Received letter to say meter needs changing..do I need to watch out for anything?

*onlyme*

Received a letter from Southern Electric (not our gas/elec supplier) to say our electricity meter needs changing and that an engineer will be in our neighbourhood at some point and will just change it. The electricity will be disconnected for a short period.

It goes on to say we don't need to be here if the meter is outside the house (which it is) but if we want to be here when he does it to call number xyz or he will leave a card with his number if he can't access it.

Now I do want to be here as I want to write down the meter reading at the point of him disconnecting it. We do have a small padlock on the wooden cupboard which encloses the gas & elec meter so he would have to leave a card and I will contact him.

Am I correct in thinking the meter will be set to all the zero's?

If so, how does it work with my meter readings that I submit (I will submit the one that is taken just prior to meter being changed). Will Eon be aware the meter has been changed or do I need to call them?

Anything else I need to be aware of?

many thanks in advance

moonrakerz

*onlyme* wrote: »

Received a letter from Southern Electric (not our gas/elec supplier) to say our electricity meter needs changing and that an engineer will be in our neighbourhood at some point and will just change it. The electricity will be disconnected for a short period.

It goes on to say we don't need to be here if the meter is outside the house (which it is) but if we want to be here when he does it to call number xyz or he will leave a card with his number if he can't access it.

Now I do want to be here as I want to write down the meter reading at the point of him disconnecting it. We do have a small padlock on the wooden cupboard which encloses the gas & elec meter so he would have to leave a card and I will contact him.

Am I correct in thinking the meter will be set to all the zero's?

If so, how does it work with my meter readings that I submit (I will submit the one that is taken just prior to meter being changed). Will Eon be aware the meter has been changed or do I need to call them?

Anything else I need to be aware of?

many thanks in advance

I would suggest that you are there when the meter is changed. Write the old and new readings on the inside of the meter cupboard in permanent marker - get the the electrician to agree the reading.
The new meter will not be set to 00000. You do not need to tell your supplier - until the first bill, when they get it wrong ! :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

PS: Southern changed mine last year - no probs.

eurmalian

moonrakerz wrote: »

The new meter will not be set to 00000.

Sometimes it is, sometimes it isn't. I think it largely depends on whether it's a brand new meter or a refurbished second hand one.

Swipe

Mine was set to 00000.3 The crazy thing was it replaced an identical one that was only installed 12 months prior and only had 02500 on the clock.

Ron2

I got mine changed on Monday, it took about 15 minutes.

Here are pics
http://tinypic.com/r/23ubnyo/7
http://tinypic.com/r/2ngdgs0/7

itzmee

I got my electric meter changed last year. I kept meaning to respond to the letter but I forgot and one day someone just showed up to do it. It took no more than half an hour and I was able to take and submit meter readings. The new meter started from zero and both readings showed on my bill. The installer submitted the final readings on the meter but he also very kindly knocked a few numbers off for me .

Muhasib

What is the official reason for the meter needing changing as I also have had a letter to notify me of this even though my meter was only installed in January 2010 so I would have thought it was fairly up to date already.

C_Mababejive

There is no need to stress.

If your not going to be in,simply take a photo of the meter reading/serial no when you go out. The meter worker will leave you paperwork anyway which will indicate old and new reads.

The new meter may or may not be at zeros.

Bear in mind that if your not in,he might just walk away and consider it a no access visit since many do not like to cut the power without first notifying occupier in case anything is in use which may suffer detriment due to sudden power cut/re-establishment eg security systems/computers etc.

spiro

Why do you have a lock on your meter cupboard? If you have a serious gas leak will you remember to take the key with you to unlock the cupboard to enable you operate the ECV? The reason meter boxes have 'standard' triangular keys is because all parties that need access carry these keys.

SailorSam

I had a padlock on the gas meter cupboard which is inside the house when the kids were little.
It was only a tiny thing not really worth locking but it was just to stop them playing in there.
Don't have a lock now, could never find the key when the man came and it was a mad search.

Swipe

muhasib wrote: »

What is the official reason for the meter needing changing as I also have had a letter to notify me of this even though my meter was only installed in January 2010 so I would have thought it was fairly up to date already.

There is no official reason. They just do it for the sake of doing it. I had a brand new digital meter installed just 12 months prior. I sent email after email telling them that it didn't need to be done (even sent them the serial no and photos) but they would not take no for an answer so in the end I just gave in and let them swap it for an identical one. Even the engineer who swapped it said it was a complete waste of his time. The distribution company was OnStream in my case.