Erratic energy meter

darkknight84

I have just moved into a studio flat in the Edgbaston area of Birmingham this past few days, and now that I have started using the meter cards that you have to buy from the landlord; I have noticed some strange fluctuations in meter readings. for example, I used my lamp and tv last night, and the small fridge that came with the flat was plugged in. The lamp uses an energy saving bulb and the tv was in energy saving mode, around 50w per hour. Every hour or two I would check the meter because I noticed the fluctuations earlyer so decided to record the numbers every few hours. On average 1 pench was spent at an hourly rate, and to me that is fine. But without plugging anything else in, or not even so much as boiling a kettle, 20 to 30 pench is being taken, and I cannot explain how or why. Does a 5 min shower cost 20-30p, or does boiling a kettle ?

This is my second night here now, and I feel I have been taken for a mug. There's wood lice coming out of the skirting around my bedroom. Theres an infestation of cluster flies that have appeared from nowhere. The toilet wont flush properly (stopcock is dodgy) and the cistern wont stop filling with water, I have had to jerry rig a bolt holding the stopcock in place to stop the water from continuously flowing. All this and this meter makes me think that they saw me coming when I signed up for this flat.

Any helpful advice would be appreciated, thank you.

Nada666

You need to note meter readings, not money spent, to clarify things. There are standing charges to account for (16p to 26p per day) which may be taken daily or once a week.

Dig through the meter and the different screens till you suss out which is which. And concentrate on, as I said, firstly checking usage in kWhs.

Also check that there is no debt on the meter.

darkknight84

Nada666 wrote: »

You need to note meter readings, not money spent, to clarify things. There are standing charges to account for (16p to 26p per day) which may be taken daily or once a week.

Dig through the meter and the different screens till you suss out which is which. And concentrate on, as I said, firstly checking usage in kWhs.

Also check that there is no debt on the meter.

Thanks for your reply, and yes there was £3 debt on the meter when I moved in. I didn't realise about the standing fee for the meter, that would explain the jump in numbers. Hopefully, as you say, I will suss this out soon.

MeterMan

What are these cards you talk about that you buy off the landlord?

Are you saying that your landlord is technically your energy supplier?

You're landlord is not allowing to make a profit on selling you gas or electric, so make sure you understand how it works.

macman

Unless you want to be paying someone else's debt, then you need to register for the account yourself.
What exactly are these cards that the LL is selling you-who is the supplier?
And what is a pench?

Joyful

It may be a sub meter so you would not be able to choose another supplier. As has been said though, the Landlord cannot make a profit from you.