Thinking of going for a water meter

typeractive

Hi all,

A colleague at work (who is a plumber by trade) recommended that I should opt for a meter in my property. It's a larger property that will be occupied by only myself primarily. I work full time Mon to Fri, so most water use will be evenings and weekends. I shower everyday, and would like to wash the car once a week. Otherwise I will use water for washing the pots and the washing machine maybe 2 times a week?

I'm not living in the property at the moment as it's a rennovation project and going to take a good while to get all fixed up (probably a year?) The house is indeed a family sized house, so I am thinking of the future also (if I decide to move - which is unlikely for some time really).

At the moment I'm literally replacing my lead water pipes so it seems like a good idea to get the water board to put in the meter if it will save me money. I'm sure across the first year it will as I'm not living in it just yet.

My bill for the last 6months was £141 = £23.59 per month by DD. Any opinions or suggestions? I'm sure this has been discussed a lot, but I'm basing it on my personal circumstances.

Cheers
:beer:

viv0147

I live alone and I had a water meter installed and I have saved £170 a year, So well worth it. Now what happens when you have a family is another matter, and you may find they will not take a meter out once installed.

typeractive

viv0147 wrote: »

I live alone and I had a water meter installed and I have saved £170 a year, So well worth it. Now what happens when you have a family is another matter, and you may find they will not take a meter out once installed.

That's correct. They will not take the meter out and any other people moving in will have to use it for their bills. I think once the meter is installed you have the opportunity to try it out for the first bill. If it's no good you can cancel it and they will just leave the meter there. Anything after that and you have to use it.

I guess it's just a matter of time until most houses have them really? Sounds like you made a good saving there!!

macman

It's not for the first bill. Once you have a meter installed you can switch back to RV billing within the next 12m if you want to. The next occupiers of the property will have to have metered billing though.

Swipe

RV worked out at £600 annually or £50 / month for me. I moved to a meter and it now costs me just £15 / month - massive saving

Cardew

typeractive wrote: »

Hi all,

A colleague at work (who is a plumber by trade) recommended that I should opt for a meter in my property. It's a larger property that will be occupied by only myself primarily. I work full time Mon to Fri, so most water use will be evenings and weekends. I shower everyday, and would like to wash the car once a week. Otherwise I will use water for washing the pots and the washing machine maybe 2 times a week?

I'm not living in the property at the moment as it's a rennovation project and going to take a good while to get all fixed up (probably a year?) The house is indeed a family sized house, so I am thinking of the future also (if I decide to move - which is unlikely for some time really).

At the moment I'm literally replacing my lead water pipes so it seems like a good idea to get the water board to put in the meter if it will save me money. I'm sure across the first year it will as I'm not living in it just yet.

My bill for the last 6months was £141 = £23.59 per month by DD. Any opinions or suggestions? I'm sure this has been discussed a lot, but I'm basing it on my personal circumstances.

Cheers
:beer:

You might have a large house but with a an annual bill of 'only' £282, it does not have a high Rateable Value. - often the case with older properties.

Metered charges vary a great deal depending where you live - the South West for example pay more than double some other areas.

So whilst you might save by being on a meter, the savings are not likely to be dramatic.

If you are on your own, look up the price for 60 cubic metres pa(the average per person and see what that will cost(don't forget to add in the standing charges for water and sewerage)

However as said above, you have 12 months(2 years with some companies I believe) to revert back to being charged by Rateable Value.

typeractive

Cardew wrote: »

You might have a large house but with a an annual bill of 'only' £282, it does not have a high Rateable Value. - often the case with older properties.

Metered charges vary a great deal depending where you live - the South West for example pay more than double some other areas.

So whilst you might save by being on a meter, the savings are not likely to be dramatic.

If you are on your own, look up the price for 60 cubic metres pa(the average per person and see what that will cost(don't forget to add in the standing charges for water and sewerage)

However as said above, you have 12 months(2 years with some companies I believe) to revert back to being charged by Rateable Value.

Ok - I'm in the North East, so that might make me lucky? I will look up the costs of approx 60 cubic meters. There's a calculator I can use on my water board site.

What are the standing charges then? Sorry to sound dumb but I don't quite know what they are?

Thanks!

Cardew

typeractive wrote: »

Ok - I'm in the North East, so that might make me lucky? I will look up the costs of approx 60 cubic meters. There's a calculator I can use on my water board site.

What are the standing charges then? Sorry to sound dumb but I don't quite know what they are?

Thanks!

There is a charge per metre for water used and a charge per metre for sewerage(usually 90% of the water used)

Then a fixed(standing) charge for water and another for sewerage.

Additionally another for Surface Water Drainage(SWD) if water from gutter or garden enters the sewers.