£6000 for one quaters electricty - How?

MagWag

Thanks dunloadin,

I think that this might be getting to the bottom of it, & I think I was in need of a lesson in egg sucking! I've only had old dial meters to contend with before.

I need to check with the old gentlemans neice but I don't think she knows how to read this meter either because the meter reading she gave the company about 4 weeks ago was 165005.

I just followed your instructions (a bit tricky because the meter is sited so high you'd have to be about 7ft & standing on a chair to get it at eye level) and this is what came up....

10:56:43 (the time!)
01:07:09 (the date!)
1 01621 (I couldn't see a decimal point)
2 00353 (I couldn't see a decimal point)
8:88:88:88:88 (there was smaller writing too but I would need a bigger step ladder to read it)

None of the read outs were flashing & the default screen appears to be the time.

I will need to find out now if the enormous bill came from a reading done by a meter reader or the neice herself & if they have sent anyone out since. I will also try switching off the power again this evening & see what happens - but in the course of my writing this reply (about 45 mins) the readings have not changed.

Thanks again for your help.

Hopefully then - all that was amiss is the meter reading!

Rikki

No1 / 01621 is the day time readings and No2 / 00353 is the night time reading. There is no decimal point.

You need to look at the previous bills readings to check what they are.

Has the confusion come from his daughter giving the electric company the wrong reading?

notbritishgas

MagWag wrote: »

Thanks dunloadin,

I think that this might be getting to the bottom of it, & I think I was in need of a lesson in egg sucking! I've only had old dial meters to contend with before.

I need to check with the old gentlemans neice but I don't think she knows how to read this meter either because the meter reading she gave the company about 4 weeks ago was 165005.

I just followed your instructions (a bit tricky because the meter is sited so high you'd have to be about 7ft & standing on a chair to get it at eye level) and this is what came up....

10:56:43 (the time!)
01:07:09 (the date!)
1 01621 (I couldn't see a decimal point)
2 00353 (I couldn't see a decimal point)
8:88:88:88:88 (there was smaller writing too but I would need a bigger step ladder to read it)

None of the read outs were flashing & the default screen appears to be the time.

I will need to find out now if the enormous bill came from a reading done by a meter reader or the neice herself & if they have sent anyone out since. I will also try switching off the power again this evening & see what happens - but in the course of my writing this reply (about 45 mins) the readings have not changed.

Thanks again for your help.

Hopefully then - all that was amiss is the meter reading!

Well done dunlodin you have solved it.
Magwag, from the meter reading in red it looks like it was phoned through at 10 to 5 in the afternoon!
Also looking at the readings you have taken they must have used the greatly inflated time reading to generate the £6000 bill.

MagWag

Thank you everyone who took the trouble to help solve this - it will be a huge load off the old gents mind, & we should have it sorted within the next few days.

When I have more to report I will get back - including what the amended bill is!

Mmmmm, this is turning out to be a very varied job - now I have a totally disgusting abandoned (but still functional - I hope) chest freezer to clean out - yummy :-(!!!!

dunloadin

Glad to have been of use, I must admit you had me scratching my head a bit as to what the problem might be, then I saw the reads you posted and it came to me in a flash.

Dont worry if the meter dosent have a total read or no decimal point, obviously the company who fitted it use different meters to the ones we use, and displays vary slightly between manufacturers. The display with all the 8's and writing is the test screen...have seen folk giving that as a read before as well!

Looking at the reads in your last post the old boys bill should see a bit of a reduction! Though I am surprised that the supplier didn't query the read and ask for another one.

Take care

KimYeovil

MagWag wrote: »

Last nights reading at 20.25pm was 19:19:22
Now at 13.15pm (about 17hrs on) it is 12:11:47

I mean this sweetly, not viciously, but that is very, very funny. I can't believe it's not a wind-up (pun intended).

Capt_Slog

An interesting read, and well done dunloadin for solving it.

My suggestion was going to be that the next door neighbours were running off the same meter AND growing cannabis.

@Magwag:- Chest freezer, take it outside, tip it on it's side and hose it out. But when you put it back in the house leave it for 24 hours for everything to settle before you switch it back on, because some freezers don't like being on their sides.

MagWag

Yeah - we wondered about the cannabis!

