Is it worth changing a 25 year old electric meter?

ey143

I've moved into a property which has an old electric meter. The tag next to it suggest it was installed in 1986. By the energy company's own admission, it should have been replaced ages ago (every 20 years I think) but they seem to have a wrong date on their system.

Anyway, I've heard funny stories in the past by electricians who told me having an old meter is like gold dust because they tend to turn more slowly and sometimes even cobwebs from spiders etc can slow the meters down.

How much of that is true - am I better off with this old meter rather than having asked to have it changed to a modern digital single rate meter?

Is the opposite also true, can the meter be so old that it is over charging me rather than under or correctly charging me? I have no comparison to make against previous month's as I've just taken ownership of the house.

Thx.

sheffield_lad

I would have an old meter any time. These meters are calibrated instruments and unlikely to be running fast or slow but with age the odd's are on it slowing down over speeding up. (it's also useful if you ever decide to have solar as they often run backwards )


Keep a track of your usage on a weekly basis so you don't get any nasty surprises.


GL

scaredofdebt

You can tell the age of the meter by the serial number, usually the first two digits after the letter are the year of manufacture.

Meters are very rarely faulty, if anything they stop advancing entirely but I did once hear of a meter than was about 8% slow, never heard of one that ran fast and I have friends in the industry with over 20 years experience of this type of story.

You can get the meter tested if you want but you will get charged if it is found to be accurate.

They tend to be replaced after 20 years though so yours is probably due for renewal.

When you get solar panels fitted you are supposed to have a "back stop" meter installed so it won't go backwards.

ey143

Funnily enough I do plan to have solar when I redevelop the house / depending on cost.

Scaredofdebt - serial starts S87E so looks like 1987 it was installed. Would you replace it?

My only reason for doing so is purely aesthetics and because it looks bulky high above a door. Anyone know of a way to get it moved for free?

scaredofdebt

If you think it is reading fast then you may want to consider getting it tested but as I say, it's very, very unlikely to be doing that so I would keep it.

If it needs moving for "health and safety" reasons ie, it's dangerous climbing up for an elderly person to read etc, your supplier may consider moving it free of charge and they may also replace it for you if they feel it is near to the end of its life.

Ich_2

The date on the meter refers to when it was made, in the past it was common to replace meters for re-certification and then reuse them so it may not have been there for that length of time.
As you have been told elsewhere it is not your property so up to your supplier to decide what to do with it.
As regards moving it the DNO main fuse will be in the same position and you will need to discuss moving it with them (they can also do the meter as well, but not the other way round)

2013yearofthehouse

Our meter is 40 years old (we've had it 30 years, but house is 40 years old and serial number starts 74, so I assume it's original), but no-one (electrician or utility company) has ever mentioned changing it. Are they really supposed to be changed every 20 years? I hadn't realised, should I have requested one or is it something utility companies usually automatically contact you about?

Ich_2

There never was, note was, a requirement to change every meter after a set time. The requirement was to change a percentage of them and based on any errors found a decision would be made on how to deal with the rest.
As I said after re-certification it was the case that older meters would be re-installed in other properties. So the date on the meter does not automatically mean it has been in that property for that time.

Are they really supposed to be changed every 20 years? I hadn't realised, should I have requested one or is it something utility companies usually automatically contact you about?

It is up to them to deal with this at it is their property

2013yearofthehouse

Ich wrote: »

There never was, note was, a requirement to change every meter after a set time. The requirement was to change a percentage of them and based on any errors found a decision would be made on how to deal with the rest.
As I said after re-certification it was the case that older meters would be re-installed in other properties. So the date on the meter does not automatically mean it has been in that property for that time.


It is up to them to deal with this at it is their property

Thanks. The meter's definitely been at our house for at least 30 years as that's how long we've lived here. We've changed utility company at least 6 times and haven't been with the original one for about 10 years. Curiosity's got the best of me now, might ask my neighbours (who've lived here 40 years, buying their house from new) about theirs just out of interest. Most other neighbours have converted their garages (where our meter still is and originally their meters would have been) so I guess theirs might have been updated when they had their meters moved outside.