British Gas: Does anyone think this is complicated?

Mr_Man_Full_of_Love

Joyful wrote: »

Why not ask them to exchange the meter to a single rate one. That then gets rid of all the problems.

It's quite ironic that I did request this when I first joined them (which coincided with my dropping of the E7 tariff) and they said it was unnecessary and they only recommend replacing them if they're faulty as all meters will be replaced under the Smart Meter roll out in the near future. Now they've said it is faulty even though it isn't I might well ask about this again.

spiro

Mr_Man_Full_of_Love wrote: »

Well, the British Gas stance is that the meter is faulty and not recording my day time usage correctly. Neither of which is true.
If they want to send the heavy mob around and arrest me as Britain's Most Wanted that would be a step forward as it would mean they actually grasp what I'm telling them.:)

It is not recording day time useage because that register is not moving. Your electrician took a short cut instead of rewiring the switched heating curcuit. Once they sort it out they are likely to work out your current day/night split and estimate what you would have used dureing the day if your meter was not working correctly (not tampered with). This may cost you dear both in money as also possible prosecution for tampering/illegal abstraction.

Mr_Man_Full_of_Love

spiro wrote: »

It is not recording day time useage because that register is not moving. Your electrician took a short cut instead of rewiring the switched heating curcuit. Once they sort it out they are likely to work out your current day/night split and estimate what you would have used dureing the day if your meter was not working correctly (not tampered with). This may cost you dear both in money as also possible prosecution for tampering/illegal abstraction.

There's nothing to estimate. With the Economy 7 active ALL electricity in the house switches to night rate, not just the heater points. Therefore currently ALL electricity IS registering and my usage and payments are a 100% accurate calculation.

System

If the electrician did in fact alter the settings on the E7 meter equipment that belongs to the energy supplier, then that was a breach of the regulations and you may be liable for that breach.

The electrician should have given you a certificate for the electrical work they did for you and that certificate should list what work they did. Do you have that certificate and does it mention altering the supplier's E7 meter ? I would guess not because if the electrician did do that change he broke the regulations and I would class that as a cowboy

However....

Are you sure that the "On, Timer and Off" switch that you mentioned is part of the suppliers E7 meter equipment ?
It could be a secondary timer / control unit that belongs to you and hence is not part of the electricity supplier's equipment ???

P.S.
The two rates on the E7 tariff works by registerring electricity usage during specific times of the day and night.
The cheaper night time rate starts at a time late in the day determined by your local distribution company and ends the following morning again at a time determined by the distribution company (Not BG) and any electricity used during that period should register on the night time units. Obviously during the remainder of the time units should register on the day meter at the higher rate.

If one of the readings on your meter is not moving, then either you never use electric during the night time period, which I would doubt is the case, or the meter is faulty so needs to be fixed / replaced. If the fault was caused by tamperring then you may be faced with the cost of repair.

Note, if BG send an engineer to fix / replace the meter, by default they will simply replace it with another E7 type meter, you need to ask them to replace with a standard single rate meter if that is what you want.

Mr_Man_Full_of_Love

Total nonsense, but thanks anyway. It's an old style meter. The timings are governed entirely by the switch on the E7 Meter (originally property of SWEB, now Western Power Distribution). Set to OFF it doesn't register on the night rate at all. Set to TIMER it registers on the night rate between 1am and 8am. Set to ON it registers on the night rate permanently. Every unit being used is being registered and charged at a single non Economy 7 tariff.
The fact that the figures on the day rate dial don't change is irrelevant as it's being recorded on the night rate dial.

System

I'm glad you are such an expert that you can say "Total nonsense, but thanks anyway."

Why did you ask the question if you already know it all

I notice you did not answer the question about the certificate the electrician should have given you.

Anyway, since you do not want to hear anything different to what you already know yourself, enough said

grahamc2003

Mr_Man_Full_of_Love wrote: »

Total nonsense, but thanks anyway. It's an old style meter. The timings are governed entirely by the switch on the E7 Meter (originally property of SWEB, now Western Power Distribution). Set to OFF it doesn't register on the night rate at all. Set to TIMER it registers on the night rate between 1am and 8am. Set to ON it registers on the night rate permanently. Every unit being used is being registered and charged at a single non Economy 7 tariff.
The fact that the figures on the day rate dial don't change is irrelevant as it's being recorded on the night rate dial.

I know - you write out what you want those knowledgeable of the issue to post, and I'll post it for you.

Should keep you happy. You just seem to want to read what you would prefer the situation to be, rather than what the situation actually is. Quite funny really - I just wonder why the hell you ask for opinions on here if all your reply to informed opinion is 'rubbish'!.

It's quite easy - tampering with electricity meters is illegal. Have you, or your agent, tampered with your supplier's/disco's meter?

You may answer 'no' (perversly), but most others will see that you have, judging by your previous posts. So, having tampered with the meter, the supplier is likely to want to know the degree of tampering which has taken place, and they may not simply take your word for it.

A further point - you keep explaining about the technicalities of the day and night readings and how they relate to consumption as if people reading don't realise the effect of switching in or out the e7 dual metering. I expect we all know how the dials will register your usage, but that doesn't mean your supplier, with your readings and meter settings, won't estimate a day usage for you to correct a zero reading on a tampered meter. Getting the picture yet?

Mr_Man_Full_of_Love

Thanks everyone - problem sorted.

British Gas have acknowledged that my usage and payments are correct. They've also confirmed that what the electrician did is illegal even though in these circumstances it doesn't impact on usage or charges.

They are going to replace the meter with a single rate meter. The only minor downside is that because I'm liable for the illegal act I have to pay a one off charge of £70 to replace the meter.

Cheers.

t0rt0ise

At least you'll be able to change suppliers easily with the single meter so some good has come out of it.