electricity, storage heaters and landlords....help!!!

joshy2008

I have recently moved into a rented flat and have purely electric heating through storage heaters. To my amazement the electricity meter is a standard single rate meter.
i recevied a bill for two months for £170 from my supplier based on actual readings i had given. as i don't have an economy 7 meter the heaters are always on so i'm racking up a large bill.

luckily i have booked a meter change and this will solve my issue. the thing i would like to know is can i claim money from the letting agents for the bill as it wasn't my fault i had the wrong meter when i moved in?

Any help would be amazing

penrhyn

I suspect its a case of caveat emptor.
Are the storage heaters wired to a separate circuit so they can be controlled by a radio teleswitch?

joshy2008

The storage heaters are connected straight into the meter. got no problem changing it, but i feel a little annoyed that i'm lamped with the bill for the agents error for putting in a standard meter instead of eco7 when storage heaters are involved.

Premier_2

The issue that penrhyn is asking is are the storage heaters on a seaparate circuit? If so, that circuit needs to be wired into your new dual rate meter so that it only become lives when the low rate electricity is supplied.

Your supplier will arrange to have the meter exchanged for a dual rate one, but they won't spend time & money sorting out the electrics. If the wiring of the new meter is not straightforward, then they may not change the meter, or more likely wire it so all circuits are always live.

You'll still be lumbered with having the issue of the heaters using normal rate electricity unless there is some form of timer. Remember, normal rate on E7 is often slightly higher than a single rate.

joshy2008

the storage heaters do have a seperate circuit, but still connected to the single rate meter on the normal usage. ill have to make sure the engineer conencts it to the 2nd rate once its installed.
is it worth it trying to claim money of agents for this issue for my bill as the meter was wrong for the type of usage?

Fire_Fox

Why are the storage heaters always on, can't you turn them off? Assuming you can switch them off, why do you think it's the letting agents fault that you chose to use the heating in September?

Premier_2

Fire_Fox wrote: »

Why are the storage heaters always on, can't you turn them off? Assuming you can switch them off, why do you think it's the letting agents fault that you chose to use the heating in September?

I don't think the OP is upset that the heaters were on in September as presumably the OP turned them on. It is that the heaters did not use off peak electricity as you would expect.

However, I do think this is a case of buyer beware.

If the tenant had been vigilent and insisted on an ingoing inventory/statement of condition where meter readings are often set out, as well as contacting the supplier with those meter readings to set up the account, then the OP would have realised the electricity was on a single rate meter.