Coin electricity meters

Legacy_user · 10 July 2014 at 4:58PM

Hello everybody, I would like to seek some advice!

I'm in the process of looking for a flat, and I've been offered one which looks pretty good, except for the fact that it uses coin-operated electricity.

Is this still common, and are they fairly economical? This would be my first time living alone, and I've never really had experience measuring my eletricity and watching what I spend on it.

I guess I'm okay having metered eletricity, but I imagined having the kind where somebody comes to look at the meter and sends you a bill! What are the odds of one of these failing me (and/or ripping me off), against the same happening with a coin meter?

HappyMJ · 10 July 2014 at 5:01PM

Odds of them ripping you off...high. You cannot pick the cheapest deal. You are stuck on whatever the owner of the flats pay for their electricity and they may not be bothered to shop around as they aren't paying the bill using their own money and don't see the savings themselves.

Bluebirdman_of_Alcathays · 10 July 2014 at 5:05PM

Very rare indeed.

LLs aren't allowed to profit from the resale of electricity any more, so there is really no reason for these to be installed unless they're creaming a little extra off for themselves.

It would certainly put me off.

System · 10 July 2014 at 5:07PM

Another concern I forgot to raise: as a computer scientist I use a desktop PC which I often need to leave running. I'm also concerned about losing power while it's running, or losing power to the fridge, etc!

I guess the obvious answer is that I just make sure there's always money in the meter, but we all make mistakes!

Bubblebath · 10 July 2014 at 5:18PM

Another concern I forgot to raise: as a computer scientist I use a desktop PC which I often need to leave running. I'm also concerned about losing power while it's running, or losing power to the fridge, etc!

I guess the obvious answer is that I just make sure there's always money in the meter, but we all make mistakes!

As a computer scientist, why do you need to keep the computer running all the time???

I used to live with a computer scientists and he certainly didn't need to keep his machine runing all the time.

Anyway, how good a computer scientist are you??? I know next to nothing about the subject, but I do know how to protect computers against a possible power failure

marleyboy · 10 July 2014 at 5:19PM

I would get it removed, there is no saying how high a tariff its set to and there is no chance of claiming any refunds back.

System · 10 July 2014 at 5:21PM

Bubblebath wrote: »

As a computer scientist, why do you need to keep the computer running all the time.

Because I sometimes need to leave experiments running overnight.

Bubblebath · 10 July 2014 at 5:49PM

marleyboy wrote: »

I would get it removed, there is no saying how high a tariff its set to and there is no chance of claiming any refunds back.

OP can't - it's a landlord's meter.

The Landlord cannot profit from the charges, but the OP cannot dicate which supplier or tariff the Landlord uses ... and it may be a business tariff (although it should only be subject to 5% VAT if the electricity so supplied is being used primarily for domestic/residential purposes)

Bubblebath · 10 July 2014 at 5:53PM

Another concern I forgot to raise: as a computer scientist I use a desktop PC which I often need to leave running. I'm also concerned about losing power while it's running, or losing power to the fridge, etc!

I guess the obvious answer is that I just make sure there's always money in the meter, but we all make mistakes!

Because I sometimes need to leave experiments running overnight.

And on all the other times? :huh:

atolaas · 10 July 2014 at 6:06PM

Very rare to find a coin operated meter, even as a student 15 years ago we had card operated ones!! If you decide to move into the property you can switch to a rival energy supplier and they will change the meter free of charge. However it can be a difficult process and can take up to 2/3 months to do. I did this in my current property (switched from a prepayment card meter to a standard one). I had quite a lengthly chat with the guy who changed my electric meter. He informed me that its up to the tenant which provider supplies gas/electric to a rented property. Meters are the property of the energy companies and not the landlords. If you want to change them, as a tenant, you can.