Storage heaters - should they be left on all the time?

Ectophile

The seals are there to show that a meter hasn't been tampered with. There's no good reason why any electrician should be fiddling with the insides of the meter.

The case of the meter will be held together by one or more screws. the screws will have little holes drilled through them. The seal is a bit of fine wire poked through the hole, then the two ends of the wire are joined together with a metal crimp or lead seal.

The idea is the only way that you can undo the screws is to cut and remove the seal first.

macman

What documentation did your 'electrician' provide upon completion of the job-a minor works certificate? Or nothing?

Daydreamerjade

Ectophile wrote: »

The seals are there to show that a meter hasn't been tampered with. There's no good reason why any electrician should be fiddling with the insides of the meter.

The case of the meter will be held together by one or more screws. the screws will have little holes drilled through them. The seal is a bit of fine wire poked through the hole, then the two ends of the wire are joined together with a metal crimp or lead seal.

The idea is the only way that you can undo the screws is to cut and remove the seal first.

Thanks for this. As expected, the landlord seems to have done precisely nothing since Wednesday and, I suspect, will use the sealed meter question as her excuse. So I'm going round there tomorrow (well, today now) and at least I know what I'm looking for. I actually think they're both sealed.

macman wrote:

What documentation did your 'electrician' provide upon completion of the job-a minor works certificate? Or nothing?

Precisely nothing. Apart from, I suppose, a heater that does work albeit in the most expensive way possible.

macman

So clearly a cowboy. Draw your own conclusions. In future don't let anyone in to do electrical work who can't demonstrate that they are competent.

darren_clarke

the LL prob got a friend to do it, most of the LL I know will go to the cheapest quote they can find, and are only intrested in the money

J_B

darren_clarke wrote: »

most of the LL I know will go to the cheapest quote they can find, and are only intrested in the money

Erm, what else should they be interested in?
Most businesses exist to make a profit - that's how the world works.

macman

There's a big difference between 'cheapest electrician' and 'unqualified bodger' though.

Daydreamerjade

I thought I'd just update on how this whole saga concluded. I contacted Southern Electric about rewiring it and, after an hour and a half on the phone to them, was told they no longer do this type of work. (In fact, they only stopped doing it a week previously).

So I got my landlord to pay for an hour's worth of work by a Pimlico Plumbers electrician, and had a falling-out with her in the process.

It turned out the heater was wired to the off-peak meter but, in turn, the off-peak meter was somehow wired to the day meter. This meant everything connected to the off-peak meter was being charged at day rates and the off-peak meter was totally bypassed. The electrican broke the connection between the two meters and, luckily, everything was fine.

The wiring for the storage heater is still not quite right - the convector heater (which should be connected to the day meter) is also connected to the off-peak meter. And both parts of the heater are on the same fuse, so they can't be used at the same time. So the convector part of the heater is virtually useless. But I'm a lot happier with the situation now.

macman

If you recruited Pimlico Plumbers without prior agreement, then I'm not surprised that you had a falling out with your LL. Very good, very competent, but a high hourly rate of £108.00.

Daydreamerjade

macman wrote: »

If you recruited Pimlico Plumbers without prior agreement, then I'm not surprised that you had a falling out with your LL. Very good, very competent, but a high hourly rate of £108.00.

Oh no, I got her agreement first. After my incredibly frustrating conversations with Southern Electric I reached the end of my tether with the whole situation. The landlord took 4 months to install the heater and, when she did, it seemed to be wired in wrongly by an unqualified electrican. I was fed up of all the delays so sent her an email asking her permission to hire Pimlico Plumbers, pointing out that they're a) qualified and b) available immediately. I also complained about the whole situation. The complaint was the reason why I had the falling-out with her