meter going backwards!

LLP72

Hello! Am new so please be gentle and apologies if this has been asked before. I am a private tenant and on the day I moved in (seven months ago) gave EDF our meter reading. I had no bill and did the same again in September where it had gone up by 1100 units. I still received no bill despite phoning and asking for one.
In December they sent someone out to read the meter and it was 8000 units lower than it had been in May.
I still had no bill.
Today (Jan 9) I called them again and explained all this, I read the meter again today and from December it's gone up by 1400 units.

To simplify - May to Sept up 1100 units.
Sept to Dec - down by 9100 units.
Dec to Jan - up 1400 units.

None of this makes sense to me. I've read that sonic panels can affect this but there aren't any!!!!

EDF is sending out a technical investigator to look at the meter but where do we stand if the meter is faulty? Is it the landlord's responsibility? And how on earth do we ensure we only pay for the energy we've actually used?

Please help!!! Thanks in hope.

jalexa

LLP72 wrote: »

Does the meter have round dials (or special EDF oval dials:D)?

penrhyn

Is it a digital multirate meter? Or is it one with dials and has been read properly.

victor2

My guess would be it's either a dial meter which has been mis-read, or a digital meter and a couple of digits have been transposed.
Doubt if it's got much to do with "sonic" panels.

If your overall usage from May to present sounds reasonable, then that's what you'll be billed for, should EDF ever get round to billing you. Just work out your unbilled usage and make sure your DDs have covered it (if that's how you pay) or you are ready for the bill that will come.

LLP72

Thanks everyone! It's an old analogue meter, much as the one illustrated above. I guess it could be that it was misread but even so, that still wouldn't explain how we went from 1100 units over four months to 1400 in three and a half weeks.
The numbers were (if that helps explain it better)

May 48531
Sept 49624
Dec 40483
Jan 41872

If it IS faulty though, whose liability is it?
Cheers again.

penrhyn

If you check again you should find that the first digit has passed 4, and is in fact a 5. Its fairly obvious as the second digit in the september reading is a zero.

So May - Sept 1093 KwH
Sept - Dec 859 Kwh
Dec - Jan 1389 kwh.

Of course there is also the possibility that the 4 in the first couple of readings could have been a 3.

This seems to be the more likely as it was you that took the initial readings, with a rotary dial meter you look at where the pointer is and take the lower number.

LLP72

Nope. Definitely a 4 on the last two readings. As per previous though.....even IF the first two readings were 38531 and 39624, then the second two were 40483 and 41872, it doesn't explain how we get through 1100 units in four months and then 1400 in three weeks. Something's not right Oh, and our central heating and hot water are gas powered, so it's not the heating bill!

penrhyn

Go and read the meter now, remember if a pointer is between 0 and 1 then the reading is 0.

I suspect your reading will be around 40900.