Replacement Electric Meter

grizzly1911

Hi I am with EON, for now, and have had a letter from another energy company acting on their behalf to say my electric meter needs replacing as it is getting old. It tells me this is a legal requirement.

House is 18 years old - this seems a bit early:question:

I guess it is more about accuracy than safety.

Does this also mean the electric meter is now redundant? I would have thought that would be more dangerous if worn out:question:

Will this be a smart meter as it would seem a bit daft to have to replace it again in the next 9 years:question:

jd87

All seems normal to me. It won't be a smart meter. You don't think 18 years is old for a piece of electrical equipment?

asbokid

grizzly1911 wrote: »

Hi I am with EON, for now, and have had a letter from another energy company acting on their behalf to say my electric meter needs replacing as it is getting old. It tells me this is a legal requirement.

House is 18 years old - this seems a bit early:question:

I guess it is more about accuracy than safety.

Yeah sounds likely... Quite recently, the press ran a series of articles about the inaccuracy of certain models of meter. The utility companies are denying that it is a big problem, but from the evidence it clearly is!

asbokid

It was a leaked report from National Grid which reveals that an astonishing one in six of the older-style gas meters is inaccurate (and they over-read rather than under-read!)


From: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1356729/Inaccurate-gas-meters-lead-millions-paying-much.html

Daily_Mail wrote: »

Inaccurate gas meters lead to millions paying too much
By Louise Eccles

Last updated at 10:52 AM on 14th February 2011

Millions of households are being overcharged for gas because of inaccurate meters, a leaked report has revealed.

One in six of National Grid’s older meters were over-registering and almost all of those tested had ‘accuracy problems’, according to the report.

An average customer affected by the problem would unwittingly pay £26 a year too much for gas - netting the industry millions of pounds each year.

The report showed that in the worst cases 88 per cent of a 1983 model of the U6 UGI Black Spot meter and 69 per cent of a 2000 model of the G4 Magnol Version 1 were over-registering – this is in excess of the tolerated 2 per cent leeway.

Sadly for customers, less than 1 per cent were undercharging. National Grid, which owns 75 per cent of the UK’s 23million gas meters, tested 4,882 of their oldest or least reliable meters in 2007 and found one in six was in breach of the regulations

Rogues Gallery of Gas Meters
(Where would the internet be without nerds and anoraks?!)

Use the gallery to identify your own gas meter and discover whether it is among the one in six faulty models that is robbing us blind..

asbokid

asbokid wrote: »

From: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1356729/Inaccurate-gas-meters-lead-millions-paying-much.html


The report showed that in the worst cases 88 per cent of a 1983 model of the U6 UGI Black Spot meter and 69 per cent of a 2000 model of the G4 Magnol Version 1 were over-registering – this is in excess of the tolerated 2 per cent leeway.

This is the U6 UGI 'Black Spot' meter
(88% of these meters made in 1983 were found to be over-registering)



This is the G4 Magnol meter
(69% of these meters made in 2000 were found to be over-registering)

Zandoni

The UGI black spot meters had a type of synthetic diaphragm that shrunk which caused the meters to over register by up to 8%. There was a big rerplacement policy in the 80's and most of them were replaced, bet there's still lots around.

There's probably still some old meters of different makes with faulty indexes these can over register beyond belief.