Incorrect time on electrcity metre

cat79_2

Anyone had a situation, where after a total powercut i,e to my house and about half of the city, the time on the elec meter is now wrong and affecting when heating is on etc. I am on domestic economy, and the timer on my "old style" metre is now wrong, therefore I am probably paying for daytime when night and night usage when day. Can I claim money back if this is the case? As i have no control over the metre. I believe now meters are electronically timed though mine is an old one, as its not my property technically the elec companies, if I am being charged wrongly because of this can I claim money back? I finally managed to get someone from the elec company to finally come out and have a look in a couple of weeks (appointment already been changed as the "date i requested was unavailable" eventhough it was the company that gave me that date, useless lot!

thanks

masonic

Surely this is a good thing. You are getting your daytime electricity at cheap night rates!

cat79_2

Thats my only worry that I end up paying more than less, but I would hate to find out its the other way around. I would rather its just put back to the right time and I dont have to think about it anymore. Just wondered if anyone had had this problem and what the outcome was.

arealhighlander

Err, try phoning the electricity company and tell them to come and sort it. Its not rocket science!

And yes, night time rates are cheaper cos less people use it then, so if you are now getting charged night rates for daytime, you are saving money.

masonic

cat79 wrote:

Thats my only worry that I end up paying more than less, but I would hate to find out its the other way around. I would rather its just put back to the right time and I dont have to think about it anymore. Just wondered if anyone had had this problem and what the outcome was.

Well I made the above point because I had this "problem" in a flat I was living in a few years ago and the outcome was I kept vewy, vewy quiet about it and nobody noticed.

Gal

Dependant on how much they are using the heating - If it was in the summer I would say keep quiet however now its in the winter I would imagine that he would be charged more instead of less. Especially if there not there during day.

Only way to find out is when its fixed - Take readings at 7am and then just before you go to bed - Do it for a week and see how much your units are for the day period - (Morning to Bed) then overnight (Bed to Morning).

It won't tell you exactly as your times may differ depending on area but will give you a rough idea.

chas1937

Sometimes my meter which is same clockwork kind stays on 24/7 so i dont bother mentioning it as just means getting cheap rate during day as well as at night.If it was staying on all the time I would let company know as it would show as not using any daytime rate

masonic

Gal wrote:

Dependant on how much they are using the heating - If it was in the summer I would say keep quiet however now its in the winter I would imagine that he would be charged more instead of less. Especially if there not there during day.

Presuming the OP does not have night storage heaters, you may be correct, although I wouldn't have thought there would be much call for heating to be on in the middle of the night (i.e. at the correct E7 times), either. Of course, if the OP does not have night storage heaters, it might be better to move onto a non-E7 tariff.

Gal

masonic wrote:

Presuming the OP does not have night storage heaters, you may be correct, although I wouldn't have thought there would be much call for heating to be on in the middle of the night (i.e. at the correct E7 times), either. Of course, if the OP does not have night storage heaters, it might be better to move onto a non-E7 tariff.

This is true I just assumed because they put this:

affecting when heating is on etc

Although the reason for overnight heating is - Charging storage heaters for the day - The way its currently set it would be charging them for night - So possible ontime of 2/3am if the clock is well out

masonic

Gal wrote:

Although the reason for overnight heating is - Charging storage heaters for the day - The way its currently set it would be charging them for night - So possible ontime of 2/3am if the clock is well out

I guess it boils down to how long they take to produce an appreciable heat output and how long they can retain the heat after they are charged. If they can still heat the house effectively when needed, then the time that they turn on/off should not be a concern in and of itself.

cat79_2

arealhighlander Err, try phoning the electricity company and tell them to come and sort it. Its not rocket science!

Arealhighlander obviously hasnt read the above "Please be nice to all MoneySavers. There’s no such thing as a stupid question, and even if you disagree courtesy helps"

Whats the saying "if you dont have anything useful to say, dont say it at all"

Thanks for the all other replies. Obviously I would keep quiet if it came to it that I was getting a good deal by the timer being wrong, however, its just a bit of pain, with the heating, though I am in the middle of renovating flat right now and many other things to be thinking about, therefore prefer to get it sorted. Just thought I would post to get some points of view. Cheers.