event, I see no rational reason why they could not simply replace the existing meter with a 'smart' one. They might, for some reason, have a 'policy' of not offering an E7 tariff to people with 'smart' meter, but I don't see that as rational, either - one of the main points about 'smart' meters is that the facilitate complex tariffs (with multiple 'time of use' registers), so it ought to be able to cope with something as simple as E7 'with its eyes closed'!
Furthermore, it sounds very much as if the OP's MIL would be better off by not having E7, anyway!
Kind Regards, John
She has no knowledge of an E7 tarrif and doesn’t/couldn’t make use of it if she did.
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