Well we are going to have to wait a few weeks for complete resolution of this as the dear old electricity supplier (EDF) doesn't seem to have any record of the meter being changed (sighhhhhh).

I phoned them to give them the correct readings & they were surprised that I wanted to give two readings (day & night). They asked me for the serial number of the meter & it is not the one they have on record! They therefore have to send out an inspector, & that won't be until July 20th - ho hum.

The meter itself has a little sticker on it, that they tell me indicates it was inspected on 24-04-09, but I don't know if it was read then, or whether that was before or after the bill was sent out, - but you would have thought that an inspector would have noted the new serial number!

Nevermind, they said they wouldn't chase for the bill, & the old gentleman slept right through the night last night (he usually wakes it the early hour & lies there worrying :-(

As for being funny, more farcical I'd say - the worse part is that an elderly person is involved - they seem to be more adversley affected by this sort of thing than a younger person.

I don't know who gave the reading that generated the bill, but unless you are already familiar with these new meters, have been instructed how to read one by the installer OR can get close enough to read what might be written on it - how are you going to know you have to press the button. Where this one has been installed it's hard enough to actually reach the button!

As for the chest freezer - mmmmmm, well I cleaned it out using a mop & bucket (it does have a drain, but the gunge floating in the fettid water would have blocked it). After all that, including putting on a new plug & the blasted thing wanted to catch fire!
I did try it briefly before going to the trouble of cleaning it & it started, then stopped & smelt of burning. I thought it might just be the leaves & dust that had accumulted round the works, so I vacuumed that out - but it's actually something to do with the bit where the wires go in, next to the compressor.

This may be the reason why the plug was off the thing! Or it may be that I killed it by plugging it into an ordinary extension lead (before looking online & realizing I needed a heavy duty one - so I borrowed the one the fridge runs off).

Nevermind, I was thinking of getting an outdoor storage chest, so looks likes it might have a second incarnation. I recall Bob Flowerdew of Gardeners Question fame, using one in his garden for something - but I can't remember what!

This place is full of items that were once used by the elderly gentleman & his wife or have been abandoned by a stream of previous carers. It takes time to sort them out so that they are usable again - but there is something quite satisfying about doing that in this throw away age.

Bye for now...

Cardew

MagWag wrote: »

As for the chest freezer - mmmmmm, well I cleaned it out using a mop & bucket (it does have a drain, but the gunge floating in the fettid water would have blocked it). After all that, including putting on a new plug & the blasted thing wanted to catch fire!
I did try it briefly before going to the trouble of cleaning it & it started, then stopped & smelt of burning. I thought it might just be the leaves & dust that had accumulted round the works, so I vacuumed that out - but it's actually something to do with the bit where the wires go in, next to the compressor.

This may be the reason why the plug was off the thing! Or it may be that I killed it by plugging it into an ordinary extension lead (before looking online & realizing I needed a heavy duty one - so I borrowed the one the fridge runs off).

...

A freezer will not need a heavy duty extension lead, and even if it did it would be the extension lead that would suffer - not the freezer.

It could be that the accumulated leaves and dust had stopped the fan working.

dunloadin

Well we are going to have to wait a few weeks for complete resolution of this as the dear old electricity supplier (EDF) doesn't seem to have any record of the meter being changed (sighhhhhh).

Looking at the proper reads you gave yesterday I would say that the meter in the property hasn't been in all that long. The sticker with the date 24/4/09 may well be the date that the meter was changed. With 3 months passing since this date I'm surprised EDF have no details, unless the meter was fitted by another supplier, or at the wrong address.

Does the sticker have the details of the meter change on it? There should be a card or sticker with the serial numbers and reads of the old and new meter.

they were surprised that I wanted to give two readings

They obviously have the meter down as a single rate tariff....this raises a few more questions.

Have they been with EDF long?

It is possible that the meter was changed prior to the switch to EDF, or some numpty working for another supplier has done it by mistake.

Were the storage heaters fitted recently, or have they been in for a while?

It may well be that the meter was fitted at the same time the storage heaters were by a supplier contracted by the housing association (shouldn't happen), and the details not passed on to EDF.

I can see you having some fun and games ahead with this one. You'll just have to wait for the guy coming out to have a look at the meter.